I would choose the Spyderco Tuff! I'm visiting grandparents up on the farm and they had some work for me to do yesterday, which consisted of de-limbing some trees. I did not bring any fixed blades so I was left to do the work with my Tuff and CruWear Military. Didn't use the Millie though because it lacks the heft of the Tuff. Used the Tuff to chop through some branches, both live and dead that were upwards of 1 inch in diameter. A few of them I was able to get through in one swing, but most I had to v-notch and take them down that way. I did mostly half-swings with wrist snaps and some full swings. Never had any problems with the Tuff either, and even after using it for an hour there was only one small hotspot on my hand from where the G-10 rubs my finger during the wrist snap.
Anyways, here's some pictures of the aftermath of working with the Tuff.
The branch it is stuck in was the thickest that I chopped through. No hint of bladeplay whatsoever either.
Here's a pic of all the branches that were chopped down. The bigger looking branches in the back were dead enough to be able to be pulled off by hand a lot faster than chopped down.
Additionally, I didn't clean off the blade after all this and this morning when I took the knife out, wiped the blade off with water and a sponge and no rust at all. This 3V is amazing!
Good work! Very impressive! Wish they'd make an ambidextrous model. With the blades I've got, I'd choose the D'Allara Rescue SE.
I've been doing this kind of thing with my SE Pacific Salt and more recently with my SE D'Allara, mostly with living limbs up 1 1/8" or maybe 1 1/4", water oak and privet. But no chopping though. I've found that if you're lucky enough to be in a position to bend a limb almost to breaking, you can usually slice all the way through the bend with one cut! (I was amazed when I first did this.) Sometimes you can only get around 90% through but the last little bit is easy to cut. This has changed my whole attitude about SE blades. I really didn't think I had a lot of use for them before, but the suckers will really cut! My PEs tend to slide right off when I try this with them. When I have a keen edge on the Pacific Salt, I think the H-1 tends to roll a little when I do this. I think it's not really intended for this kind of work, and it's narrow enough to cause a hot spot. But so far I haven't seen any change in the D'Allara's VG-10 blade. And its handle is really a handful and hasn't caused any hot spotting yet. When I get a chance, I'm going to try to cut equal amounts with the two knives and check out the blades under magnification to find out what's really going on.
Edit: it's possible that this slicing technique may work better for me since I'm left handed, which makes the serrations face up when I cut. Don't really know if this has any affect. I'll try doing it right handed when I get a chance.
K-390 on hand: Mule Team 17, Police 4 G-10, Endela (burlap micarta), Endela backup, Endura (canvas micarta), Straight Stretch (now blade-swapped with G-10 Stretch), Delica Wharncliffe, Dragonfly Wharncliffe, & Dragonfly Wharncliffe shorty mod Note to self: Less is more.
I haven't gotten one yet but that K-2 looks to me like a folder that would fill in for a fixed blade. There is a reason all the survival magazines and books recommend fixed blades over folders. But to be fair most folders dont' have the Quality that BM and SPYDERCO have.
This is one of the reasons I love the old C-44 Dyad model so much>> it's a folder that I can do just about anything I need to do with it. I'm blessed with a set of Spyderco fixed blades I got back in the mid 2000s and still love them>> that is the Temperance 1 models in PE & SE. Working with them I can certainly see why you would want a fixed blade for sure.
I would say the Military model with one of the better blade steels and the K-2 along with the Dyad would be the 3 I would say to have for back up.
What this thread is telling me is this>>> if you go hiking, camping, fishing or hunting and all you have is a folder>> well then make it a big hefty, ridgid folder that can do a lot of what a fixed blade can do.
This also makes a good case for more blades to be made in the H-1 Salt Series.
JD Spydo wrote:What this thread is telling me is this>>> if you go hiking, camping, fishing or hunting and all you have is a folder>> well then make it a big hefty, ridgid folder that can do a lot of what a fixed blade can do.
This also makes a good case for more blades to be made in the H-1 Salt Series.
Yup! Even comparing the Tuff to the Millie, K2, and Catcherman, there is only one I would be able to use for prolonged periods. The Catcherman and Millie lack the heft of the Tuff and the K2 handle just didn't work for me, although I'm sure with gloves it would have been better.
And I agree JD! The Tuff reminded me almost of a smaller folding Rock Salt. I had one of those but passed it on to someone who needed it more than I did, but when I did use the Rock Salt I used the sam emotion for chopping, with a little bit of arm movement and a wrist snap at the end. Ed Schempp sure knows how to design a great knife!
Brock O Lee wrote:Nice thread Invective... Thats exactly why I bought a Tuff, to carry while outdoors so I would not need to carry a small FB.
When you pair it with a general purpose folder like a PM2 and another SE knife, you have quite a few basis covered.
This is exactly my view too! Tuff + either PM2 or Mili is an excellent tool box for most cutting chores. I'm leaning Mili most days for the extra length, but always with a Tuff. I love fixed blades and have a lot (too many), but so much more convenient to carry a folder in a pocket.
You can't totally rule out some of the past Spyderedged models like the stainless handled RESCUE model which is solid enough to drop out of an airplane with hardly no damage to speak of :eek:
Not to mention many of the other stainless handled models like the Police, Endura and even the old Mariner. All of those Spyders were as solid as a hard rock and would take the punishment that outdoor activity would dish out.
But with most of your survival magazines preaching that fixed blades are much more recommended than any folder can't be taken lightly. Because there are many reasons they make that statement. There is very little to go wrong on a fixed blade whereas most folders will eventually have repair issues unfortunately.
Also the new TUSK model looks like a ridgid billet of a folder.
RadioactiveSpyder wrote:
The Tuff definitely intrigues me, but I haven't pulled the trigger on one yet. Guess I better hurry before they're all gone!
CS still has a few at closeout prices! That's where I picked mine up and used the free shipping code as well :D
JD Spydo wrote:You can't totally rule out some of the past Spyderedged models like the stainless handled RESCUE model which is solid enough to drop out of an airplane with hardly no damage to speak of :eek:
Not to mention many of the other stainless handled models like the Police, Endura and even the old Mariner. All of those Spyders were as solid as a hard rock and would take the punishment that outdoor activity would dish out.
But with most of your survival magazines preaching that fixed blades are much more recommended than any folder can't be taken lightly. Because there are many reasons they make that statement. There is very little to go wrong on a fixed blade whereas most folders will eventually have repair issues unfortunately.
Also the new TUSK model looks like a ridgid billet of a folder.
I definitely agree! I've put some of my SE through heck and back, but with the tuff, it's one of the few folders that has enough weight behind it for chopping as well as the geometry to back that up. The SE Millie and Native's I have are great for sawing but the Tuff is the one I truly feel comfortable chopping with. I also have an old-school SE Mariner with FRN handles but that is a car knife, so far all I've used it for is some cardboard stuff when I forgot my other knives.
I had a Tusk that I got at a great price but unfortunately couldn't come to like the model. Oh well. Sold it to a guy who wanted it, hopefully he's using it well! It was well-built and solid, just not for me.
They live on a farm and don't have an axe, hatchet or machete?
Or some metal laying around you could file an edge on it ala sling blade...
Nice pics though
Slash wrote:They live on a farm and don't have an axe, hatchet or machete?
Or some metal laying around you could file an edge on it ala sling blade...
Nice pics though
They probably did. But if you'd seen their barn and the clutter in it, you'd probably opt for the knife in your pocket over searching through that mess :p My grandpa did have an old saw blade screwed to a long piece of plywood but that gave me splinters galore so I only used it when I had to. If I had to do it again, I'd bring along my Hossom Woodlander but it is nice to know the Tuff can take this much work.
