OT: Source for decent knives?

[fanie]

Remind me not to cause offense on this group. Those look like pretty
fearsome pieces of kit.

Personally I find a chainsaw works best for bushclearing. And for defense a
large gun works a treat.

regards
Stephen
"AJH" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 09:23:00 +0100, Ian Rawlings
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> these are to go
>>in the pinz/lane clearance toolkit in the back of the truck,
>
> In which case I'd suggest a secondhand elwell hedge laying billhook, a
> large folding pull saw (gomboy) and one of the smaller opinels.
>
> Here's one I prepared earlier:
>
> www.loampitsfarm.co.uk/temp/cuttingkit.jpg
>
> AJH
>

 

[Austin Shackles]

On or around Tue, 22 Aug 2006 15:26:39 +0100, AJH <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 14:49:01 +0100, Ian Rawlings
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>What advantages does the billhook have over a more conventional
>>machete?
>
>Shorter, better control of the cut because of the hook, less likely to
>glance off and the ability to move things with it.

I like the ones with a short straight blade on the back. buggered if I can
find mine, though, which is annoying as it was a good one and moreover I
spent some time getting a nice edge on it. I suppose I'll have to get
another, before some sod makes it illegal to buy 'em.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"The great masses of the people ... will more easily fall victims to
a great lie than to a small one" Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
from Mein Kampf, Ch 10

 

[Ian Rawlings]

On 2006-08-22, AJH <[email protected]> wrote:

> Shorter, better control of the cut because of the hook, less likely
> to glance off and the ability to move things with it.

OK, sounds useful, I'll stuff one on my shopping list for the future
together with a mattock.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

 

[AJH]

On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 15:52:14 +0100, Austin Shackles
<[email protected]> wrote:

>>Shorter, better control of the cut because of the hook, less likely to
>>glance off and the ability to move things with it.
>
>I like the ones with a short straight blade on the back.

The different styles evolved around the country, often to do with the
rotation length common for hedging or coppicing as well as the style
of working. Here we tended to go for a style in between reaping and
chopping, pointing to a more regular cut of small stems, the straight
edge is probably for cutting the larger stems cleanly at ground level
when plashing.

> buggered if I can
>find mine, though, which is annoying as it was a good one and moreover I
>spent some time getting a nice edge on it. I suppose I'll have to get
>another, before some sod makes it illegal to buy 'em.

I imagine decent ones will be getting scarce as a lot of the
manufacturers are gone now, manual working simply has no place in the
modern economy but the tools are still appropriate for simple tasks.

AJH

 

[Alex]

On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:16:55 +0100, AJH <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 15:52:14 +0100, Austin Shackles
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>>Shorter, better control of the cut because of the hook, less likely to
>>>glance off and the ability to move things with it.
>>
>>I like the ones with a short straight blade on the back.
>
>The different styles evolved around the country, often to do with the
>rotation length common for hedging or coppicing as well as the style
>of working. Here we tended to go for a style in between reaping and
>chopping, pointing to a more regular cut of small stems, the straight
>edge is probably for cutting the larger stems cleanly at ground level
>when plashing.
>
>> buggered if I can
>>find mine, though, which is annoying as it was a good one and moreover I
>>spent some time getting a nice edge on it. I suppose I'll have to get
>>another, before some sod makes it illegal to buy 'em.
>
>I imagine decent ones will be getting scarce as a lot of the
>manufacturers are gone now, manual working simply has no place in the
>modern economy but the tools are still appropriate for simple tasks.
>

There are still some about, but the last new ones i saw (about 6-7
years ago) were no bloody use at all. They had blades made of some
rather soft steel, which rather than being a gentle taper from blade
to back were just a large flat piece of steel with a 45deg edge ground
on. Not only were they no good for cleaving wood, they were also twice
as heavy as the old ones.

Evidently a case of someone looking at a billhook and saying "yeah we
can make some of those" without actually know what it's used for.

Alex

 

[AJH]

On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:51:17 +0100, Alex <[email protected]>
wrote:

>There are still some about, but the last new ones i saw (about 6-7
>years ago) were no bloody use at all. They had blades made of some
>rather soft steel, which rather than being a gentle taper from blade
>to back were just a large flat piece of steel with a 45deg edge ground
>on. Not only were they no good for cleaving wood, they were also twice
>as heavy as the old ones.

Sounds a bit like bulldog brand, that's why I specified Elwell but
there were a lot of other good brands, Fussell springs to mind. I got
mine from farm sales but the billhook in the picture (which is heavier
than many I have used so is for hedge work rather than cleaving) was
given to me by a work mate when I coveted it ;-).

AJH

 

[Richard Brookman]

Ian Rawlings wrote:

|| Wotcher all, I'm in the market for some decent knives, a short sheath
|| knife (say 4 inches) and a 12-inch parang of similar type to the
|| following;
||
|| http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/ishop/877/shopscr1350.html
||
|| The problem I'm having is finding one that I can be sure is of any
|| use. The parang on the above link has a rubber handle, unknown metal
|| blade and you're probably paying £20 extra just because it says
|| "special forces" on it.
||
|| Most sites I've found stock decorative knives, made of stainless
|| steel, or have handles that are rivetted on the handle surface
|| (causes blisters) or are made of rubber/rope etc. There's some quite
|| ludicrous sites out there with masses of daft knives that look nice
|| but seem to be inferior quality, quite why there's such a market in
|| trinket knives I don't know.
||
|| For both the parang and the short sheath knife I want a wooden handle
|| that has the blade's tang going all the way through and rivetted on
|| the end. The metal should be hardened at least, not stainless steel.
|| I don't want compasses and fishing kits built into the handle, they
|| just weaken it. The short knife needs a mostly straight cutting edge
|| without decorative curves that make it hard to sharpen.
||
|| For the "we'll all be murdered in our beds" brigade, these are to go
|| in the pinz/lane clearance toolkit in the back of the truck, not for
|| strapping to my side and striding around the high street or bolting
|| to the dash in full view.
||
|| --
|| Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

Anchor supplies do a couple of machetes - I got the one in the canvas sheath
(think it was marked as mil surplus) and it's great with a dull steel blade
that takes sharpening well (dull as in non-shiny, not as in blunt IHTA).
Ads in usual places.

--
Rich
==============================

Take out the obvious to email me.

 

[Bob Hobden]

"William Tasso" wrote >
> Good luck - seems every knife maker has become infatuated with shiny
> blades.
>
I saw some beautiful and very expensive kitchen knives the other day which
were hand forged in Japan in the traditional sword making way, layer upon
layer of thin steel forged together, Tojiro Damascus was the name if I
remember correctly.

regards
Bob H

 

[William Tasso]

On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:32:44 +0100, Bob Hobden <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> "William Tasso" wrote >
>> Good luck - seems every knife maker has become infatuated with shiny
>> blades.
>>
> I saw some beautiful and very expensive kitchen knives the other day
> which
> were hand forged in Japan in the traditional sword making way, layer upon
> layer of thin steel forged together, Tojiro Damascus was the name if I
> remember correctly.

Aye - seen that type of thing - way out of my budget except maybe for the
day we entertain visiting royalty.

In shops that sell those look out for knives with a ceramic blade - wicked
sharp. really can cut wet paper. Similarly reassuringly expensive :|

--
William Tasso

Land Rover - 110 V8
Discovery - V8

 

[mark]

Gerber freeman fixed blade. Stupidly strong and lovely to sharpen.
In fact if they make one; get a gerber machete too

--
Mark Roberts

 

[Larry]

Weight and heft I guess, I have a cheap machete of dubios manufacture I got
from an army surplus store so long ago I can't remember, sometimes though a
pruning saw is a better bet, all depends.

--
Larry
Series 3 rust and holes

"Ian Rawlings" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 2006-08-22, AJH <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Here's one I prepared earlier:
>
> I've got the saws, including a bowsaw and a surprisingly useful
> "pocket chainsaw" which works much better than I'd hoped.
>
> What advantages does the billhook have over a more conventional
> machete?
>
> --
> Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

 

[Corp-Rat]

On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 15:52:14 +0100, Austin Shackles wrote:


> I like the ones with a short straight blade on the back. buggered if I
> can find mine, though, which is annoying as it was a good one and moreover
> I spent some time getting a nice edge on it. I suppose I'll have to get
> another, before some sod makes it illegal to buy 'em.

I picked up one of those whilst working in wales a few years ago now.
ok the blades need a lot of sharpening (it's not the hardest steel in the
world) but the three foot handle on it makes it much more fun for grubbing
out anything from shrubs to small trees.

Eddie
--

If you don't know who's watching the watchmen.
The watchmen are raiding the warehouse!

 

[Neil]

On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 14:07:05 +0100, Ian Rawlings
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 2006-08-22, Ian Rawlings <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Wotcher all, I'm in the market for some decent knives, a short sheath
>> knife (say 4 inches) and a 12-inch parang
>
>This is looking more like it, will try to find how to get them in the
>UK.
>
>http://www.ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html

If what you seek is more of a bushcraft type of tool, then I can
recommend EKA. Eskilstuna, Sweden. Their blades are of Sandvik 12 C
27 steel. Mine was pretty darned sharp straight out of the box, but
with a "good" sharpening system and a little stropping, I'd be
confident I could shave with it!

I've been trying to recall the name of the company I bought it from,
but I can't. No doubt a google will turn up a supplier.

HTH

Neil

(Reply via NG please)

 

[Torak]

Neil wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 14:07:05 +0100, Ian Rawlings
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>On 2006-08-22, Ian Rawlings <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Wotcher all, I'm in the market for some decent knives, a short sheath
>>>knife (say 4 inches) and a 12-inch parang
>>
>>This is looking more like it, will try to find how to get them in the
>>UK.
>>
>>http://www.ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html
>
>
> If what you seek is more of a bushcraft type of tool, then I can
> recommend EKA. Eskilstuna, Sweden. Their blades are of Sandvik 12 C
> 27 steel. Mine was pretty darned sharp straight out of the box, but
> with a "good" sharpening system and a little stropping, I'd be
> confident I could shave with it!

Fällkniven (www.fallkniven.se) are also very good, particularly their S1
and A1 knives. Actually, might be the same company, not sure offhand.