WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 49
  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-13-2009
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
    Age
    70
    Posts
    2,552

    Default Hand saw/ pruning saw

    So I'm thinking about getting a small pruning saw for around the house. To trim trees, thin the bamboo patch, etc. So I might as well get a nice folding saw that I could take on short hiking trips, or car camping. Do you have any opinions about a nice small, light folding saw appropriate for such use?
    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-16-2004
    Location
    Purgatory, Maine
    Age
    84
    Posts
    944
    Images
    18

    Default

    Check out the Felco brand. I have a Felco pruning saw that I have carried and used on the trails for at least ten years, Very sharp, fast, and dangerous to ones hands and clothing if used carelessly.
    Everyone has a photographic memory. Not everyone has film.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    08-07-2003
    Location
    Nashville, Tennessee
    Age
    72
    Posts
    6,119
    Images
    620

    Default

    I have 4 folding saws, not counting collapsible bow saws for yard work and backpacking.

    I recommend Bahco folding saw. Very light. Makes short work of small (4" or so) limbs and blowdowns. It's what I take these days, unless I'm taking my Sven collapsible bow saw for bigger blowdowns.

    I don't know the Felco brand, but would certainly trust Old Hillwalker's recommendation too. After all, he met me in the Mahoosuc Notch and shepherded me through and up and over Mahoosuc Arm like a mountain goat (him, not me)! He knows his stuff.
    Last edited by Rain Man; 05-12-2017 at 09:14.
    [I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35

    [url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]

    .

  4. #4
    GSMNP 900 Miler
    Join Date
    02-25-2007
    Location
    Birmingham, AL
    Age
    57
    Posts
    4,861
    Journal Entries
    1
    Images
    5

    Default

    I would suggest looking into two different saws, one for each purpose.

    For a camping saw, you want something that is light weight, and that might mean a blade that isn't as sturdy as something you would want to utilize for yard work where weight isn't so much of a problem.

    For example, I like using this Gerber saw when camping. It's light weight and extremely sharp. I can cut thru a log the size of your wrist in almost no time with this saw.
    However, I have to be very careful using this saw to make sure I don't bend the blade.

    For around the house, I prefer something with a little more heft to it... such as Corona brand saws available at places like Lowes. About twice the weight, and it's a bit more difficult to bend the blade.

  5. #5
    Registered User tarditi's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-15-2013
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    183

    Default

    x2 on the Bahco - tough, stays sharp, makes short work of it

  6. #6

    Default

    Sven folding saw

  7. #7

    Default

    I carry a Sawvivor when I head out to work my AT boundary line in Maine and usually in the spring/early summer to do some quick blowdown removal. https://www.rei.com/product/689759/t...r-sawvivor-saw. Sadly they are out of business. Luckily I have plenty of spare blades. I find I can cut a bigger blow downs with a frame saw than a folding blade type saw. Of course no saw will last long without paying attention to physics, if you cut on the wrong side of the branch when its under compression, the blade is going to get pinched (same with a chainsaw) With a folding blade type saw like the Fedco, you may bend the blade whne it pinches while with a frame type saw its far less likely to bend the blade but is more likely to just plain get stuck. Sven Saws https://www.rei.com/b/sven/c/camp-sa...wd-25553611252 would be my second choice and are a long term favorite of many canoe campers. It has a bit less capacity than the Sawvivor due to it throat depth but still has the same benefits. One thing to keep in mind it that most of these blades are intended to be replaced when dull. If you stick to clean wood they last a long time but cutting dirty wood with soil in the bark is going to wear out a blade. I have run into far too many sven saws over the years with dull blades and they sure can make things miserable. I strongly suggest buying spare blades when you buy the saw.

    Of course if you want one hand tool to inflict the maximum amount of damage and don't care on cut quality its hard to beat a surveyors brush ax. https://www.amazon.com/Bahco-3022-Cl.../dp/B000288XQ8. I used to hack many a line in the woods with one and a quick touch up with a file on occasion keeps it fairly sharp. The downside is that it tends to leave sharp "punji sticks" in its wake. When I want to move blowdowns quick that's my tool of choice. Far better than a machete and a lot faster than a saw.

  8. #8

    Default

    I'd have different saws. Several viable options offered. I would not be using a folding saw for anything larger than 3-4" max in either camping or home situations. If you do use one saw as a do it all saw be mindful to disinfect it regular or you can transfer disease

  9. #9

    Default

    I picked up a saw in Hot Springs at Bluff Mt outfitters one year when there were a lot of recent blow downs across the trail and I got tired of trying to break off branches by hand. It was a Gerber which the blade slid into an aluminum handle, vertically. It was very light and compact. I used it to clear a lot of trees off the trail in the following couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I don't think it's available anymore and I eventually snapped the blade in half trying to cut down a tree much bigger then I should have (at home).
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    05-11-2017
    Location
    Richardson, TX
    Age
    51
    Posts
    2

    Default

    Silky saws are my favorite. They are beasts. I backpack a lot in the Ouichitaw forest in Arkansas which has a lot of wood cutting involved (firewood, trail maintenance etc...) so I use their Big boy folding saw. It will cut through adult trees in no time flat, but they also have smaller models.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  11. #11

    Default

    Tipi Walter is known to have nice things and carries this folding saw. I personally carry a sven saw on shorter "camping trip" hikes.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post


    I finish the North Fork trail and connect to the brushy poorly maintained Rocky Flats trail and go in several miles and stop for a break with my trail tools.
    Trail Miles: 4,927.6
    AT Map 1: Complete 2013-2021
    Sheltowee Trace: Complete 2020-2023
    Pinhoti Trail: Complete 2023-2024
    Foothills Trail: 0.0
    AT Map 2: 279.4
    BMT: 52.7
    CDT: 85.4

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-19-2005
    Location
    Knoxville, TN
    Posts
    3,715
    Images
    3

    Default

    thats the model i use as well (in gambit's post with tipi's picture)------its like 20 bucks at home depot..........

    and easy to store in backpack...

  13. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    05-17-2015
    Location
    S.Florida
    Age
    37
    Posts
    40

    Default

    Bahco 396-LAP Laplander Folding Saw, 7-1/2 -Inch Blade great light weight versatile and sharp

    Sent from my SM-G900T1 using Tapatalk

  14. #14
    GSMNP 900 Miler
    Join Date
    02-25-2007
    Location
    Birmingham, AL
    Age
    57
    Posts
    4,861
    Journal Entries
    1
    Images
    5

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    thats the model i use as well (in gambit's post with tipi's picture)------its like 20 bucks at home depot..........
    and easy to store in backpack...
    What's the weight ?

  15. #15

    Default

    +1 Anything made by Silky. One thing you didn't mention is the size ( diameter) of the material you intend to cut. Silky makes small, light folding saws like the PocketBoy that would probably max out at a 3" branch, all the way up to the Katana Boy 500 and 650. Those will cut large trees almost as fast as a chainsaw.

    The Bahco Laplander mentioned above has become almost the gold standard in the bushcraft community. They are lightweight, inexpensive and the blade is almost indestructible.

  16. #16
    Registered User lumberjaime's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-08-2012
    Location
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Age
    32
    Posts
    67

    Default

    +1 for Silky (I particularly like the "Big Boy") and +1 for Sven Saws. I have used both for cutting wood between 1"-8" in diameter, they make quick work and are easy to handle.
    Righeous
    AT SOBO '13

    Montani Semper Liberi-
    Mountaineers are always free

  17. #17
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-15-2016
    Location
    Pereira, Colombia
    Age
    75
    Posts
    75
    Images
    3

    Default

    http://www.gerbergear.com/Cutting-To...lade-Saw_46036

    I agree with above, two saws. A bigger, better, longer buck saw for yard work and trail work and a small, lightweight folding saw that can slip in the pack for camping. I like the Gerber folding saw with replaceable blade, available at Lowe´s or Home Depot for about $22. It is sharpenable with a small three corner file and replacement wood cutting blades are about $6. Only weighs 8 ounces (without the included sheath which you don´t need to carry). Folds to a sleek shape about 9¨x 1¨ that slides in the pack with no problem. Room on the handle for two handed hold. 7¨blade for limbs up to 3¨ which is ideal for campfire billets.

  18. #18

    Default

    I have a Silky that I can't find...think the blade is about 10-12". Great saw and I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything from them.

    Frustrated, I just bought this one for $20.00 at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiskars-P...1002/204667606

    Seems to work as good as the Silky...not sure how long it'll last but it seems pretty stout.

  19. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-11-2017
    Location
    Luxembourg
    Age
    65
    Posts
    206

    Default

    I've had a Sven for about 45 years. It's a great saw for ripping through wood in the 1-4 inch range, but it makes a lousy pruning saw, as does any bow saw design. Good for car camping though, or for short hikes in if you plan on a nice big fire. I don't do fires much these days, but they have their nostalgiac place in my camping world.

  20. #20

    Default

    Time for me to start packing a saw and pruning shears when I day hike on local trails. Ran into a couple of blow downs on a hike yesterday.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •