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Post by randomnobody on Aug 16, 2009 19:36:41 GMT
Whoops, I didn't even see...hopelessidiot...over there. "First unread post" button skipped right over them... Having read that, well, I do tend to have an opinion, and I'm not the only one here leaving others to form their own conclusions. I tend to speak generally when spoken generally to, and respond specifically to specific responses. And not everything everyone else wants is "ugly." Some of it is hideous, some of it is nice. Some of it is damn nice, some of it is just semprini. Forgive my opinion and its blunt method of delivery, this is me. While I make no claim to be the "foremost authority on bladed weapons," nobody on this site is for that matter, I do happen to know a thing or two about a fair variety of bladed weapons and tools. I figure I'm a fair judge of what I deem as good or bad, "worth it" or not. I tend to share these ideas with those who invite them to be shared, they either take my thoughts into consideration or, more often, ignore them, and wind up less than satisfied. Removing sticks from firewood is pretty tedious...using a machete for it is uh...well...still tedious. Oh, and unsafe. Good thing you use caution, like any intelligent being, as the general act of acquiring and tending firewood is wrought with potential havoc, what with the use of large, sharp things, and wood, to boot. Oh, for the record, this is reasonable. I AM reasonable. Has anyone noticed the Earth is still spinning?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2009 21:49:45 GMT
Sorry for taking so long to reply. I'm watching the PGA golf. Tiger is f*****g up!
Let me explain my method of firewood gathering and then you can correct my mistakes. When I first moved to Alaska with my 2 buds we had a little mishap 2 weeks after we got there. It resulted in one of them being in the hospital and his brother and I looking to make some quick money. One of the things we did was cut firewood. There are 2 things most important in cutting wood for pay: 1. waste very little, 2. work fast. We had one chain saw and couldn't really afford another so one of us would fell trees and then cut them into about 5 foot sections. The other would use a machete to clean the sticks off these sections while the guy with the chain saw would move on to another tree. Then when the sticks were off the chain saw guy would come back to cut the 5 foot sections into 4 smaller pieces. You couldn't leave them any bigger because many people had rather small wood stoves. Using the machete was fairly safe if you just kept the log between your leg and the blade. Use one branch to turn the log as needed. You could swing and cut several sticks off at once when you got good at it. Pine was especially nasty with sticks up and down all over! Not good for firewood I know, but not much hardwood in Alaska, where we were anyway. Some good stands of birch but few and far between. Anything much smaller than 2 inches was left for the machete. Not wasted though. Good for kindling. Now I admit I didn't have the kopis with me up there, but I did have one of similar shape. Anything longer would have been a hassle. Sometimes the brush was pretty thick around where you were working and you couldn't swing very freely. After several trees were finished then we gathered up the wood. Whatever would fit into the pickup, or it was piled to be picked up later. Glad we didn't do that for too long! Hard work and dangerous as you say. I still believe there wasn't a better way given our station.
Sorry for the rambling hijack here. Just wanted to explain my use of a machete.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2009 22:02:02 GMT
Sorry for taking so long to reply. I'm watching the PGA golf. Tiger is f*****g up! Let me explain my method of firewood gathering and then you can correct my mistakes. When I first moved to Alaska with my 2 buds we had a little mishap 2 weeks after we got there. It resulted in one of them being in the hospital and his brother and I looking to make some quick money. One of the things we did was cut firewood. There are 2 things most important in cutting wood for pay: 1. waste very little, 2. work fast. We had one chain saw and couldn't really afford another so one of us would fell trees and then cut them into about 5 foot sections. The other would use a machete to clean the sticks off these sections while the guy with the chain saw would move on to another tree. Then when the sticks were off the chain saw guy would come back to cut the 5 foot sections into 4 smaller pieces. You couldn't leave them any bigger because many people had rather small wood stoves. Using the machete was fairly safe if you just kept the log between your leg and the blade. Use one branch to turn the log as needed. You could swing and cut several sticks off at once when you got good at it. Pine was especially nasty with sticks up and down all over! Not good for firewood I know, but not much hardwood in Alaska, where we were anyway. Some good stands of birch but few and far between. Anything much smaller than 2 inches was left for the machete. Not wasted though. Good for kindling. Now I admit I didn't have the kopis with me up there, but I did have one of similar shape. Anything longer would have been a hassle. Sometimes the brush was pretty thick around where you were working and you couldn't swing very freely. After several trees were finished then we gathered up the wood. Whatever would fit into the pickup, or it was piled to be picked up later. Glad we didn't do that for too long! Hard work and dangerous as you say. I still believe there wasn't a better way given our station. Sorry for the rambling hijack here. Just wanted to explain my use of a machete. Looks like we found out who the "real" expert is. Cutting firewood in Alaska sounds like a fun way to freeze to death. ;D You're a better man than me.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 16, 2009 22:39:28 GMT
Yep, sounds like some hardcore stuff, that. Wouldn't catch me doing it, or living in Alaska. Hell with that. I mean, I hate Virginia, but Alaska? No thanks.
Seems like the system you developed worked okay for you guys, but not the one I'd have used, though...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2009 23:21:17 GMT
My grandparents currently reside in Alaska, as did my father when he was young and lived with his parents. Who cares if the Kopis is a good machete or not? It looks cool, like the swords from 300 but it costs close to nothing. Plus, since it is a machete you can chop all the wood you want and not have to worry about tang failure, but if it does break, buy a new one. I would definately get one if they were still in production.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 2:01:24 GMT
Living in Alaska was absolutely the best time of my life. I was only there for six and a half years but I feel I experienced pretty much of what it has to offer. The cold didn't really bother me. Being from Wisconsin I had some experience with that. It seemed that the coldest days were also very still, so you had no wind chill. When the wind did blow it was a warm wind coming in off the ocean, or down from the mountains. What bothered me much more the first year I was there was the darkness! Sunrise didn't come until 9 A.M. and set by 3 P.M. If you worked indoors you didn't see the sun in winter. Luckily for me I had a job working for a small print shop and I did my deliveries in the afternoon so at least I got to see some daylight! It was weird though. The sun was so low on the horizon it would not actually reach the ground but just hit the treetops. Strange but beautiful land.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 2:02:32 GMT
With all what random had to say I agree and that is all I have to say.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 17, 2009 5:07:53 GMT
My grandparents currently reside in Alaska, as did my father when he was young and lived with his parents. Who cares if the Kopis is a good machete or not? It looks cool, like the swords from 300 but it costs close to nothing. Plus, since it is a machete you can chop all the wood you want and not have to worry about tang failure, but if it does break, buy a new one. I would definately get one if they were still in production. If that's your take then we clearly differ in our purposes here. Have your fun trusting something so potentially dangerois too much, I hope that WHEN your next machete breaks, it does so well clear of the physical person of yourself or whomever may be in your presence. Alaska: I hear it's great to visit, but there are many places I'd rather live. None of those are where I happen to be right now...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 8:00:58 GMT
I do happen to know a thing or two about a fair variety of bladed weapons and tools. I figure I'm a fair judge of what I deem as good or bad, "worth it" or not. Ehh, your judgment is "worth it" about half the time.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 9:29:56 GMT
Just to let you know if you want one of the Cold Steel Bowie, Sax, Spear Point, or Barong machetes get them now they have been discontinued. Randnobody don't know how you use a machete but I ever get one near my eye.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 11:36:19 GMT
My grandparents currently reside in Alaska, as did my father when he was young and lived with his parents. Who cares if the Kopis is a good machete or not? It looks cool, like the swords from 300 but it costs close to nothing. Plus, since it is a machete you can chop all the wood you want and not have to worry about tang failure, but if it does break, buy a new one. I would definately get one if they were still in production. If that's your take then we clearly differ in our purposes here. Have your fun trusting something so potentially dangerois too much, I hope that WHEN your next machete breaks, it does so well clear of the physical person of yourself or whomever may be in your presence. ... I don't see how the cold steel kopis is any more dangerous than your average sword. With swords you have to worry about the tang failing, the peen breaking, the threads getting stripped, etc. The machete in question is one piece of steel that is made to chop wood and brush, so please explain to me how it will break. I have never even heard of a machete simply breaking. I have two cheap machetes that have been used a lot and have virtually no damage to them at all. The only thing that I might possibly worry about would be bending the tip. Mogur, I hope that some day I can go visit my grandparents in Alaska. The sense of adventure in a wild land appeals to me.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 12:58:56 GMT
You shouldn't chop wood with a sword of any kind, really. That's what axes and hatchets excel at.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 17, 2009 14:15:16 GMT
To all the "not yet" folks out there...keep waiting. That'll be my last thought, which herbertwest and others may or may not, 'bout half I'll hay, deem "worth it"
You kids have fun now.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 16:43:05 GMT
Will do.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 16:43:20 GMT
Will do.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 17, 2009 16:51:30 GMT
...I hate my phone's connection. Double deleted. Gone now~~
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 19:15:42 GMT
I have hade prety good luck choping trees with machetes manely popler and beach ranging 3" to5" using my 12" cold steel kukri machete and ther two handed machete. Cant realey saw how good the kopis cuts I've never used that one but i resently got the 12"sax machete and it is a real good cutter.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 22:16:02 GMT
You might try putting a want ad in the classifieds at Cold Steel's forum www.coldsteelforums.com/. I don't see a lot of people over there who have the discontinued machetes wanting to sell them, but if you offered a premium, you may be able to get someone to part with one. It's worth a shot at least.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2009 22:53:53 GMT
I have hade prety good luck choping trees with machetes manely popler and beach ranging 3" to5" using my 12" cold steel kukri machete and ther two handed machete. Cant realey saw how good the kopis cuts I've never used that one but i resently got the 12"sax machete and it is a real good cutter. I'm mainly interested in the Kopis for its very unique, almost fantasy-style blade. Good to hear you like it's half-brother, though. I'm a big fan of Cold Steel's machetes for being cheap and pretty resilient. You might try putting a want ad in the classifieds at Cold Steel's forum www.coldsteelforums.com/. I don't see a lot of people over there who have the discontinued machetes wanting to sell them, but if you offered a premium, you may be able to get someone to part with one. It's worth a shot at least. Great idea, thanks. I'm seeing a lot of interesting topics over there.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2009 1:11:02 GMT
Great idea, thanks. I'm seeing a lot of interesting topics over there. No problemo. I go by the name "sonoranscott" over there, so if you (or anyone else here) sign up or have signed up, feel free to drop me a PM there and say hi if you want to.
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