Wood processing fixed blade

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kingshouse

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Jul 15, 2014
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I am in the market for a fixed blade to be used for wood processing. It will be used for limbing and batonning, almost exclusively. I do know an axe is better for heavy splitting, but I lack axe skills and coordination. I will not be chopping logs apart with this, I have a saw for that. I will not be using this blade for finer tasks, I have a smaller blade for that. I might be splitting some campfire sized chunks, but more frequently I will be processing wood into firebox-sized pieces.

There is not a big budget for this blade. The absolute maximum would be $100. I have looked at a LOT of blades and have pretty much narrowed it down to 3 Ontario blades, the 1095 RAT 7, the 1095 RTAK II, and the 5160 RTAK II.

Between these 3, which would serve better?
 
The Becker BK9 will be your best bet in that price range (or any price range that matter)

I have heard rumors that Ontario's heat treating process isnt the best--Kabar, however, arguably has some of the best heat treating in the industry
 
Might I recommend looking into the Becker BK9, which comes in just a hair under your max budget? It's one of my favorite large choppers for delimbing and batonning.

I have personally had better experiences with Becker than Ontario, but they're not bad knives. Of those I would go with one of the RTAKs. As for which steel, I'd slightly favor 5160 as it's a bit tougher (though won't hold an edge as long). I don't know that you'd see an appreciable difference in toughness between the two under typical wood processing conditions though.
 
In that pricerange you just have to try out the BK9, with that knife you actually can manage to do smaller tasks too....
 
You might want to try a short machete too. I have no experience with Ontario's products.
 
I had considered the BK9 and appreciate all of the immediate responses. I can get a new BK9 for the same price as the RTAK and less than the RAT7.
 
kingshouse said:
Has anyone taken the swedge off the BK9 (flattened the spine and reduced the tip to a drop point)?
Click to expand...

Yes. I happen to like it, but many take it off. I'd just use files. No danger of messing up the heat treat if you go low tech.
 
Save some money and either get a short machete or a Condor Kumunga. I had to use a Kumunga to make kindling for a few months and it worked great.
 
I had considered the kumunga and the SP50. I guess what turned me off about the kumunga was the fact that its just a flat slab of steel with a minimal edge, and was just not sure about the tang size on the SP50.
 
The Kumunga that I owned had a convex edge that went about a half inch back. If you want to baton or chop, it will work great. The only issue I had was the shape of the handle. I used a Dremel on mine and made it similar to a BK-9 shape.
 
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