Big Blades for the Bush

I like knives. And occasionally I get the urge to own and use big ones.

I have been through a khukuri stage. I bought a couple from Himalayan Imports. One was a 15 inch Ang Khola. It was a great chopper/hammer/club but it really was a bit big and heavy to conveniently use. I gave that to my son-in-law who has bigger hands than me. The other was a 12 inch (overall length) Ang Khola. This was a really handy little blade. A great chopper for the trapline. However I sold that when another khukuri took my fancy. Pity really. The smaller one was really handy. I even used the back of it to drive in some dangerously protruding nails on the French Pass wharf.

Here are the two Ang Kholas:

The next purchase was from Tora in the UK. This is based on some sort of a military model. It is beautifully made and the temper appears to be pretty much spot on. But the handle is at a heck of an angle to the blade, so while it made a great chopper it was hard to use the back of it as an effective possum club. But it is a nice tool and I still have it.

Here's the Tora military model (British Service? Dunno now):

The last purchase came from Tora as well. It is a Tamang Chaura. It is a very big knife, but I chose it because it was much straighter than many other khukuris. It is a great tool also, and because it is 'pointier' than some I like it. But now that the novelty has worn off a bit I don't think I will be carrying this heavy piece of good quality steel very far. But if my life depended on a blade, this one would be near the top of the list.

I'm thinking about buying a new rifle, so I think the khukuris might get sold. I'm a bit reluctant to part with them, but a guy like me can only store so much stuff.

I have made or purchased several machetes. I really like my ex-military golok, except it doesn't fulfil my ideal (fantasy?) that a knife has to be pointy. But in practical terms the blunt end helps to put the weight in the right place and it is good for digging and hammering. The golok is the one shown below with the string bound around the old handle. Below the golok is a home-made chopper that was cut out of an old saw blade:

My latest love affair is with a ten-inch Tramontina. I've had a sheath made for it which cost many times more than the machete, but I like it. It is light and it has proven to be very useful:

Splitting a carcase down through the backbone is something that I don't do often. With a pig, deer or goat I'd mostly just cut all the meat off the skeleton and discard all the bones (except maybe for some leg roasts). But when I helped a relative butcher some sheep a while back I figured that I should make chops. I sawed some carcases, but I found that I could baton my Tramontina down through the backbone with relative ease and accuracy. I was thrilled to find that this worked. (A guy from America put me on to this when he described how a hunting guide split a moose by hammering a knife through the spine). The blade didn't seem to be harmed at all in the process.

I'm looking forward to taking my new Tramontina out when I'm next trying to trap possums.

I've been wrestling with the urge to own something like a Cold Steel Trailmaster. So far I've been successful at not submitting to this desire. I'm fairly sure I would just fall back on my smaller fixed blades and maybe a machete or hatchet and wonder why I spent all that money on importing the big knife.

So what big blades does everyone else like to use?

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ShrafterPermalink Reply by Stephen Coote on June 29, 2010 at 9:49

I have an old draw knife I bought from a retired boatbuilder many years ago. I like it.

What do you use for a sheath for the Tramontina?

Best wishes...

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ShrafterPermalink Reply by Stephen Coote on June 29, 2010 at 13:24

I look forward to seeing the Taiwanese sheath. I wonder how the thong can be protected from being cut as the blade is pulled out.... I guess all will be revealed. I'd enjoy a project like that, and I have more machetes that need practical sheaths.

A lot of sheaths that come with otherwise useful knives can be fairly crappy unfortunately.

When I first got my Tramontina machetes, I made up a sheath from one of those plastic chopping boards you might have in a kitchen. It is more of a blade protector really.... it isn't suited to being hung from a belt

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ShrafterPermalink Reply by Scott Hamilton on June 29, 2010 at 16:58

Svord also make a Golok, I priced it and it was $199 with a leather sheath.

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NewbiePermalink Reply by JRW on August 28, 2012 at 13:47

Dead Thread I know -

Here is one of my favorite knives, my Von Tempsky Forest Ranger Bowie by Svord.

I know it may seem a bit rambo and people may find it scary but it is pretty useful, I have modified the sheath by putting a jeans stud at the throat of the sheath so it slips inside my belt and is held from slipping through by the stud meaning the knife and sheath can quickly be taken off my belt. Obvisouly it doesn't replace the axe and machete in their own right but it is a light weight alternative to carrying both and batons through wood very well.

[URL=http://s1145.photobucket.com/albums/o518/JRW873/?action=view&current=45d24584.jpg][IMG]http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o518/JRW873/th_45d24584.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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NewbiePermalink Reply by Jelena Middleton on August 28, 2012 at 15:57

Nice knife, JRW!

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NewbiePermalink Reply by JRW on August 28, 2012 at 16:08

Thanks, when I first got it I wanted to test it out as a weapon so I bought a cheap leg of mutton and did a back cut onto the leg, it cut though cleanly to the bone, shattered the bone rather then cut through it then cut the rest of the way through the leg severing it completely. I would not be wanting to stick my hand out to someone who was coming at me with one.