Lightweight Wood Saws for Backpacking
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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 :)
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.
@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.
Here is the only video I could find on the Knifepoint Gear website:
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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