Awesome! glad you like it. Are you using it with the 38" handle? Something to definitely try is make a 30" handle for it and try it out. I find shorter handles much better to swing

Ben Scott One thing about it, I live in Tennessee and it's easy to get hickory handles. I'll make a few different lengths and test them. I kinda like the 38" because you can really put a "beat down" on the wood! My axe looks like something from the Medieval period!😝

Honestly if anyone had to pick an axe or saw only as a tool outdoors in the wild or whatever the most logical option to go with is the axe because it provides with almost everything a saw can do and u get a bonus because the edge of a axe is super easy to sharpen in comparison to the complicated teeth that the saw has sharpening a saw with hand is nearly impossible to do it right ur probably gonna end up dulling it even more and hence the axe gives u a bonus in edge retention also what the axe gives a bonus at is the maintenance of the whole tool it's far easier to maintain a axe than it is to maintain a saw in the outdoors for example if u accidentally drop ur axe at a sharp stone and ur handle breaks u can easily replace the handle with some sticks hammering the axehead into the new handle tight and ur can do this everytime ur handle breaks and it's way easier than trying to replace a saw handle and no matter what saw u use if ur handle breaks u won't be replacing it in the woods for example if we take this design of a saw in the video it's impossible to make the wooden parts of the saw in the wild unless u got planks and nails and precision other tools u will not make it and it will cost extreme amount of time and what the axe also gives u that the saw will never be able to give u is the ability of using it for self defense u can use ur axe as a self defense tool far easier than a u can use a saw besides most saw blades are flexible meaning u won't be able to do damage to a animal that tries to attack u in the outdoors so if u have a axe on the other hand u can do extremely high damage and probably kill the animal with a one shot to the head but it has to be strong enough to break the skull so yeah u can't do that with a saw its gonna bend or break by the pressure ur applying or u will just make the animal even more pissed off so this shows that the axe is simply the best tool to have if ur left with a Choice between the two

Yeah for sure, limbing with a saw is terrible and I think with a tree with many branches the axe could easily catch up. in any case it might be 10 minutes versus 15, and 5 minutes is nothing

@@benscottwoodchopper yeah and you can get in a good rythm with the axe or sometimes billhook depending on limb size. I got one of those Gomtaro Silky's and it works well but its just not satisfying its weird.

Maybe youve seen this already but its quite an interesting light axe that you can use a branch as a handle kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z9l_ltBzutS8pJc.html

@Re nato i have used a machete for green willow and it was fantastic but for this dead fir an small, wide bladed axe works the best

The basque axes are much better for clearing chips and not getting stuck. I find them to be more effective on just about any green wood. Not much going on with timbersports at the moment, nothing really till spring but for me next year will be do or die

sometimes it is a matter of finding the axe with the geometry that works best but there is wood that no axe cuts well, particularly when dead and dry

Mesquite trees. "misquote" ?

normally the axe is used for the face cut, and the saw used for the back cut. axe and saw together is the fastest way, sawing at a 45 degree angle could be done in theory for the face cut but it sucks on anything large

@@benscottwoodchopper Thanks. Can you recommend any instructional videos (including your own, if you've made any) that cover how to fell a tree with saw and axe? How about for bucking? When would one use a hand saw over an axe when working in forestry (at least in the past before we had chain saws)?

@@Abbbb225 In the days of hand tools being used for falling and bucking. The crosscut saw did the bulk of the work. The axe may get the glory in people's minds. But the saws did most of the work. The axe was used for Swamping out around the trees, chopping in the face cut, chopping in spring board and scaffold notches and limbing. Sounds like a lot, but it was the saws that made the logs and logs were the important thing.

Just checked prices for a 65cm saw, my bowsaw is 70cm. I could buy about 12 bahco bow saws instead and equip an army of elves to do the work for me lol.

It's not about the price, it's about long term use and when you cannot find fuel.

@@MrDosonhai Long term you're better off with a bowsaw anyway, those big long Silky saws i imagine are pretty easy to break by accident

@@zombiefighterof1987 But did you use the Silky Saw long term?

@@MrDosonhai What does it matter, i'm not talking about if it's a good saw or not, i'm saying that a bowsaw is WAY cheaper and will be more durable since the blade is supported on both sides, whereas the silky is just a long, narrow blade. Once you get tired it probably doesn't take that much for you to bend it while cutting and breaking the very expensive blade. And even in the long term, bow saw blades are dirt cheap and last plenty long enough and can be found in basically any hardware store

Thanks! I just find axe work to be less tedious than sawing, there is something very satisfying about making big chips

Actually silkies aren't faster than a buck saw, me and my best friend tried this once and we found out that when it comes to speed, the bucksaw always wins, because it is a lot thinner and thus needs to remove less wood to get through. We tested a new Silky Gomtaro against a bucksaw with a cheap old blade, the bucksaw was slightly longer tho.

@@oevr37 Try a Katana boy 1000 !

@@crissignori7482 Sounds like fun, but for that price I could buy another chainsaw.. And I don't even expect the katanaboy to be a lot more effective than a simple bow saw.

The Silky Temagari is good , it 500mm

I have the 350 gram sicialian, 700 american boys axe and 1300 calabria. 500-600 would probably be ideal

Ben Scott where do you buy your Ronaldinho axes and handles from, in UK? Thx

@@coast_valley You can find rinaldi axes on ebay, currently no uk store stocks them

i bought a Urnieta (basque) 500 gr head. It is a bit stickier than the 700 gr counterpart. But it makes a perfect bushcraft machine. I put a 23 cm handle for carving and putting in a small pack. And it gets really potent with a 55 cm handle. The catch is you have to contact the maker yourself. His name is José Ramón Jauregui.

its a rinaldi sicialian axe. Ideally you want to carry as few tools as possible because pounds equal pain and a lot of small items quickly add up. I would just take a small axe and a large saw for most situations

@@benscottwoodchopper Thanks! And sorry, I ended up commenting before I got to the end of the video where you said the axe haha.

@@sylvanstrength7520 No problem, should probably put the names in the description

American boys axe 700g 4.5", sicilia 350g has about 2.5"

when green and knot free it can be fun to chop, dry though its awful. tuatahi just bounces on it

@@benscottwoodchopper agreed, dry pine that's somewhat corky on the outside is some of the most painful stuff to chop on

@@ryanE95 probably the worst iv'e tried to cut is dry beech, that just felt like concrete and even with my basque racing axe it was ridiculously hard to remove even a 3 inch wide chip

Rinaldi are great axes but hard to find anywhere. At some point ill probably come over to australia, i really want to see how hard the wood is

Yeah in dead wood the saw has a big advantage, but in green i would say the axe will cut anything 6 inches in diameter much quicker. As the trees get bigger axe efficiency drops off sharply

You can sharpen the back of a silky saw blade and use it for limbing. The runner up on “alone” did this effectively. Then you have an all purpose tool. The only real down fall to a saw is you can’t sharpen them in the field. At least not to my knowledge

of course, sharpening saw blades is something very few people in the world can do well and certainly not out in the field. I think by the time you get good enough to use an axe effectively you are highly unlikely to break one unless it is of incredibly poor stock

not all axes have wood handles

@@benscottwoodchopper silky saws don't need sharpened to last years and years

@@dermotmcgreevy5220 still though, they do blunt eventually. I have seen one that lasted as little as 2 years

@@benscottwoodchopper If you have any dull silky blades you can sharpen them with feather files

I am also a big fan of billhooks, and having tried a few rinaldi make the best

@@benscottwoodchopper - Angelo Bergamasco also make good ones, but also less good ones (stamped from flat sheet). The advantage with Rinaldi is that they are devoted on making only forged roncole, and not compromise with quality for some extra sales. I don't own any Falci or Panzeri, so I can't tell. I find the Bergamo and Lucca patterns to be the most versatile and all-around, but there were some traditional French patterns that really had many things going for them, but they are complicated to forge in a modern setting, and complicated to quench.

@@MadNumForce Yes I have been very impressed with the quality of Rinaldi tools. In particular the leather handle with the metal hook is an amazing improvement to use over thin wooden handles, much more secure grip

I guess a saw could be handy for someone that has a physical disability as well.

When you learn how to use an axe properly its a game changer for sure. I find the small saw on a swiss army knife to be handy for any detailed stuff.

Never seen anybody bring a helmet in a bushcraft kit

I think it may also be partly jealousy too, that they arent skilled enoughto use an axe

Yes true, but both are still fruit!

@@benscottwoodchopper exactly :)

It has the look of a hudson bay axe everyone likes but without the issue of the handle coming loose. A well modified axe is the best and will outcut anything out of the box, even expensive

@@benscottwoodchopper What you mean time honoured designs and practicality wins out over how much you paid for it? Now I know youre a nut.

@@ajaxtelamonian5134 yes barking mad! btw are you going to have another go at getting into timbersports this year? been trying to push owen towards it but he is too lazy to write an email apparently lol

@@benscottwoodchopper Dunno man Ive been pretty busy recently but want to get back on the horse soon. Running out of wood to cut in the local area lol. Yeah not heard much from him lately he was keen last time it would be nice.

Do people actually do that, buck up wood .. with an axe? Illuminating. Sounds exhausting. My silky 650 goes through 12" diameter in 2 minutes, and I barely break a sweat.

@@jgw108 it's not common for people to buck with an axe lol. I don't know anyone else that does, other than on FB or KZfaq. I do it because i think its fun and good exercise. I love using axes and seeing how different geometry cuts and it's just a fun activity i like doing. Now on the other hand i dont blame people for using saws. Definitely is way more efficient. Especially if your running a firewood business. There's a big axe community thats growing everyday and alot of them are apart of the axe cordwood challenge. You can find it on Facebook. Alot of people chopping with axes.

@@jgw108 Silkys are super awesome! I'd way rather have a silky than my fiskars bow saw. I also have a bacho hand saw and it cuts pretty decent. But still, silkys run super well.

@@cosmicbilly Oh that's really cool, and I totally understand, everyone around here uses chainsaws and quads, clearcut forest, meanwhile most of them are overweight. I know a chainsaw would be much faster but I do it for the enjoyment and exercise, it feels like a real connection being out there with my saw and hatchet. So I totally get where you're coming from and respect that. I think I will look into a felling axe, sawing down a tree with the katanaboy can be slow and exhausting, feels like I'm fighting against physics the entire time. Any suggestions on a mid range ($) decent quality felling axe?

@@jgw108 council tool has 3.5lb jersey axes on a 32" handle. That'd be a good place to start. My best axes are vintage tho. From my grandfather or antique shops.

U alright?

no shit lol

Esee junglas 2 weighs 560g. Small axe in this video weighs 500 lol. Or the bigger axe wieghs about thesame of the large knife andsaw combined. Large knives are a meme anyway.

@@benscottwoodchopper Right Ben. The thing is that the knife is way more versatile and useful, especially when coupled with a suitable saw. Also, one doesn't use the knife and saw at the same time. That is where the weight advantage comes in. Granted, the choice usually come down to personal preference.

@@benscottwoodchopper By the way, could you tell me what make of axe that is? I'm quite interested. Much appreciated. I've always liked Estwing products, and I know the Estwing is a little bit heavier. However the Estwing doesn't have that nice long handle. The Estwing handle is,on the other hand, totally indestructible.

@@dennisleighton2812 I think big knives dont work well and are actually far less versatile for the vast majority of tasks than a small axe. Trouble with estwings is they weigh a ton due to steel handle. The axes in this video are both rinaldi.

@@benscottwoodchopper Thanks for the info Ben. I'll certainly go check them out! Respectfully I'd disagree, and I have used my home-made Bushwhacker 10 inch bladed knife for many jobs that an axe just wouldn't do. This is one of those things we will have to just disagree about! Cheers mate.