First Chopper Knife

22-rimfire

22-rimfire

Joined
Nov 20, 2005
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What was the first really large knife you purchased? Do you use them? Machetes don't count.

In my case, the first one was a SOG Tiger Shark (a couple actually) back in my SOG days when I first jointed Blade Forums. Sometimes I hate to admit it, but I still get a little wowed when I pick up a Tiger Shark. More came later.

I don't believe I ever used one of my Tiger Sharks for anything. But still fun.
 
Busse Basic 9. Found it online at a now defunct knife site for the princely sum of $100.

They had 3. I thought better of only buying one, and went back the next day to buy the other two and they were gone.

Yes, I still use it. A lot.
 
Had some cheap large knives when I first got into the hobby, but the first "real" one would have to be a CS Trail Master in Carbon V. Still have it, but never used it. I currently have a SMIII TM and a SMIII Ghurka Kukri that I got great deals on that I set aside from the collection and designated them as "users", but have yet to actually use them. Just not much need in suburban MA :oops:
 
RD 9 from Ontario
The handle was very blocky and made a lot of hot spots.
The Cold Steel Kukri machete takes care of most anything I need a larger knife for.
My Busse WTF, HUCK, and Scrapyard 1111 are still fun and good for roots or hacking through bone.
The HUCK and the 1111 are the most useful though.
The WTF is a beefy knife and can get tiring to swing after a while.
 
Mine was a Becker 91, basically a BK 9 in tan. I used it a lot at first, but I slowed down on hiking and got other choppers to try out. I still have it, but I never really liked the sheathe that much. If I run up a new sheathe, it will probably go out with me again, it's a damn good knife.
 
Probably my Ka-Bar 1211. Used it on some boxes, cut through some tree branches and dug up some worms for drowning.
 
Skrama. Until I got it, my only big knives were USMC Ka-Bar and Buck 119, in other words, not all that big. Skrama chops very well, by all accounts at least as well as other big knives, although I don’t have the experience with other big knives to make the comparison.

My only other biggish knife is the Anza Dune Slayer which arrived today. The blade is 7 3/4” and 1/4” thick at the tang. I don’t know if they all start with a file that big, but this is a heavy knife. I didn’t buy it as a chopper, but I will certainly give it a shot, before returning to my heavy machetes for chopping duty.
 
Mine was a Jungle model kukri from Nepal. I got that one in 2010 and I still love it and use it often.
 
had some others but the sp10 was the first one I bought I used it to chop fire wood used as a kitchen knife a general garden tool I wanted to see how good it was and it did not disappoint when you get used to it it's hard to put down I had to test it properly so I did and love it
 
The first run Swamp Rat Camp Tramp, which I will never sale. It brought me here and down the path of being a nut for knives. Still nothing tops it. :)
 
For me it was the Gerber BMF followed close by Buck master 184 :) Still have both, both unused. I was a kid then and I couldn’t handle that heat getting caught outdoors with them lol.
 
I was lucky when I first got into knives. Swamp Rat (a Busse company) was producing a lot of great fixed blade knives (I wish they still were!). I bought a Battle Rat: SR101 steel, 9.5" blade, 1/4" spine, finger choil, Resiprene C handle (great stuff!). Buy Brown made a nice Kydex sheath for it.

I thinned out the edge a lot, wondering if it would still cut the hard, dead wood in the forests around here without rolling or chipping, but it did great! It's my first choice to carry on wilderness trips, probably the closest to a "do everything" knife I'll ever get. Couldn't be happier with it, but if I ever run across a similarly sized Busse chopper I like in INFI, for a reasonable price, I'll probably buy it, just to have one.
 
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I bought a Blackjack Reinhardt kukri back in the mid-90's. It was a ferocious weed whacker! Right up to the point I hit a rock and it snapped in two:(
 
Busse Basic 11...used it quite a bit after stripping and regrinding it, sold it after I got my first Carothers Light Chopper;).

~Chip
 
WValtakis said:
Busse Basic 11...used it quite a bit after stripping and regrinding it, sold it after I got my first Carothers Light Chopper;).

~Chip
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Have an old battle mistress-E. It was my foray into large/chopper knives and while it still has a place in my heart I haven't used it much since the LC showed up.

Granted, I use a different chopper by Big Chris more than any other at the moment, but the LC is definitely one of my favorites.
 
Skrama here as well. I needed a blade that would fill a gap between a machete and a hatchet or boy's axe for hard work and this thing does not disappoint. It gets into tight spaces where you can't really swing an axe effectively. It is also a better tool than a machete for thick hardwood (in my case hickory). It goes out with me, a chainsaw, a machete and an axe as I harvest and process firewood from the massive hickories that were downed in my yard last year. I like it so much, I now have a mini Skrama on the way.
 
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