Recommendation? Best chopper for the weight

91bravo said:
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The top one in your photo seems to be the bee's knees of choppers these days. You have a fantastic assortment of CPK knives.
 
22-rimfire said:
The top one in your photo seems to be the bee's knees of choppers these days. You have a fantastic assortment of CPK knives.
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It is in fact my favorite of them all, not that the others are slouches by any means. The BC feels the most balanced to me and has the most length. I'm partial to larger blades, so hence it's my current favorite chopper.
 
one day I'll find a heavily used cpk light chopper which won't break the bank...
(or I'll just modify one of those huge cs tanto's in 3v and try for a poor mans cpk)

in the meantime, a 14-16" bolo machete is light and tough and very inexpensive
 
The Carothers' light chopper is awesome. The 10 inch blade and 17.5 oz weight would save you a bit of weight.

Fiddleback Forge 16 inch machete is also great. It's 1075 steel, vs the better 3V for the CPK, but the added length gives you a lot more chopping power. And it's just 17 ounces -- more chopping power for less weight.

I was going to also suggest the 10 inch Busse BushWhacker Battle Mistress, which is the thinnest and lightest of the BMs. But you would save no weight. It would be a step up from ESSEE and extremely tough, but it weighs 23 oz.
 
marcinek said:
The best light weight wood processor is a folding saw.

Choppers have to be heavy. Because they chop.
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Yeah. There is that. ;) The weight and length is one of the reasons I seldom carry a "chopper" in the woods. It is pretty much a car camping thing, an occasional trail maintenance thing, or around the house for me. It is fun to wack away at wood, but it takes a lot of energy. This is one of the reasons I might carry the Condor Kumunga as it is something between a machete and chopper knife. Not expensive and I believe discontinued now. It carries easy in its leather sheath for a big knife. It pretty much stays in my truck along with a Condor Swampmaster machete (until I need one of them).
 
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bought cold steel gladius for eggzachary this use. its pointy unuf also for puma slayin or drilling birdtrap holes. winning
 
22-rimfire said:
Yeah. There is that. ;) The weight and length is one of the reasons I seldom carry a "chopper" in the woods. It is pretty much a car camping thing, an occasional trail maintenance thing, or around the house for me. It is fun to wack away at wood, but it takes a lot of energy.
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Agreed! I love a chopper and beating the bejeebus outta innocent trees within 50 yards of the car with a trunk full of beer.

But they are not really a practical option when there is moving about the outdoors involved.
 
One needs to exercise some judgement when it comes to car camping and activities immediately around the campsite. Beer or no beer.....
 
Parangs are very efficient. I had a small one, 1/8" thick from David Farmer and it out chopped bigger and heavier blades.
 
91bravo said:
Scrapyard 1311 or 1111, Becker BK9 or BK21, Carothers LC or MC are my suggestions.
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This, the 1311 is a brute for the weight. I think the only thing I have chopping that well at that weigh range is the Busse BB13, that is about the same thing but a bolo/recurve blade shape that digs in for chopping more and has more forward weight. 1311 is a better machete, the BB13 is a better chopper.

The bk9 is a great choice as well. I have no experience with the Carothers but they seem loved and certainly look to fit the bill.

A tram machete is nice but the hardness is not great for outright chopping as it dulls fast, not really what they're designed for though. Great for vegetation but the thicker stuff, not so much. Goloks and parangs are great here, the 1311 is basically a golok. The condor golok could be a good choice but could really use a thinner grind to get maximum effectiveness, and the 1311 has better materials. I do love condor's sheaths though.

The 1311 is said to be 19oz. The BB13 was the same, or very close, when I weight them.
http://forums.scrapyardknives.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/731622/SCRAPYARD_KNIFE_SPECS.html

For something a little off the beaten path, I have liked the Baryonyx machete as a bit of a trail workhorse maintaining mountain bike trails in my area. It is heavier than the junglas, but more effective, IMO.
http://www.baryonyxknife.com/bama.html

I think 3/16" is a perfect thickness for chopping as it's thin enough to get a good bite and thick enough to be very tough with the right materials and heat treat. Of course, some of that depends on the grind as even a thick stock can be ground thin if done well.

My current lineup of big choppers.
y6oMHcJl.jpg
 
Twindog said:
The Carothers' light chopper is awesome. The 10 inch blade and 17.5 oz weight would save you a bit of weight.

Fiddleback Forge 16 inch machete is also great. It's 1075 steel, vs the better 3V for the CPK, but the added length gives you a lot more chopping power. And it's just 17 ounces -- more chopping power for less weight.

I was going to also suggest the 10 inch Busse BushWhacker Battle Mistress, which is the thinnest and lightest of the BMs. But you would save no weight. It would be a step up from ESSEE and extremely tough, but it weighs 23 oz.
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...you could get a plain imacasa bolo machete -> only 1 pound : )
Imacasa-14.5-bolo.jpg
 
bikerector said:
This, the 1311 is a brute for the weight. I think the only thing I have chopping that well at that weigh range is the Busse BB13, that is about the same thing but a bolo/recurve blade shape that digs in for chopping more and has more forward weight. 1311 is a better machete, the BB13 is a better chopper.

The bk9 is a great choice as well. I have no experience with the Carothers but they seem loved and certainly look to fit the bill.

A tram machete is nice but the hardness is not great for outright chopping as it dulls fast, not really what they're designed for though. Great for vegetation but the thicker stuff, not so much. Goloks and parangs are great here, the 1311 is basically a golok. The condor golok could be a good choice but could really use a thinner grind to get maximum effectiveness, and the 1311 has better materials. I do love condor's sheaths though.

The 1311 is said to be 19oz. The BB13 was the same, or very close, when I weight them.
http://forums.scrapyardknives.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/731622/SCRAPYARD_KNIFE_SPECS.html

For something a little off the beaten path, I have liked the Baryonyx machete as a bit of a trail workhorse maintaining mountain bike trails in my area. It is heavier than the junglas, but more effective, IMO.
http://www.baryonyxknife.com/bama.html

I think 3/16" is a perfect thickness for chopping as it's thin enough to get a good bite and thick enough to be very tough with the right materials and heat treat. Of course, some of that depends on the grind as even a thick stock can be ground thin if done well.

My current lineup of big choppers.
y6oMHcJl.jpg
Click to expand...
The 1311 is thinner than I like, so it tends to stick when I'm chopping. It's a beast of a knife and like you said, it works better as a machete. I didn't like the weight distribution of the BB13. I always chopped with big Beckers and Busse/Kin blades, but since I discovered CPKs, those are what I grab most of the time now. They are the bee's knees when it comes to actually chopping and you can chop all day long with the superb ergos and super tough steel.
 
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91bravo said:
The 1311 is thinner than I like, so it tends to stick when I'm chopping. It's a beast of a knife and like you said, it works better as a machete. I didn't like the weight distribution of the 1311. I always chopped with big Beckers and Busse/Kin blades, but since I discovered CPKs, those are what I grab most of the time now. They are the bee's knees when it comes to actually chopping and you can chop all day long with the superb ergos and super tough steel.
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I forgot about the tendency to stick. I chop a lot of thinner stuff, 3" and under, usually deadfall, so sticking isn't as bad. Someday, I'll have to try a CPK.
 
Terävä Skrama- (top knife in pic)
https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/terava-skrama-carbon-steel/30189?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5diZlZWw5AIVjp6fCh0TfgmxEAAYASAAEgLnFfD_BwE

Uncoated 80CrV2 steel. Awesome optional leather sheath. It’s a bit odd looking, but really, really versatile. Made in Finland, they run out of stock in a hurry but as of today they have them available. Cheap shipping. It’s a chopping beast that doesn’t weigh a ton. It’ll split wood, make kindling, and do some remarkable fine work for a big knife.

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