Link to Japanese Timber Scythe - amzn.to/2uAwM3y Link to Cold Steel Trail Boss Axe - amzn.to/37DlIkQ (amazon affiliate links)

"It's Mr. Miyagi-sharp. Did Mr. Miyagi sharpen things?... sharpened Daniel." Hahaha!

5:51 "Is it severed?" Was waiting for the tree to start comically spurting sap, some kinda anime moment right there.

You lost me when you started chopping down a tree with a pruning tool lol

In Brasil we call it "Foice Roçadeira", or on a poor translation, a scraper scythe. You can find a ton of those, in various sizes in literally any little tools shop here. It's not exactaly compatable to an axe, or hatchet, it's just a type of scythe, for cleaning a big area of tall grass or something like it. But fun to know that it is kinda rare for you guys.

We call that a "Billhook" around these parts. A traditional coppicing tool in quaint old England..

The American equivalent is the Brush Hook, or Billhook. I've cleared a lot of brush with one, but never bent one like that.

6:01 Chops down sapling, "Ah man, right on top of you guys, sorry about that." Love this guy!

In looking at the reviews for the Japanese Timber Scythe- I noticed someone mentioned using it to cut cactus and pricklys in the desert. Seems like a great alternative use, and saves them from getting all pokey! I know there’s lots of comments, but just thought I’d drop that idea here in case anyone sees it and would benefit from knowing!!

We call these bills in the west, they've been used as medieval polearms and forestry tools in europe for centuries

Man Cody, when you started to hit that big tree, I was thinking that it's like digging post holes with your chainsaw!! LOL Those are really good tools, and yeah sharp, and the long handle gives you a good swing to really cut stuff. The other thing that hook works great on is bamboo, which is basically a weed here in Japan, it really hits its stride on bamboo. Cheers from Tokyo!

It's like whenever the axe touches a branch the branch just pops off in a clean line.

Did some quick googling in Japanese and found a few illustrations on how to use that scythe. Apparently, you're supposed to rest the base of the cutting edge against the twig / branch you're cutting (if it's fairly thick or tough), then yank the scythe towards you.

I lived in Japan for three years in the mid '90's. A walk through a Japanese hardware store was a marvelous thing. I could spend hours in the garden section looking at various bladed tools trying to decipher what they must be used for. That was when I was first introduced to the traditional pull-saw. Always fascinating. Keep up the excellent content Cody.

Here in Ireland we call them slash hooks, been around forever. Most useful implement for cutting dense brush wood, briars, nettle beds and laying down over grown hedges. Would never use it for chopping down large trees.

“I’m really excited so I’m getting a little outa control here” 😂😂😂

🤔😐 “See this tree here I would never cut down” chops tree down........ 😐🤔

"Im excited, so im getting a little out of control here!" Oh, haven't we all been there before!

OH MY GOODNESS ! That is my laugh of the week. "Did Mr. Miyagi sharpen things?... He sharpened Daniel." The delivery was excellent... EDIT: rewind... replay... rewind... replay... I can't stop laughing!

You might want to check out some billhooks, and bush/brush axes. They have a very similar blade design and come in various qualities.

I don’t know, the Scandinavians can also make a hell of an edge on tools also

"Jack Robins..." Where'd my hand go?!🤔

"This is a Japanese forestry scythe." That is a damn billhook.

In Switzerland we have those as well called "Gertel" Without long two handed handle, but a stacked leather one

Reminds me of a scaled down brush hook. As a surveyor myself I use either a brush hook or a swedish brush axe. Awesome tool! Love seeing the tools other countries use for their area. Take care!

I heard a story back when I was a sprout. The Swiss made the smallest drill bit ever, it was so small it could drill a hole through a human hair. They were proud of their achievement and sent one to all the other industrialized nations. The Germans, the Americans, and all the others were amazed. The Japanese simply drilled a hole through it and sent it back. The too to me looks like a small version of a brush ax.

In ireland those are called slashers or slash hooks. A billhook here is a 1 handed version of this with a short handle no more than a foot long

Looks like a mini version of what we in the south call a joe blade

Brody: You're such a good salesman that Amazon has sold out of this item and they are not sure when the axe will be available.

For those who are wondering, that's a bush-cutting sickle (Yabu-kari-gama in Japanese). A tool that combines a sickle, an axe, and a forestry sickle. It's used for cutting bushes, thickets, or branches.

Also when you talk about scary sharp it literally makes my scars hurt

This thing is really sharp, let's go chop down a redwood😂😁

“Gives you the willies” 😂 I’ll have to ask my brother about this tool, he is currently stationed in Japan.

HoChiMinh slippers 😂😂

White pajamas and Ho Chi Minh slippers lol. Cody your banter is ruthless sometimes

Bill hook for laying hedges . every day a school day

We call that tool "vesuri" in Finland. The name tells it is meant to cut young trees aka vesa.

I thought the people sliding down the hill on a log with fireworks was a bad idea, but then I remembered the decades of “anvil launching” that happened every July 4th only a century and a half ago in the South. Then I thought “eh, there’s plenty of people to help if anything goes wrong.” 😂 Awesome video, cool tool. Again. 👍🏼

Land surveyor here, we use machetes a lot, something like this could be super useful though, if you had the room to bring it. Machetes are great for the size, can cut brush, small trees if you have to, dig for buried pins, and it all fits sheathed on your hip.

Here in Ireland its called a slash hook. Handle is a bit longer, head is a bit heavier to suit our stature. I thought it was a common tool to be honest.

I think I witnessed Mr Wranglestar fall in love with a “Miyagi” sharp chopper/limbing tool??? Get a room, sheesh!

0:31 what I say to myself every day when I see a spider

I can also confirm that cold steel axe has a permanent home in my truck. I've split ten inch felled trees with it to reopen a road. Took a while, but the axe didn't care at all.

I'm in Hawaii, big island, my favorite tool is a Japanese kine sickel * almost cut off my thumb once. I use it for everything, God bless you all. In the name of Jesus Christ I hope you all are having a wonderful day.

Had a chance to use a hand held hook. Surprisingly effective. The one I was given was shaped more like a L at a acute angle. That internal angle was sharpen so that when you pulled it through a branch it would capture and cut. Along with a back edge for light chopping.

My Japanese grandfather had escaped Japan and moved to Canada. He was put in a camp and also forced to help build the trans-Canada highway working outside in -40 degree weather during the winter. Never once heard him complain about it though.

When you brought out your Cold Steel Trail Boss as a comparison tool I was pleased I bought one to add to my overland camping gear. It was slightly on the dull side when it arrived but I put a file and the Lansky puck to it. That baby is sharp! The Japanese produce some amazing tools and they take incredible pride in the sharpness of their cutting tools. My brother had a craftsman make a couple of Samurai swords for his collection when he was stationed in Okinawa; traveling to one of the islands where this craftsman had his shop. I bought a "hori hori" to use in my garden and it will cut, saw and dig. It works so well I use it when I'm bushcraft camping.

When you first showed that scythe I was a bit confused. Surely that wasn't an exotic tool? My confusion comes from seeing these amongst the tools used by my father in his work as a gardener. As I continued to watch I could see that they were not identical though. Those he had were heavier versions, both in shaft and in the blade, and they were definitely not Japanese in origin. I'm pretty sure the blades were stamped with Solingen, which would make them German. In fact most of his cutting tools had blades made in Solingen. I never used these scythes, but from what I could tell they were not quite as sharp as the one in this video, but at the same time they didn't bend either. What I remember they were mostly used for limbing, though I was taught to use secateurs or limb saws instead as it's easy to damage the tree when limbing with a scythe, axe or other bladed implement. But that's something that's not as important when working in a forest as compared to when you are working in a park where it's all about aesthetics or in an orchard where your prime interest is keeping the fruit trees productive for as long as possible. Still the cuts made by the Japanese scythe in this video is impressive. With training I'm sure it could be used for 90% of the limbing my father used to do. It's just a matter of skill, and that's were the limb saw and secateur has an advantage as they are easier to handle with less training. So it's a case of using the right tool for the situation and your level of skill. My father often taught his workers to use tools that fit to their skills rather than try to teach them to use tools that took years to master, as most of his workers would only stay for a few years before trying some other line of work. Thing is there's quite limited career options in that line of work, especially if you don't go all out when it comes to getting an education which takes several years.

Mr Miagi joke got me howling.

I've been clearing 6-9ft tall guinea grass from a trail here in Hawaii, and I keep upgrading my sickles to larger and longer sizes. Near ground-level, this grass grows in clumps 6-20" in diameter, and the bases are 3/4" wide and semi-woody. With every swing, you risk hitting rocks or small tree trunks or dead limbs, so a blunt nub at the leading edge is invaluable. This thing would absolutely fit the bill for what I need. I actually broke a smaller stainless sickle at the root of the blade, so am always looking for thicker and tougher blades - this is serious work! Thanks for the honest review!

"So what did we learn" he says after bending the blade. We learned that the blade is differentially hardened.

Around these parts, we call it a tree hook or a pruning hook.

I'm from Spain and I've seen these type of tool in every hardware store. We call them tajamatas ( Bush chopper)

I'm canadian... and it's known here that we used to go rather feral during the times of war. Many stories of it in all the major wars. I doubt we still have that ferocity in us now lol

This sort of tool is simply not intended for chopping down a full-grown tree. It's not an axe. It's like a billhook or specialized machete.

Yeah Canada. “He who is free of sin shall cast the first stone.”

I swear it's cutting the branches before it even touches it.

Just so you know, that’s actually really common in northern Canada , I used to do surveying in northern Canada and due to the type of brush they have there these little choppers work way better then a machete does.

My grandmother used one of these in her garden for all her trees, and is the first thing her and my grandfather showed me how to sharpen.

plenty of those bill hook things in England, they used be mostly used on clearence work along roadside hedges... farmers fields and such

The Japanese man, they even try to make samurais out of woodsmen.

lmao "sharpened Daniel" @5:34

All your axe videos just make me want to go out in the middle of nowhere with like 20 different axes and just cut stuff lol

Then the question becomes: What is the best technique for the common man keep that curved blade that wicked sharp? As the sharpness is it's strength.

My grandpa calls blades shaped like that a hawksbill. He loves them.

5:30 ''It's Mr. Myagi sharp'' Lol

Wow! I can see this thing removing your hand entirely

Loved the video By the way: Hello from Portugal

Simply a small kaiser blade. Just really sharp lol. Fun fact - the kaiser blade evolved from the billhook, a medieval polearm in the halberd family . Knowing this it's easy to imagine this tool evolving from a yari, perhaps a kama hoko or something similar.

I lost it when he tried to chop the tree down... 😄

"Welcome back friends of the shop" gets me fired up every time. It's like Mr Rogers changing his shoes and putting on the sweater, except for Men. 🇺🇸

I want one. Or two. I might need three.

Gosh, I don't know, but I think those first two scenes are all we need to know to become profeshional tree trimmers over there

in Italy we have similar instruments, but with short one-handed handles. they have traditionally been used for hundreds of years for work in the woods and even a farmer has one or more. it cannot be used as an ax. basically it is used to remove small branches ... every region in italy has one or more different models from each other. it takes the right technique to use it, otherwise it breaks. Greetings from Italy.

Hi there, I love watching your videos. In South East Asia, those sickle/billhooks are commonly used in plantations and in the garden. In oil palm plantations, they are attached to long poles to cut the palm fronds and harvest the fruits. Ones with short handles like the one you are using is used for gardening, trimming branches like how you used it. Another common use for these sickles is cutting long grass. Most of them are made in China because of the low cost, but the steel used isn't as hard.

Love the way the Japanese think about things!!

In Vietnam this style we call "machete". It is an agricultural tool and is also used in the forest. It comes in different sizes and thicknesses, if you want to cut down a large tree you will need a machete with a longer and thicker blade. It is called " rựa ".

Did Mr Miyagi sharpen things? ..... ... Sharpened Daniel LMAO! Perfect timing on that joke

Cody, were you able to straighten the blade?

Did you see the Oshaoffender Insta today of the guy up in a tree cutting off the top 50 feet of the tree... he really should have watched your last video

First thing that came to mind wasn't an axe, but a bill hook.

Scandinavian here, I have something similar, an very old tool i picked up, had a old worn, short handle, gave it a longer, about 50-60cm handle. Blade longer and thicker than the one in the video and after restoring the blade and some resharpening i found that it will cut through branches of up to about 2-3cm (1-2 inches). Very lovely tool for debranching.

The Japanese did a good Job but the Germans makeing even better edges and better Steel they are the Kings

Oh cool, it's like a machete but worse.

My grandpa was part of a Japanese logging community along with his brothers in Montana till Pearl Habor happened and was then sent to Manzanar. Makes me wonder what kinds of hand tools they used and what they left behind.

In Germany there is a tool called "Heppe" which means hatchet in some sort. It has the same blade shape but a smaller handle for one-handed use. Its mostly used for trimming branches on trees you wanna cut down or have to clean up. I like it quite a bit, because you dont need to be as accurate as with an axe and its has a lot more cutting power due to its higher weight. Its mostly used for branches up to two fingers thick or smaller.

I like that he really went at it and didn't hold back.

We learned that a bill hook still has a use, my grandad gave me his and I use it every year to clear over growth in my garden. Great tool

Some folks call it Japanese forestry scythe other folks call it a sling blade - Karl Childers

Hi Cody, It's time for a little nomenclature assistance. •The BOLE of a tree is the whole trunk, not just a part of it. •Please don't leave stubs on the tree when you remove branches. This will encourage ROT. A properly cut branch will grow over and seal that wound. In a case like this, the next thing to do would be to go back very soon and prune the stub properly. Your Katana or a similar saw will do the finishing cut very nicely. Thanks, Michael.

I think this was designed for chopping down bamboo, which is basically a weed in Japan.

This is basically the same as the American brush axes. Kelly Works and Collin’s were 2 of the biggest names in American brush axes. It is was used for clearing heavy brush. There were several railroad companies that had brush axes commissioned with their name embossed on the tool.

"Did Mr. Miyagi sharpen things???" "he sharpened Daniel." chuckle chuckle chuckle

Before seeing this I doubted if a katana could really sever a persons arm off in one swing, but now seeing the damage this thing does with so little weight has really made me a believer in the Japanese!

20th century Canadian policy often imitated USA policy. We even gave prohibition a try, but didn't keep it up nearly as long as you did. The Canadian attitude is complicated, but as a Bhuddist once told me, "I didn't get into meditation because I'm nice, I needed it because I'm not." That improvement has been made implies improvement was required.

I love how excited cody gets whenever he gets Japanese tools

0:25 now that's what I call a party

"Not gonna say war crimes." Guessing that was supposed to internal? Because you totally just said it lol

We had these for ages here in Istria. We call them Kosir (a short handle version) and Rankun (a long handle version, almost a polearm). Best tool to have when you go into a forest, it's even better than a machete. Though this one looks flimsy AF, blade is way to thin. Our ones are two-three times as thick and are basically indestructible. Sources: I have used my late grandpas' kosir for last 20 years and it still cuts wood like its butter

That opening killed me 🤣