Who makes the Best Folding Saw?

I'm partial to a Japanese company called Silky (Google 'Silky folding saw'). I recommend the Silky GOMBOY. It comes in a fine and medium tooth version.
 
Silky saws are the only way to go.
As a professional arborist and tree climber, that's what me and anyone else who climbs will tell you.
They last the longest and cut the best but are most likely the highest priced
 
I got a fiskars from one of the BIG home improvement stores. It was cheap and works just fine.
 
The silky type of folding saws are fine for light work. For heavier work the Dustrude saw can't be beat. And replacement blades for the Dustrude can be purchased at any hardware or big box hardware type store. Good luck finding a replacement blade for the silky types, except from the manufacturer.
 
Comparing common hardware store blades with Silky blades is apples and oranges. TOTALLY different classes. :)
 
I asked this in the other saw post.
For those who have used both, what is preferred, a strait or curved blade?
 
Revolverrodger said:
That is indeed what the internet says... but how about real world side by side tests ?
In my expreience the difference is marginal !
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I have standard frame/buck saws and have made extensive use of the TrailBlazer saws in the past, both for home utility and woods work. They definitely work, and work well. But my Silky cuts with cleaner and deeper with less force, and I personally find the difference to be massive. Cutting seasoned wood with a Silky almost feels more like cutting thick cardboard with a thin sharp knife. You have to saw back and forth to complete the cut, but you make tons of very clean progress with each stroke.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Comparing common hardware store blades with Silky blades is apples and oranges. TOTALLY different classes.
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Yes, they are "different classes." If we were limited to comparing saws within a single class, then the Silky might be the winner. Since we're not limited in this fashion, the question is "Who makes the Best Folding Saw," and so, this comparison is perfectly reasonable.

Break a Silky saw, and it's much more likely to happen than with the Dustrude, because it's only supported at one end, while the Dustrude blade is tensioned between two supports, and if you're not carrying a spare, you're SOL. Any Home Depot has blades that will fit the Dustrude and so will many hardware stores in small towns. And the carrier for the Dustrude has a pocket for a spare blade.

The full 21" of the Dustrude blade is available for cutting wood. Making it much more efficient than a bow saw (still in "another class") which has a triangular shape and therefore you lose the blade length "at the small end" when you get into processing bigger pieces of wood.

The longest Silky that I've ever seen anyone carry is the 210mm (8-1/4"), a little less than 1/3 the length of the Dustrude. They make longer blades and if you're car camping, they might be a choice, but the longest that I've found is the 420mm (16-1/2"), still 5-1/2" shorter than the Dustrude.

The Silky was intended for gardening and maintaining trees where clean cuts are important so that the plants heal faster. I'd bet, since the OP posted in Outdoor Gear, Survival Equipment & More, I'd bet that he's more interested in processing wood for fires, than gardening or trimming a tree. There, a clean cut is not important, speed and efficiency is.

I used to use a Silky. Now I use a Dustrude. I'll never go back.
 
Lou Castle said:
Yes, they are "different classes." If we were limited to comparing saws within a single class, then the Silky might be the winner. Since we're not limited in this fashion, the question is "Who makes the Best Folding Saw," and so, this comparison is perfectly reasonable.

Break a Silky saw, and it's much more likely to happen than with the Dustrude, because it's only supported at one end, while the Dustrude blade is tensioned between two supports, and if you're not carrying a spare, you're SOL. Any Home Depot has blades that will fit the Dustrude and so will many hardware stores in small towns. And the carrier for the Dustrude has a pocket for a spare blade.

The full 21" of the Dustrude blade is available for cutting wood. Making it much more efficient than a bow saw (still in "another class") which has a triangular shape and therefore you lose the blade length "at the small end" when you get into processing bigger pieces of wood.

The longest Silky that I've ever seen anyone carry is the 210mm (8-1/4"), a little less than 1/3 the length of the Dustrude. They make longer blades and if you're car camping, they might be a choice, but the longest that I've found is the 420mm (16-1/2"), still 5-1/2" shorter than the Dustrude.

The Silky was intended for gardening and maintaining trees where clean cuts are important so that the plants heal faster. I'd bet, since the OP posted in Outdoor Gear, Survival Equipment & More, I'd bet that he's more interested in processing wood for fires, than gardening or trimming a tree. There, a clean cut is not important, speed and efficiency is.

I used to use a Silky. Now I use a Dustrude. I'll never go back.
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I've never broken a pull-cutting blade, personally. And I find my Silky outperforms my frame saws in the speed and efficiency department, personally. The fact that it yields such a clean cut is more of a bonus. But we all use our tools a little differently and have our own preferences. Heck, I honestly don't use a saw at all most times I'm out--I just use a machete for most of my cutting tasks.
 
What? No mention of Bahco laplanders yet? I absolutely love mine, It's going on it's fourth year now and have put some serious use on it without problems. It reminds me of what a Mora knife would be if it was a saw haha, very efficient and a great value.
 
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FortyTwoBlades said:
I've never broken a pull-cutting blade, personally.
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I have, and if you look around this and other forums, you'll see that I'm not the only one. That's one of the main reasons that I stopped using one, hard to find replacement blades.

FortyTwoBlades said:
And I find my Silky outperforms my frame saws in the speed and efficiency department, personally.
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My experience has been exactly the opposite. Have you used the Dustrude, or are you making this assessment based on other frame saws?

FortyTwoBlades said:
The fact that it yields such a clean cut is more of a bonus.
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Unless you're processing wood for a fire, then it makes no difference at all.

FortyTwoBlades said:
But we all use our tools a little differently and have our own preferences. Heck, I honestly don't use a saw at all most times I'm out--I just use a machete for most of my cutting tasks.
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I sometimes use an ax, a hawk or sometimes a machete. But the saw is faster, uses less energy, and is safer.
 
I have a bahco which I like a ton and I do hear the silky is better but as Lou has stated it is limited. This is why I initially got a Sven saw to do bigger work the bahco couldn't handle very well. The bobs quick buck saw is going to make quick work of bigger work hen any single mounting point saw. I will still get a silky but the buck will do the bigger harder duty that the silky would struggle with such as bigger limbs and so on. Being only 8" it only has so much it can do vs 21 or even 24.
 
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