I did a few comparisons yesterday between the Scrapper 6, Dog Father, Bark River Bravo 2, and the Busse FSH. The Scrapper 6 has been convexed and used a few times, the Bravo 2 had some very light use and has been stropped, the Dog Father is (was) untouched and unused, as was the FSH. I did three comparisons: the first involved cutting through planks on a pallet. I used each knife twice. I am still trying to download that video and am having problems because it is very long - that one is not on youtube yet. The second was just a penetration test into a stump, I think it was oak. The third involved some chopping of branches on a big bush. The branches were mainly between 1/3" and a little over 1" thick.

I did get a little tired after a while and my hand started shaking from all the chopping. Between each comparison I took a little rest but during the plank chopping my arm started slowing down and the second group of chops took longer than the first. For the penetration comparison I used full force and slammed the knife into the stump, then I marked the depth on the blade with a Sharpie and took measurements. Reading the measurements was a little of a challenge because of the angle a couple of the knives went into the wood. For the third comparison I just used each knife to cut the branches down. All of the knives performed well and it seemed that the technique was more important than the blade. If the branches were able to move a lot then the speed of the cut was more important - its harder to cut when the branch is able to deform away from the blade. Although, all other things equal, the thicker branches did slice a little easier with the longer and heavier blades.

I am still trying to wrap my head around which knife was my favorite but I've narrowed it to two: the DF and the FSH. This is no surprise since these are true "choppers". The S6 is very good and is my multi-tool but, while it can be used as a chopper, it does require more output from the user and I think that less work will be performed given a same amount of energy. The Bravo 2 was one of my favorite knives and is the sharpest of the four, but with that smooth micarta handle, and the fact that it bit me good (9 stitches), I'm just not that comfortable swinging it at full force and full speed anymore. Even before the comparison I thought it would be an excellent kitchen knife. I've cut frozen meat apart with it, cantelope, watermelon, etc. all like butter. If I were to use it as a chopper again I would be sure to have a kung-foo grip on it.

I'll probably have some more thoughts on the FSH and DF after I watch the videos and I think I will be doing another comparison since I have a small tree that needs to be downed soon. Next time the comparison will be between the DF and FSH only.

There are five videos. I haven't gotten #1 to load yet so here are the others. Notice video "3b" is where the Bravo bit me (off camera). After I wrapped my leg up I came back for video "3c".

Chop-off 2
Chop-off 3a
Chop-off 3b
Chop-off 3c

Thanks for vids--We need a Yard Pruner..

Thanks for the videos, gofastalot. I like to use a golok for that type of work where you have limited swinging room. I hope your cut heals up quickly. I appreciate the work you did comparing those knives.

good vids!

In my mind it's really worth trying smaller knives with a baton, instead of chopping. My EDC has a four inch blade and a handle-heavy balance, and while it CAN chop by using a (rather tiring) two fingered grip on the butt end, I don't bother unless it's a small piece of wood.

Batoning does take a little more time, but it's also more accurate, safer, takes less effort. You can take a surprisingly large limb apart by batoning out large chips all the way around, and then break whatever is left against a rock or in a forked tree or something.

Thanks for the notes all. I still need to work on getting that first video online.

I enjoyed your videos and thanks for sharing!

Added the first videos:
Chop-off 1a
Chop-off 1b

Good work there, keep making them keep having fun, we all like to watch this stuff