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Best chopper for <$120?

hard to beat the kabar heavy bowie for the cost man... obviously a bk-9 cold, steel trailmaster, kershaw outcast...12 inch tramontina... martindale Golok, RTAK is a great blade if you don't mind the politics.. (maybe rat will be making ont soon) ALso I have a sneaking feeling one of our friendly local makers is going to be revealing something awesome in the not to distant future...
 
RescueRiley said:
ALso I have a sneaking feeling one of our friendly local makers is going to be revealing something awesome in the not to distant future...
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You have inside info don't you? I knew it. :D

I can't wait for the RAT Cutlery version of the RTak .. That will be a must get chopper for me. I doubt it will be under $120, but it is definately on my to get list.
 
HI kukri/Bura Bowie/AK Bowie/Kumar Karda

Really, the most "chop for the buck" will come from a $6 hardware store hatchet.
For not much more, there's the Fiskars hatchet, or Estwing (for those that don't like plastic hatchets).
 
Get in touch with Mark Wohlwend, here on BF as Charlie Ridge. He will forge you a heck of a chopper out of 5160 for around that price. Here is a pick of the one he made for me. I dubbed it the Big Nasty.
 

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Noss did a review of the Kabar heavy bowie and found it to be a great knife for the price. But it depends what you want to chop. If it's harder woods while hiking, a GB hatchet or axe would be ideal, or an HI Kuhkri. If yoou need more flexibility than just chopping, like you want to be able to use it as a draw knife, a big knife like the Kabar or the Crowell/Barker (it's easy to sand the micarta handles to shape, BTW) would fit the bill for under $120. For a more jungle-like environment, with thinner softer foliage, you'd want an HI bamboo cutter or Valiant Golok for heavier cutting, or a Condor/Tramontina/Martindale machete for lighter trail-clearing.
 
I can spend more than $120, just tring to get the "bang for the buck" factor. (Because if I just posted best chopper we'd be getting all kinds of Busse ... Busse.. Busse )

.......I take it you dont want a Busse huh. I would have said a battle mistress of sorts if you go higher.
 
I will eventually get a Busse, I just don't feel the time is right to be spending that kind of money on one in these times. I am find spending up to around $200 on a production knife. (Until these times are over .. or I at least get more $$)
 
You can also get (since you're willing to go over $120), the BRKT machete:
KSF Machete

KSF_Machete_with_Script.jpg


And comes with a kick butt sheath:
KSF_Mach_in_Sheath.sized.jpg
 
foxyrick said:
I've just found the Crowell-Barker at $117 - so it's back in ;)
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Cool. I paid a little too much for mine but it was worth it. Specs here. A very good knife if you can overlook the "made in Taiwan" thing... which does bug me for personal/political reasons. The handle is on the blocky side, but that's easily remedied if you're handy with a file and sandpaper. Certainly a maker around here could thin/round it out for you.
 
For me i'd go with the Kabar Becker BK-9, or the Kabar Heavy Bowie.
The Browning Crowell/Barker is an intriguing knife.
Actually got to paw one yesterday in a local sporting goods store.
My hands are medium-to-small and the grip seemed comfortable to me.
The thing you don't get to see in the side-on photos is that it is distal tapered (at both ends)!
Personally i can see the functionality of a distal taper in a sword but it seems kinda strange in a knife.
I prefer a uniform thickness from butt end to point.
But i guess the knife was designed for rope cutting competitions so maybe the distal taper helps for that.
 
tholiver said:
The Browning Crowell/Barker is an intriguing knife...
Personally i can see the functionality of a distal taper in a sword but it seems kinda strange in a knife.
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Distal taper is largely a balance thing. Without it, a knife like that with a long, wide and thick blade would be much heavier and unwieldy. With it, the blade performs very well and feels lighter than it looks in the hand, without compromising strength.

Distal taper is also a sign of quality handwork. You don't see it often on factory knives because it's more labor-intensive to produce, compared to just beveling and sharpening a flat bar of steel. Similar to convex bevels in that regard.
 
Best bang for the buck in choppers would go for the cheaper axes you can find in local hardware stores. Maybe even something from Fiskars - their stuff is good enough and rather inexpensive, although sometimes they need some work to get a good strong edge on them. If it must be a knife, then I'd look into the Ka-Bars (heavy bowies and cutlasses have been mentioned by others already), and if you want something larger, then Himalyan Imports makes some kickass khukris that are very good value for the money and come with a great warranty.
 
TheGame said:
Hey, 42Blades, what is the warranty on the Condors? I need to look that up I think..
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They have a lifetime warranty and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. They actually have a torture-testing wheel that they wrap their blades around to make sure they can flex well enough! :eek: As far as I'm concerned they make the best machetes on the market, and the Beavertail is an absolute monster. It's probably about 6-8" or so broad in the end!

Thin stock so it bites deep and stays maneuverable and won't cause fatigue. A great forward balance and a huge sweet spot makes quick work of everything from brush and brambles (tip: use the hook for the light grassy stuff) all the way up to hardwood. It's really astonishing how much work you can get done with one.

If you haven't figured it out, I really like Condor. :D I discovered them a couple of years ago when the distributor we go through at work started carrying them. I've always been a big fan of machetes (even in my temperate northern environs) and hadn't been able to find anything as nice as I'd like until them.
 
James_Terrio said:
Distal taper is largely a balance thing. Without it, a knife like that with a long, wide and thick blade would be much heavier and unwieldy. With it, the blade performs very well and feels lighter than it looks in the hand, without compromising strength.

Distal taper is also a sign of quality handwork. You don't see it often on factory knives because it's more labor-intensive to produce, compared to just beveling and sharpening a flat bar of steel. Similar to convex bevels in that regard.
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Cool!
The only other (production) knife i've seen with distal taper was a Bark River, i think the model is the Manitou?
 
Just ordered a Nepalese Kukuri for about $70 shipped. Will let you know when it gets here and I have a chance to test it out...
 
Got more replies than I thought I would. At least there is a lot of variety with this one.

I am definately getting a BK9. I am just wanting to get a lot of choppers for some reason. The chopper kick is setting in I think. Maybe it is just all the dead wood laying around my house waiting to be chopped? :D

I am probably going to get almost everything listed here in time. At least, the things I don't have yet :)
 
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