Stainless chopper? Help!

roninelh

roninelh

Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
610
I have decided that because where I live I will have a wet/winter set of tools(axe, large blade and puukko or bushcraft blade) and a summer/dry season set of tools. My question for the knowledgeable people of BF is what to use for a wet weather large/chopping knife? I have a fiskars x15 axe and an entrek forester to match it with so I would like it to be synthetic handled as well as stainless steel and 7-9 inch blade. Any suggestions? I would like to spend around $50-$75.
 
closest that comes to mind is the kershaw outcast

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Here's the best advice you will get. Becker BK9 which is coated 1095 non-stainless, and wipe off the edge when you're done using it. You gain nothing from stainless except corrosion resistance which is bottom of the list when it comes to chopping. Toughness is everything.

You won't really find anything better for less money especially in the stainless variety.
 
When you are in thick woods when it is raining you cannot keep your blade dry, and I go out for 4-5 hrs and don't want to fret over constantly wiping the edge. I know I could use a $25 carbon machete, but I am not cutting brush in the rainforest, I want something more robust. Let me restate that this is a set of tools for wet weather in the thick northwest forest. I can afford it and it gives me a reason to add to my collection. I have a set of bush tools in o1 and other carbon steel and I love them, but I get sick of pampering them in winter and early spring. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Their aren't many stainless choppers out there for the reasons mentioned above: stainless steels just are not as tough as carbon steels. Any rust that would form in the time period you specified could be removed easily with a little bit of time on the stones, so you really don't even have to worry about rust. Something in D2 is probably your best bet for relative affordability, but INFI is an excellent choice if you feel like reaching into your pockets a little.
 
Any of Condor's stainless machetes will do great. Same with the Mora #333 machete. It's very easy to do a stainless chopper wrong, so there aren't many makers I trust. The above know how to do it right.
 
the SOG jungle canopy. it's a little bigger than you asked (10" blade), but it's stainless, has a synthetic handle and will fit in your price range (around $40).

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roninelh said:
I would like to spend around $50-$75.
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You're not going to find anything in SS in that price range remotely comparable to the performance of what you are currently using. I use a Spyderco Forager in N690 as my NW chopper. High carbon SS is just a lot more expensive, even more so in a long heavy blade.
 
I like the Forager, never pulled the trigger for lack of "woods" in my area. The Temp2 is my coolbeans camp knife though. Fat slab of VG10 is nice.
 
RevDevil said:
I like the Forager, never pulled the trigger for lack of "woods" in my area. The Temp2 is my coolbeans camp knife though. Fat slab of VG10 is nice.
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I received a Forager in a trade. Very well made and a quite a chopper. I don't have much use for it, but my excuse was I'll carry and use it when I go hiking.
 
Get this ! It is SS , If it breaks buy new one! for $75 u can get almost 4 of them. I don't think it will break:-)
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roninelh said:
When you are in thick woods when it is raining you cannot keep your blade dry, and I go out for 4-5 hrs and don't want to fret over constantly wiping the edge. I know I could use a $25 carbon machete, but I am not cutting brush in the rainforest, I want something more robust. Let me restate that this is a set of tools for wet weather in the thick northwest forest. I can afford it and it gives me a reason to add to my collection. I have a set of bush tools in o1 and other carbon steel and I love them, but I get sick of pampering them in winter and early spring. Thanks for the suggestions.
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Take some Tuff Cloth out there with you. =] Dry film rust inhibitor. Put it on before you leave, then if you get paranoid later rub the blades down again. Once it dries it's like it was never there but it's a great dry barrier against rust.
 
MountainBilly said:
You're not going to find anything in SS in that price range remotely comparable to the performance of what you are currently using. I use a Spyderco Forager in N690 as my NW chopper. High carbon SS is just a lot more expensive, even more so in a long heavy blade.
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I repeat: Condor's stainless models will do great. And within budget. ;)

I advise against the SOG Jungle Canopy. I've seen WAY too many examples of those things breaking to even remotely trust them and the texturing wasn't designed with long term use in mind.
 
Edit: ....suggestion removed, I didn't notice the price cap the OP had listed.
 
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roninelh said:
I have decided that because where I live I will have a wet/winter set of tools(axe, large blade and puukko or bushcraft blade) and a summer/dry season set of tools. My question for the knowledgeable people of BF is what to use for a wet weather large/chopping knife? I have a fiskars x15 axe and an entrek forester to match it with so I would like it to be synthetic handled as well as stainless steel and 7-9 inch blade. Any suggestions? I would like to spend around $50-$75.
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For that budget? I don't think it's possible to get a GOOD stainless chopper.
 
I don't know how long you are willing to wait for what could ultimately end up in disappointment (don't know how it will look and it will almost certainly be a lot more than $75), but I got a hint from Fallkniven saying that they will be releasing something later this year when I told them how their S1 was a little too short to be any comfortable at chopping:

Regarding a larger survival knife – the A1 should be an interesting choice. A very much sturdier cousin to the S1. Or – wait for the news of this year…
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All right, I know, not much of a hint. But definitely a promising tease.
 
roninelh said:
I have decided that because where I live I will have a wet/winter set of tools(axe, large blade and puukko or bushcraft blade) and a summer/dry season set of tools. My question for the knowledgeable people of BF is what to use for a wet weather large/chopping knife? I have a fiskars x15 axe and an entrek forester to match it with so I would like it to be synthetic handled as well as stainless steel and 7-9 inch blade. Any suggestions? I would like to spend around $50-$75.
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In that price range you won't get much more than a wall hanger at best so that budget would need to be doubled or tripled to get into products that can take some real use.
 
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