My thoughts on saws for bushcraft

[Hammock Hamster]

Hi Guys,

I have been playing around with videos recently and have started putting together some clips on bushcrafty type subjects.

I made a video recently about bushcraft saw and my thoughts on them, to be honest I tend to favour a larger saw as it allows me to do a little bit more but thought I would post it on here as a general conversation to see what others favour and why.

I personally quite like the fixed Silky saws but also have a soft spot for the Laplander as it was one of my first and is great for just dropping in pocket or really small pack.

So what saws do you favour and why?

[video=youtube;ft0DUFRKeoU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft0DUFRKeoU[/video]

Cheers, Hamster

 

[Harvestman]

Nice to see someone else's thoughts. As many others I have a Laplander, and it meets my needs perfectly well, though Silky saws are generally faster.

 

[bobnewboy]

I like my Laplander for most things, but the missus bought me a pocket/hand chain saw for bigger trunks and it has been really useful. Obviously very portable too as it rolls up into a small pouch and fits in a pocket. Its small size and inoffensive appearance means that it probably wouldnt raise many eyebrows in the 'burbs either.

I hadnt seen a silky saw until yesterday, when Dark Horse Dave showed me his. Nice and effective, but I will stick with the Laplander and pocket chainsaw for now.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

I like my Laplander for most things, but the missus bought me a pocket/hand chain saw for bigger trunks and it has been really useful. Obviously very portable too as it rolls up into a small pouch and fits in a pocket. Its small size and inoffensive appearance means that it probably wouldnt raise many eyebrows in the 'burbs either.

I hadnt seen a silky saw until yesterday, when Dark Horse Dave showed me his. Nice and effective, but I will stick with the Laplander and pocket chainsaw for now.

I have a pocket chainsaw (one of those 'unbelievable saws' i think), and i must admit, i do find it rather hard work. I'm wondering if i am not using it in the most efficient way, or if there are other better models out there. A bow saw is certainly 2-3 times faster to get through any wood. I appreciate that it rolls up into a pocket etc, but i was (perhaps wrongly) under the impression that these pocket chainsaws were supposed to be really quick/easy!

 

[SGL70]

I have a Laplander and a home made Buck saw. Both are excellent. The Laplander for making me warm and the Buck saw for actually sawing things.

Cheers
Greger

 

[Hammock Hamster]

I have a Laplander and a home made Buck saw. Both are excellent. The Laplander for making me warm and the Buck saw for actually sawing things.

Cheers
Greger

I also have a homemade buck saw which I actually never use, they are good for processing larger wood but since getting the fixed blade it allows me to cut the same larger diameters for a smaller amount of pack space.
I did really enjoy making it and feel a bit guilty for not putting it to more use.

 

[bobnewboy]

I have a pocket chainsaw (one of those 'unbelievable saws' i think), and i must admit, i do find it rather hard work. I'm wondering if i am not using it in the most efficient way, or if there are other better models out there. A bow saw is certainly 2-3 times faster to get through any wood. I appreciate that it rolls up into a pocket etc, but i was (perhaps wrongly) under the impression that these pocket chainsaws were supposed to be really quick/easy!

I think my one is an "unbelievable saw". I havent seen any others in the flesh to compare it to, but my one does cut a kerf wider than the segmented main part of the blade, and the only time it seems to get stuck is when I'm cutting green standing wood - the downwards pressure on the kerf/cut closes it. That can be avoided though. It is very efficient against large christmas trees..... When cutting bigger firewood with it, I tend to put it under the branch/piece, put my foot on top of the same and saw away. It is easy to control the kerf then and the saw does not get stuck.

I would never claim that it is anywhere near a buck saw or similar for efficiency, but for me the key advantages are it's absolute portability, size, weight and safety.

 

[sunndog]

silky zubat for work
felco or laplander for crafting jobs or if the odd branch needs trimming
bob destroud buck saw firewood in camp

 

[Tiley]

I use a buck saw for larger wood; other than that, I have a Laplander for all the usual reasons but have recently bought one of the larger Silky Pocketboy saws. This last is brilliant and has the advantage of a bright orange handle - so much easier to see on a darkening woodland floor!

 

[The Lord Poncho]

I think my one is an "unbelievable saw". I havent seen any others in the flesh to compare it to, but my one does cut a kerf wider than the segmented main part of the blade, and the only time it seems to get stuck is when I'm cutting green standing wood - the downwards pressure on the kerf/cut closes it. That can be avoided though. It is very efficient against large christmas trees..... When cutting bigger firewood with it, I tend to put it under the branch/piece, put my foot on top of the same and saw away. It is easy to control the kerf then and the saw does not get stuck.

I would never claim that it is anywhere near a buck saw or similar for efficiency, but for me the key advantages are it's absolute portability, size, weight and safety.

Thanks! I think i probably need to practice my technique a little more then, and perhaps just man up!

 

[bambodoggy]

Laplander for playing in the woods (also like my little gerber folding saw too).
Homemade buck saw for extended trips.
Silky Gomtaro for handsaw work at work.
Stihl MS261 for fire wood processing.

Cheers,

Bam.

 

[Tom Gold]

I have recently made my 5th bucksaw, the first one I've actually been happy with. It will never be as convenient as the Laplander for small to medium work but it looks alot more bushcraft if that makes sense. Given a straight choice its the bucksaw hands down.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Has anyone made a bucksaw that can utilise one of those pocket chainsaws? I wonder if that would make it more efficient.

 

[Laurentius]

At the moment I am using a Wilko folding saw, because it is cheap and I needed one. I don't have anything to compare it with apart from my SAK which is obviously for much smaller jobs. The Wilko may well take longer than something more expensive, or indeed bigger, but I'm not to fussed about it at the moment.

 

[British Red]

Laplander for playing in the woods (also like my little gerber folding saw too).
Homemade buck saw for extended trips.
Silky Gomtaro for handsaw work at work.
Stihl MS261 for fire wood processing.

Cheers,

Bam.

Mines a different Silky, and the Still is an MS291 (plus a Husqy 350) but yup, thems good choices. Throw in panel saws, tenon saws, dovetail saws, cross cut, circular saws, sliding chop saw, jig saws, table saws etc. Oh and two man and one man hand sharpenable cross cut saws.

One size does not fit all.

 

[British Red]

Has anyone made a bucksaw that can utilise one of those pocket chainsaws? I wonder if that would make it more efficient.

It doesn't. Pocket chainsaws have an enormous kerf hence they have to remove five times as wood as a bow saw blade, requiring five times the effort.

 

[sunndog]

Has anyone made a bucksaw that can utilise one of those pocket chainsaws?

If they have, they wished they hadn't after about 1 seconds use

 

[The Lord Poncho]

That clears that up then!

 

[Hammock Hamster]

At the moment I am using a Wilko folding saw, because it is cheap and I needed one. I don't have anything to compare it with apart from my SAK which is obviously for much smaller jobs. The Wilko may well take longer than something more expensive, or indeed bigger, but I'm not to fussed about it at the moment.

I completely agree with that. I think my first was a cheap pound shop folding saw and it served me well.
I got the Laplander to replace my 2nd or 3rd broken one of these as they were well reviewed and very well made.
I ended up getting the silky's after a recommendation from a tree surgeon friend knowing I cut a lot of green wood and wouldn't go back now.

I would be happy to use any and all of the above but have always found that whenever I buy a good quality tool I tend to stick with it until something better comes along.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Toddy]

For outdoors I use a laplander or a bow saw.

The laplander is utterly reliable, takes dog's abuse and still cuts whatever I need.
I took down a 20' apple tree with one

I know the silky gets all the acclaim of being quicker, etc., but at the price and the known break-ability of them, I'm happy with the laplander…..and you can get them in orange if preferred.

cheers,
Toddy