mcseal2
WKR
- Joined
- May 8, 2014
- Messages
- 2,726
Calving went well today and I had a little time to test out some saws. I never carried or used a saw away from base camp on hunts in the lower 48. Recently I started hunting in Alaska and for bone-in units especially I want to have a saw. I have several larger saws that I've used for work and on fishing and camping trips. I also have an 18" Wyoming saw we used on our moose hunt. I wanted to look at lighter options for this fall's caribou trip.
I tested the saws on bone, dry wood, and green wood. The bone was ribs from a cow that died over the summer. I cut the first rib and then used it as a guide to cut the others at a similar thickness. The dry wood was a 4" hardwood limb that had fallen near our silo, and the green wood was a 3" sapling that needed trimmed along the road to it.
The saws I used were a couple Outdoor Edge saws and a couple Gerber saws. I had the Grizz saw and the 7" Flip & Zip saw from Outdoor Edge. From Gerber I had the Exchange A Blade saw and an older discontinued T handled saw. I ranked them by how they handled bone since that is the primary reason I would carry a small saw. If I was planning on a lot of wood cutting I'd go with a heavier, longer bow saw.
My favorite of the test was the older T handled Gerber saw. It cut the rib in 34.9 seconds, the dry wood in 34.75 seconds, and the green wood in 14.5 seconds. The saw in it's sheath weighs 12.3 ounces. It had advantages over the others in a double edged blade that was up to 4" longer than the competition. It has a fine tooth bone saw on one side, and a coarse wood saw on the other. I used the bone saw side on the rib and the wood saw side for both the wood cuts. I tested it this way since it's a double edged saw and not one I would pack extra blades and weight on for different uses. It was the most comfortable to use and never bound up when cutting. It will be going to Alaska, and I wish they still made it. A friend that spent 25 years as an elk outfitter had the same saw the first time I hunted with him and I bought mine after seeing it. I packed it away it got forgotten until recently so I never used it much.
The next best saw on bone was the Outdoor Edge 7" Flip & Zip. It cut the rib in 37.54 seconds, the dry wood it failed on, and the green wood in 26 seconds. It weighs 6oz with it's sheath or 5.1oz without it. With this saw's design the sheath is not necessary. I called the dry wood test a failure because after 1 minute of sawing I was still only halfway through the limb. I wouldn't want to feed a fire with it, it just didn't do well at all on dry wood. The teeth on this saw are considerably finer than the Outdoor Edge Grizz saw and I think it showed in the test results. It did not hang up cutting anything and was pretty comfortable to use.
The third best on bone was the Outdoor Edge Grizz saw. It cut the rib in 1 minute, the dry wood in 40.01 seconds, and the green wood in 27 seconds. It weighs 5.3oz. It had the second longest blade of the test at 8", about 2" shorter than the Gerber T handled saw. It did all right for it's weight, although it does feel a little flimsy to me. I had it hang up once on the dry wood and bent the blade. It bent right back using the notch I already had cut to bend it, but it was worth noting. If this was the only saw I had along I would be pretty careful with it. It would probably be my second place saw overall since it did not fail on cutting anything in a reasonable amount of time.
The saw that I was most disappointed in was the newer Gerber Exchange-A-Blade saw. It's bone blade was not good at anything and hung up on everything I cut. It only made it halfway through the rib in 2 full minutes so I called that a fail. The same bone blade only made it halfway through the dry wood in 1 minute so I called that a fail also. On the green wood the blade stuck and almost broke, getting a severe bend. The blade felt sharp and was new or close to it, but it did not cut well. I cut the green wood with the wood blade it also came with, and it did fine but not much better than the Outdoor Edge saws. I must not have got that time wrote down. I would not buy or use this saw.
TESTED A BAHCO LAPLANDER AND SILKY BIG BOY LATER THIS AFTERNOON, RESULTS BELOW.
This was not meant to be an all inclusive test, just a test of what I had on hand. I am going on a caribou hunt this fall if Coronavirus doesn't screw it up, and wanted to check out some lighter weight saw options. I have an 18" Wyoming saw and a Silky Big Boy 360 with medium teeth that are better performing options, but also heavier and bulkier. For this hunt I'm not likely to need that much saw. I might try to use the Silky to do the test if I get a chance to see how it does compared to these others, it only weighs a pound. I would also like to try the Bahco Laplander saw I have. Mine is in my truck and was not at home today. It's a similar size and weight saw to the ones I tested today, and has worked well for me in the past. It's a sturdier saw than any but the T handle Gerber also.
If I get a chance to test the Silky and Bahco saws I will post the results here.
Edited 9:46, fixed a couple typos and added that I tested the other saws in a later post.
I tested the saws on bone, dry wood, and green wood. The bone was ribs from a cow that died over the summer. I cut the first rib and then used it as a guide to cut the others at a similar thickness. The dry wood was a 4" hardwood limb that had fallen near our silo, and the green wood was a 3" sapling that needed trimmed along the road to it.
The saws I used were a couple Outdoor Edge saws and a couple Gerber saws. I had the Grizz saw and the 7" Flip & Zip saw from Outdoor Edge. From Gerber I had the Exchange A Blade saw and an older discontinued T handled saw. I ranked them by how they handled bone since that is the primary reason I would carry a small saw. If I was planning on a lot of wood cutting I'd go with a heavier, longer bow saw.
My favorite of the test was the older T handled Gerber saw. It cut the rib in 34.9 seconds, the dry wood in 34.75 seconds, and the green wood in 14.5 seconds. The saw in it's sheath weighs 12.3 ounces. It had advantages over the others in a double edged blade that was up to 4" longer than the competition. It has a fine tooth bone saw on one side, and a coarse wood saw on the other. I used the bone saw side on the rib and the wood saw side for both the wood cuts. I tested it this way since it's a double edged saw and not one I would pack extra blades and weight on for different uses. It was the most comfortable to use and never bound up when cutting. It will be going to Alaska, and I wish they still made it. A friend that spent 25 years as an elk outfitter had the same saw the first time I hunted with him and I bought mine after seeing it. I packed it away it got forgotten until recently so I never used it much.
The next best saw on bone was the Outdoor Edge 7" Flip & Zip. It cut the rib in 37.54 seconds, the dry wood it failed on, and the green wood in 26 seconds. It weighs 6oz with it's sheath or 5.1oz without it. With this saw's design the sheath is not necessary. I called the dry wood test a failure because after 1 minute of sawing I was still only halfway through the limb. I wouldn't want to feed a fire with it, it just didn't do well at all on dry wood. The teeth on this saw are considerably finer than the Outdoor Edge Grizz saw and I think it showed in the test results. It did not hang up cutting anything and was pretty comfortable to use.
The third best on bone was the Outdoor Edge Grizz saw. It cut the rib in 1 minute, the dry wood in 40.01 seconds, and the green wood in 27 seconds. It weighs 5.3oz. It had the second longest blade of the test at 8", about 2" shorter than the Gerber T handled saw. It did all right for it's weight, although it does feel a little flimsy to me. I had it hang up once on the dry wood and bent the blade. It bent right back using the notch I already had cut to bend it, but it was worth noting. If this was the only saw I had along I would be pretty careful with it. It would probably be my second place saw overall since it did not fail on cutting anything in a reasonable amount of time.
The saw that I was most disappointed in was the newer Gerber Exchange-A-Blade saw. It's bone blade was not good at anything and hung up on everything I cut. It only made it halfway through the rib in 2 full minutes so I called that a fail. The same bone blade only made it halfway through the dry wood in 1 minute so I called that a fail also. On the green wood the blade stuck and almost broke, getting a severe bend. The blade felt sharp and was new or close to it, but it did not cut well. I cut the green wood with the wood blade it also came with, and it did fine but not much better than the Outdoor Edge saws. I must not have got that time wrote down. I would not buy or use this saw.
TESTED A BAHCO LAPLANDER AND SILKY BIG BOY LATER THIS AFTERNOON, RESULTS BELOW.
This was not meant to be an all inclusive test, just a test of what I had on hand. I am going on a caribou hunt this fall if Coronavirus doesn't screw it up, and wanted to check out some lighter weight saw options. I have an 18" Wyoming saw and a Silky Big Boy 360 with medium teeth that are better performing options, but also heavier and bulkier. For this hunt I'm not likely to need that much saw. I might try to use the Silky to do the test if I get a chance to see how it does compared to these others, it only weighs a pound. I would also like to try the Bahco Laplander saw I have. Mine is in my truck and was not at home today. It's a similar size and weight saw to the ones I tested today, and has worked well for me in the past. It's a sturdier saw than any but the T handle Gerber also.
If I get a chance to test the Silky and Bahco saws I will post the results here.
Edited 9:46, fixed a couple typos and added that I tested the other saws in a later post.
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