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Thanks for this review. Its hard to beat a Bahco laplander, especially for the price. They are highly regarded in the bushcraft community as well. Ive had mine for over 5 years now. It has seen hard use and still cuts great. Haven’t even considered sharpening it yet. Would love to see a similar article on survival/Belt knives. I just got a Mora Companion HD. Its a lot of knife for the price and 4.8 oz. Nice to have knife that can baton and hold its one in a survival situation for the weight and price.
I owned a Laplander and both sizes of the Sven saws, all three are long gone.
In there places are a large Silky saw that resides in the truck (blowdown across the road) and the one that goes in my pack- the Silky F180.
Silky saws will cut circles (or through stuff faster :)) around just about any equivalent weight/length saw. You typically get a few choices in blade design (I’ll carry a fine blade for bone along with a wood blade during hunting season.
The F180 (5 oz)weighs less than the smaller Pocketboy, but has more blade length.
Sorry but the “pocket saws” are garbage imo.
Why would anyone carry a saw backpacking? If you were married you wouldn’t have to ask, because it’s the same reason you pack in chairs too- happy wife = happy life :)
I carry a saw for long winter bike packing trips where I am staying at cabins that might not have saws. The silky F180 is the lightest I have found and it cuts fast.
I volunteer for trail maintenance work. We mainly use Corona saws but they are heavier. I see a lot of experienced volunteers carrying their own Silky saws for the work. Bigboy and Gomboy are very popular. If we are going on a logout, Katanaboys are a must, along with crosscut saws.
I’ve made an UL handle for a Silky Pocketboy 170 blade. The resulting folding saw weights 77g / 2.7 oz, and with a 6.5 inches long super-sharp blade, it’s up to quite large jobs.
More in the MYOG forum.
Nick Gatel says “In over 50+ years of backpacking I have never needed a saw. What am I missing?”
I find this amazing but then obviously you never backpacked in the mountains of TN, Georgia or NC—where terrible blowdowns occasionally block our trails—and it’s much easier to stop and dump my pack and clear my way than it is to fight thru the mess.
On every backpacking trip I carry these tools as part of my Standard Load—
The 10 inch Corona cuts like butter when new and folds quickly so I can drop it down my t-shirt when I’m hiking for quick access. It needs to be replaced once a year as the saw’s teeth kerf angles get slowly bent straight up and down and therefore don’t cut as well. At $20 a pop it’s not a big deal.
Every backpacker in my opinion should carry a good hand pruner—in my case it’s a Felco model. Does wonders when hitting walls of sawbriars and brambles—and low hanging rhodo branches.
When you hit something like this (especially when wearing a 90 lb pack)—it’s safer and much easier to dump the pack, take a break, and cut your way thru.
Voila! My trip can continue without bloodloss or ripping off pack gear or losing important swinging appendages. Plus, any backpackers behind me will gratefully appreciate the work.
It amazes and confounds me how hikers—both dayhikers and backpackers—can walk a cluttered trail and not even take the time to simply move fallen branches off the trail. One flick of the hiking pole and in 2 seconds the deadfall is gone. But nope—too much of a burden I guess.
Yeah, that’s why I carry a saw — to clear the trail. I find it especially helpful in the winter. I have a folding saw (Silky) that is pretty good, but a bit of hassle on skis. I may explore some of these options — I like the idea of a solid saw with a sheath. It is bulkier (especially in the pocket) but easier to manage with mitts on.
@bertman4: I start with a Corona 13″ replacement pruning blade and carve it into a 3.4 oz (including sheath) UL saw:
I’ve also made a longer 4.6 oz saw from a 21 Corona saw:
Both are great for wood, and can also be used as snow saws.
I’ll do a plug for Knifepoint Gear. They just came out with a saw that works with any standard reciprocating saw blade. At 3.5 oz total, it comes with a carbide tipped 12inch diablo wood blade. In one of their videos, Alex cuts down a 10 inch diameter tree in minutes, really impressive. in another video he pits it against, I think, a Silky saw , and saws through two 10 inch diameter logs in less time than it takes to saw through one with the Silky.
I’d be interested to see that video; I’ve yet to see anything that would cut with a Silky (in the same length blade)
Here is the only video I could find on the Knifepoint Gear website:
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Impressive. I especially like that you can get carbide-tipped blades, choose what kind of blade you want, and that the blades can be easily and cheaply be replaced. The only minor quibble would be that some field assembly is required.
Here are some videos from other sites:
https://jerkingthetrigger.com/2020/04/14/sneak-peek-ultralight-saw-from-knife-point-gear/
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not sure what the other saw is, definitely not a Silky- maybe a Gerber
I’ve owned at least a half dozen smaller saws and now only own a couple of Silky saws (and one very BIG Silky saw)
Ever try coronas? I have a 10″ curved corona and a 210 gomboy, to me they are pretty comparable.
I do find on an occasion where a straight blade is better than a curved but if you’re just processing wood for fire doesn’t matter really from what I’ve experienced
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