Recommendation? Suburban garden ninja blade

[Henry Beige]

About forty years ago, you could order a hori hori in the Brookstone catalog. Of course, I got one. I never used it much. The hori hori rewards the guy who does a lot of gardening by getting down on his knees in the dirt. I was never much for getting down on my knees in the dirt.

 

[Emre]

I’m not very original. Picked up a Camillius-made Becker BK7 from the classifieds here. First impression is that it might not be as great at chopping as I had anticipated, as it balances pretty much right at the front of the grip.

We’ll see how well it deals with ... shrubbery.

 

[Grantard]

I see you made a decision, but if the Becker isn't what you had hoped for I gotta suggest my favorite landscape tool for round 2..
Fiddleback Forge 12in machete. Comes with a really nice leather sheath too, which is almost unheard of for a machete lol

No banana for scale so I used a pm2

 

[Emre]

The BK7 was better than expected chopping dead branches off young trees. It was also OK digging up roots of English ivy, though it dulled quickly since I couldn’t really avoid contact with the dirt.

Overall, it would be a better chopper if it were balanced a little further out towards the tip ... and better utility if it were a little stubbier. Maybe a BK2 would have been better?

The real lesson: for garden ninjitsu, better turn to the Japanese. I found an old Japanese garden knife in the shed.

It did everything better than the BK7 and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t much more than $20 when I bought it LOL!

 

[screened porch]

The BK7 was better than expected chopping dead branches off young trees. It was also OK digging up roots of English ivy, though it dulled quickly since I couldn’t really avoid contact with the dirt.

Overall, it would be a better chopper if it were balanced a little further out towards the tip ... and better utility if it were a little stubbier. Maybe a BK2 would have been better?

The real lesson: for garden ninjitsu, better turn to the Japanese. I found an old Japanese garden knife in the shed.

It did everything better than the BK7 and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t much more than $20 when I bought it LOL!

I haven't seen that Japanese one before.

 

[Emre]

It’s a Tosa Golden Dragon “leisure knife” (by which I’m pretty sure they mean “camping knife”).

Tosa makes some very nice hammer-forged carbon blades in the $150-200 range. This is one of their low-end stainless production models. I think I paid maybe $25 or $30 for it some years ago.

 

[Emre]

One thing I will say: the handle on the Becker was great. I didn’t have issues with slipperiness, maybe because I was wearing grippy deerskin gloves. But the shape really fit my (huge) hands nicely and it was super comfortable all day.

In contrast, the Tosa’s handle is small and not 100% stable. It’s a stick tang held in place with a singe pin. There’s a slot on the front that digs into your hand even with gloves. Not something you’d want to use all day long.