Who makes the best saw?

All these years and I've finally found the mofo that almost cut my freakin finger off!!

It's my buddies trail blazer. His had a rusty windnut, and it didn't tightened all the way, and the blade sprung out and cut my finger.

I just use the gerber folding saw. It works well, cheap (23CDN w/ pouch), and replacement blades are easy to find (for me).
 
I've never felt a need to tackle anything bigger than the saw in my Swiss Tool could handle. . . At least when I'm hiking. ;) For car camping I've tried a variety of cheap saws ranging from regular carpenters type saws to a couple of different bow saws. None of them beats my buddy's chainsaw. :p
 
I have the Gerber excange-a-blade sport saw, the Sawvivor, and the Saber Cut pocket saw. I like all three, but I keep reaching for the Gerber.
 
This one's my favorite wood saw and it really cuts fantastic.
And it's a cheapie Coleman that I bought at Target or Walmart.


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The Kershaw folding saw arrived today. It's a keeper. I bid on a pair of Gerber folders on Ebay and I like that design too, but the Keshaw is just a tad better in look/feel/design and a little longer. Both the Gerber Exchange-a-Blade model and the Kershaw are much stronger than the Gerber sliding model-- at twice the weight. Compromise, compromise.......
 
Tashiro Folding Pocket Saw is a longtime favorite of mine. I found it works well as an around-the-yard pruner, plus is light and compact enough to fit well in a pack pocket or the thigh pocket of BDU pants. Coupled with a 7" or larger Busse chopper & a thin slicer (Spydie Moran Featherweight or Mora), it is part of my NW woods trifecta.
http://www.tashirohardware.com/special.html

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You can lock the blade of the Tashiro folding saw both above and below the "straight out from the handle" position in about a 270-degree arc. That allows you to increase the agressiveness of the teeth's bite either for efficiency or as the teeth get a little dull. It also allows you to use the saw in awkward locations -- boat-builders apparently find this feature very useful in their work.

The Corona brand folding saws you can get at Home Depot, Lowe's, or other home centers are similar, except that you can't change the blade-to-handle angle like you can on the Tashiro saw. I have had good luck with pruning saws from the $7 cheap ones carried at Wally World, Nakaya brand from www.nokogiri.com (great customer service IME), Corona, as well as others. Still haven't tried the Gerbers, which everyone who uses them seem to like, or the Silky models yet.

-- Tashiro Folding Pocket Saw links --

Pics with a larger Tashiro lumber blade mounted in it: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=452626

BFC review from me: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249653

BFC review from Cliff Stamp: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195322

Cliff Stamp review on cutleryscience.com of the Tashiro saw: http://www.cutleryscience.com/reviews/zeta_saw.html
 
RokJok said:
......Tashiro Folding Pocket Saw is a longtime favorite of mine.....
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WOW-- the Crocodile Dundee of folding saws! "You call that a saw, Mate? HERE'S a saw!"

It seems it would take a lot of beer to fuel it :)
 
In a completely different direction, I have an old Swedish (probably Sandvik which I believe became Bahco) bow saw.

It is my favourite saw to use for bucking up wood. It also takes a 42" blade!

I don't take it hiking very often as you can imagine, but if you are staying in one place for a few weeks it is the best thing, bar none!
 
misanthropist said:
In a completely different direction, I have an old Swedish (probably Sandvik which I believe became Bahco) bow saw.

It is my favourite saw to use for bucking up wood. It also takes a 42" blade!

I don't take it hiking very often as you can imagine, but if you are staying in one place for a few weeks it is the best thing, bar none!
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I have a 20", and it's inexpensive as well as efficient.
 
WOW-- the Crocodile Dundee of folding saws!
Click to expand...
:D :D Yeah, that picture of the Tashiro folding saw with the Busses shows it with the Timber sawblade mounted in it, not the standard Pocket Saw blade as shown at the link I provided.

The Timber blade offers an advantage in that it's longer length allows fewer strokes to cut through a given diameter branch or round of wood. Gaining a few extra inches per stroke can make a surprising difference in how much time (or how little) it takes to section off a round of wood. The disadvantage of that blade is that you obviously can't fold the saw all the way closed, since the blade is so much longer than the handle. For packability, the standard blade is the one to have on the saw.

For those in Seattle area, you can get replacement blades at Hardwick & Sons Hardware on 42nd & Roosevelt in the U District. The blades are the ubiquitous Diamond Z brand. The logo is a "Z" inside a diamond (Hishi-Z in Japanese). The standard blade as shown on Tashiro's website is #210 (210 mm length) at Hardwicks/elsewhere and Tashiro's Timber blade is #333 (333 mm from toe to heel of toothed edge).

Hardwick's also carries a handle very much like the Tashiro folding handle with one important difference. The lock on non-Tashiro Diamond Z saws lines up with the long axis of the handle, which makes it much harder to access at unlocking time. Tashiro's lock that is perpendicular to the long axis of the handle sticks out enough to be easy to manipulate, even while wearing gloves.

Rockler stores carry a few of the finer-toothed woodworking blades to fit the Diamond Z saws. But they are pretty useless in green wood (or even dried outdoor wood with bark on it) due to the tiny teeth and small gullets between the teeth clogging up immediately.

Which raises an important point for outdoor saws: They should have coarse teeth with spacious gullets between them to efficiently clear the sawdust from the kerf of the cut.
 
i have an orchard and the best folding saw i have ever had is made by OYAKATA, 12 in. folded "SILKY OYAKATA" 113-27 totally solid lock up and cuts like no other saw of any kind i have ever had, except for my Husqvarna power saw. they make a variety of folding saws; online sold by japanwoodworker or something like that. i think the japanese have perfected the art of making hand tools for wood wdrking. roland
 
I got on a folding saw kick last fall and bought several of everything I could find. Three laplanders, three Bahco 396 XT7 (same saw as laplander without coating), Columbia (Think Sven), Gerber chang-a-saw (wood plus bone), wood zig, ARS (think kershaw), mini-kershaw, and five or so japanesse garden saws my wife uses. I spent a week-end cutting green and dried alder and douglas fir, vine maple, and any thing else I could find. Oh, and I also included two leatherman, three large saks. Quick summary: Bahco 396 XT7 easily the best, then Laplander (coating drags on thick wood), the Gerber, and so forth. The big SAK's and Leatherman's work on small stuff but are much slower. I have since bought and given to my son's in law several of the Bahco 396 XT7's. The Bahcos have an orange/black handle. Other than the handle color and blade coating they are identical (same steel and tooth configuration) as the laplanders. You can actually get them with a larger tooth configuration. I can only find them at Yard-n-garden and lawn mower shops. Never have found one in a sporting goods or camping store.
Ron Athay
 
Silky makes some of the best saws, hands down. http://www.silkystore.com/
I have had the pleasure of using many different saws as a woodworker and an outdoorsman, and a Pocketboy (large teeth) or a Gomboy in the pack, is a beautiful thing. After using almost everything on the market for woodworking and furniture making, I now keep a Woodboy, Gomboy and a Mini Mini2 in my toolbag at all times.
 
Another one for the Bahco Laplander here.

Great little saws. A nice touch is that the blade not only locks open but will lock shut as well so it doesn't open while in your pack or pocket.

They cut like a hot knife through butter and you can get spare blades for em. Another nice touch is that you don't need any special tools to change the blade when in the field, a coin will do it.

Ray swears by them and uses them all the time. They are a cracking bit of kit, of course it makes a difference as I'm in the UK and so they're readily available to me.
 
misanthropist said:
In a completely different direction, I have an old Swedish (probably Sandvik which I believe became Bahco) bow saw.

It is my favourite saw to use for bucking up wood. It also takes a 42" blade!

I don't take it hiking very often as you can imagine, but if you are staying in one place for a few weeks it is the best thing, bar none!
Click to expand...
Of course bow saws are better, but they are bulkier and quite annoying to carry (covering teeth is always quite annoying).
I know some people who have tried the "build you own frame in the field" takes some practising but it does work pretty well once you master the technique.
I'll have to try some day.
 
I absolutely love my pocket chainsaw.

EDC Depot

Product Page

It replaced a sliding Gerbar/Fiskars saw that I had been using that someone mentioned in a previous post. The pocket chainsaw is light, durable, packs tiny, and extremely fast. The video on the product page link above is no joke. I cut through a 4" dead birch limb on a tree in my yard that fast the first time I used it. 10 seconds is actually pretty slow for this thing. I have used it on several backpacking trips, and it has held up very well. I would recommend carrying some short lengths of foam or other soft tubing with it though, since it can start digging into your skin if you use it for a long period of time.
 
storl said:
I absolutely love my pocket chainsaw.

EDC Depot

Product Page

It replaced a sliding Gerbar/Fiskars saw that I had been using that someone mentioned in a previous post. The pocket chainsaw is light, durable, packs tiny, and extremely fast. The video on the product page link above is no joke. I cut through a 4" dead birch limb on a tree in my yard that fast the first time I used it. 10 seconds is actually pretty slow for this thing. I have used it on several backpacking trips, and it has held up very well. I would recommend carrying some short lengths of foam or other soft tubing with it though, since it can start digging into your skin if you use it for a long period of time.
Click to expand...


I've heard good and bad on the pocket chain saws. Is it just that one brand or other is junk, or is there only one maker, or is it user error? I know all those factors come into play with the wire saws.
 
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