pruning shears vs knife... for smallish vegetatuion

R

roadkill0000

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Oct 23, 2015
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Hi there. I have a quick question to you all. Im looking for a knife that will help me during my airsoft (bb gun) games, as a sniper in the brush. I get caught up in vegetation alot, twigs, thick thornes, etc, and need to cut myself free. I also want to use my knife to cut small plants on the ground, as well as some larger sticks and such, to add to my ghillie suit to help me further camoflouge myself. Now... typically a pair of pruning shears is recommended for this job, but id like to try a knife if possible. Also, I will be carrying this knife in an hsgi taco pouch, or on a pouch that mount to 'Molly' webbing on a battle belt. The benchamade Adamas, is a tactical knife that comes with its own molly sheath. I was also looking at a smaller knife such as the Zero Tolerance 0350 or a small spyderco... I just want to cut some small sticks and vegetation up, quickly and effectively in one or two clean pases.

What would you recommend? or should I stick with a pruning shears?
Thanks!
 
I work in a vineyard, and would definately say shears are much better than a knife for most jobs. Depends on if you want to carry them though, and how often you'd be using them. There are some days where I leave my shears back in the shed, and carry just a couple knives. Recently I've been carrying my stag boker scout as a backup to either my Rat3 on my belt, or my Manix2 in my pocket. Easy enough to 'get by' if you can spare using 2 hands to cut, but if you want to use only one hand you'll want to get a hawkbill blade like a 'pruning' knife.
 
I have some tropical acreage and carry a pair of pruning shears in a custom kydex sheath. I usually have at least two blades with me: a 3 to 4 inch fixed or folder and something bigger - usually a Junglas (10") or bigger. There is nothing better than a good pair of compact pruning shears for what your talking about. A friend of mine is a Scout Recon Sniper instructor and he uses pruning shears, too.

For precision cuts on smaller vegetation, the shears can't be beaten. And your chances of getting cut are near zero when using shears in a hurry.
 
Worked a landscape job this summer, and the Tasman SE was my 'go to.' Way handier than I imagined it'd be.
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As a hunter I do a lot of this kind of work; I recommend pruning shears over a knife. As much as l like knives there really is no comparison, shears work so much better.
 
Both.... pruning shears and a knife. It depends on the frequency of use more than everything. If it is something that you do three or four times during a airsoft event, then I'd carry both. If it is something that happens once an event, then a knife.

I would seriously consider a fixed blade and then carry a small knife in your pocket. I think you'd be comfortable with your preliminary choices. But again, it you do lots of cutting, carry the pruning shears too.
 
Shears are great but if you plan on using a knife consider something thin and sharp. As an example my Mora would excel at cutting through thin fibrous material where are my ESEE Izula II well just doesn't compare. Of what you listed the spyderco likely would work best IME. I think Fiskars sells a small, lightweight, cheap pair of shears that might be worth a try. Personally I prefer ones with the curved blades.
 
In the garden, I use Stanley's Titanium Bypass Shears for 90% of cutting backed up by a Mora Companion HD.

Super sharp curved blade and easy to maintain that way. Also, can be opened wide enough to make slicing cuts. Avoid the anvil style shears.

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Shears for woody stuff, a good hawkbill for vegetation. For vegetation, grab a handful of the stuff to gather it and use a drawing cut at the base of the stalks, held under tension.
 
I have a couple pairs of plastic hand pruning shears (very light) which I carry when I photograph plants in the woods and so forth. They aren't strong enough for something the size of your little finger however. The micro pruners are also very useful for small stuff up to about little finer thickness possibly. I use these a lot in my garden to clip off plants and so forth.
 
These behave like real chainsaws when dealing with branches, twigs and vines in my experience...

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The Spyderhawk has no rival as a gardening/pruning knife! And it's so lightweight you'll forget you're carrying it...
 
Get yourself a Becker bk9 ,7, or 2..hell a 16 would work for what your needing it for, and won't break the bank
 
I actually cleared a bunch of brush today that was creeping into my driveway,,, Mora Companion made quick work of it...then used it to cut a torn safety net off the kids trampoline.. After all that checked the edge on some magazine paper,, push cut with ease. Granted all of this was done with my reprofiled convex edge but still great steel.
 
Sounds like you want something hawkbill-shaped, like the Spyderco Tasman posted earlier, or its budget versions the Byrd Hawkbill and Crossbill. If you want something more traditional, check out the Opinel Hawkbill Pruning Knife. Condor also has a fixed blade pruning knife (their "Bush Knife") which is a bit bigger than the other two options, but much sturdier and can be used for chopping as well.
 
Gerber makes a cool pair of folding pruners. They'll fit in your back pocket and can do a lot more than a little pair of hand shears
 
Pruner beats knife all day long for cutting woody stems.

Now, since this is a forum where cutting performance is valued, if you are willing to pay a little more for better performance, look at ARS pruners:

http://www.ars-edge.co.jp/world/02products/product_05pruningshears.html

I have a VS8Z and my wife uses a 130DX. I also have pruners from Corona and Felco, and they don't come close to ARS. If you want something small and light (and not expensive, they can be found for around $30) the 130DX is the best option. For a standard size pruner, the V8Z is great (VS-8Z can be found for $46 plus free shipping at the big online retailer and for less on the bay). Most people regard Felco as the cadillac of shears, but I'll take my ARS over my Felco any day of the week. And they cost less than Felco, too.
 
wow, so many good suggestions. alot of different options, yet all look really good in their own way, exactly what im looking for. wish i had more knives to buy so i could just post more threads! haha.
Thank you, im not sure what ill go with just yet..

the key limitation is my loadout, i think even the smallest pruners wont fit on me. Also, this is almost entirely for cutting thin vegetation rather then sticks, so the knife might actually do. but, i wont be able to get as nice and precise cuts with the knife as i can with the pruners, but i think this is a trade off i can probobly live with.. i think, as an experiment im going to go out with my army knife and try it out, if its a hassle, ill probobly just get the smallest pruners i can find. thanks!
 
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