If scrap yard is as good as everyone says it is... I want to see it with my own eyes.

I have a 1311, 911 and I'm willing to buy a 711.

Tell me an "average" knife of similar size to buy

(e.g. 711 vs USMC Ka-bar ... SOG, Cold Steel, ESEE, becker... etc)

and then recommend a test. Chopping wood, chopping steel, cutting... whatever.

1311 vs any machete you can find.


I think anything the other machete will take.

Boy, that's a tough one. You might solicit Horn Dog as he is our resident Chopmeister!

True but thats sheet metal vs 1/4" metal. Obvious win. The kabar isn't that far behind the 711 in thickness. It's a better comparison

IF you can find one (don't know if they are still in production or not) you might try a CS Recon Scout.

AND for a longer one, the CS Trailmaster.

OK I'll give you that Wacki but it would have been fun to see.

The 1311 is 3/16th thick

Seems to me that easiest thing would be to buy a BK-9 and do a chop off with the 911 and see what you think. I can't imagine Vic didn't have a Becker in one of his chop offs, but stink with the search function here.

FWIW, I spend less time thinking about what's best vs. what I like more personally. I have a mix of knives that I'm very happy with- some from the Yard, some from makers you mentioned and some customs.

Try an ESEE Junglas vs the others.

Sounds like an interesting test. I would pit the Condor Golok against the 1311 along with an 18 inch Ontario machete. The 911 would be paired against the CS Trailmaster.

One thing to consider during these so called 'tests' is the skill of the operator. Some folk are very good at chopping while others offer up lackluster performance. Then there are just the average folks that probably could get away with using the simple Tramontina and not really know (or care) about the difference.

To my mind, the 1311 would be very tough to best at a chopping contest against a similar sized blade and weight.

Those knives are clearly winners for chopping/batoning/digging/general-camp-stuff. Maybe not so much for filleting small fishes <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Your system should probably have 2 knives, a small utility knife and a larger all-round knife.

Also consider the grinds and compare cutting ability after use. I think you will see a clear advantage in edge holding for SR-101 compared to AUS-8 or whatever those other brands use these days.