Wrapped up a terrific Quetico trip this past Saturday. However, at our first site, as my adult son (experienced camper/tripper) was about to get going on collecting firewood for the evening, on the 3rd stroke with the Silky Bigboy saw, the blade simply snapped about an inch and a half away from its pivot. No binding, no bending, nothing - just snapped. This was only the saw's third trip. Any similar experiences? I thought I'd done some solid research and had come up with a superior saw solution. Perhaps not. To that point it had been camp saw Nirvana for us. Not sure my next step. I have a Sven, but as it won't fit inside a pack, am not a huge fan of going back that way.

That stinks!!! I've had mine for a few years with no issues. I can only guess it was a manufacturing defect. I'd try their customer support and ask for a replacement.

Silky saws are the best in my eyes. There must have been a defect in the saw blade for it to snap without being bent or binding beforehand.

It sounds like you may have gotten a defective blade. On my recent trail-clearing trip on the Pow Wow trail, we had three Katanaboys, three Tsurugis and three smaller folding Silkys (not sure the model), with a crew of nine working two ten-hour days. Even with some spectacularly large trees causing some massive binding we didn't have a single blade failure. They were all still reasonably sharp at the end of the trip. Before the trip I'd been planning to get an Agawa Canyon for my personal use but am now really thinking about a Tsurugi.

Interesting.........my silky has seen several arduous trips and seems bullet proof. You have googled the issue already? Anything come up?

Contact them......."wus up wid my saw" etc.etc.

After that, just go and get another one but perhaps change the source. Might be a bad lot# or batch out there floating around.

I'm taking my small version this trip. What I would really like is a mid sized silky. Something between the big boy and the winky one.......good for solo especially if a tree is across a creek.

I sent it back to NC the other day. Included a pleasant note that expressed my surprise, disappointment, and the failure's effect on our trip. Didn't ask they do anything, just wanting them to be aware. We'll see what, if anything comes of it.

MT, I've not researched the failure to see how isolated it is or isn't. Still working to catch up from a week off during our business's peak season - ugh!

ParkerMag: "I sent it back to NC the other day. Included a pleasant note that expressed my surprise, disappointment, and the failure's effect on our trip. Didn't ask they do anything, just wanting them to be aware. We'll see what, if anything comes of it.


MT, I've not researched the failure to see how isolated it is or isn't. Still working to catch up from a week off during our business's peak season - ugh!


"

Yes the smiling soft spoken nice guy approach is always option #1.

Then of course if reason doesn't work then I like to increase the volume ("can you hear me now"?)

if that fails the last resort is sending my boys out. Unfortunately it can get messy, Guido and Mustafa are usually not particularly subtle but very persuasive.

For what it's worth, I just got back from my first trip with my new Silky Ultra Accel, and I can't praise it enough. It's beyond better than the old Sven Saw or Fiskar ones I've used in the past.

Circuitous path to a positive outcome!

Started out looking for Silky the manufacturer, and for all the world thought I'd found them... Silky Saws Turns out this is actually a dealer (Sherrill Tree), albeit one that says they act on behalf of Silky (a Chinese company) in North America. At any rate, I had an incredibly pleasant conversation with a gal (Lee Ann) in their CS department this morning. Between my lack of asking they actually do anything, and that they couldn't find me in their system as a customer, she was a bit confused and decided to just call and get the skinny. I told her the saw was a gift, and I was 99.9% sure they didn't sell it. Told her I wasn't expecting a new saw, and only wanted Silky to be aware of our experience. She said if the handle's okay (which it is), they'd just throw a new blade in it and send it back to me. Provided it's not another bad blade, problem solved!

Excellent Parker. Who says nice guys finish last? Another urban myth ;-)

In any event I can't imagine having anymore negative issues with the silky and it will become a favorite piece of gear. Be careful with it.......the thing is deadly to the casual user. Respect the blade, ''tis very sharp.

BUCK SAW.. With an extra blade...

HotDog: "For what it's worth, I just got back from my first trip with my new Silky Ultra Accel, and I can't praise it enough. It's beyond better than the old Sven Saw or Fiskar ones I've used in the past."

+1

The Ultra Accel performed flawlessly on our trip last month. I liked that it was smaller and more packable than the Bigboy, and my entire camp was blown away by how quickly and effortlessly it cut up our firewood (dead and down, of course).

I am yearning for the next BW outing, but both the Ultra Accel and Bigboy did yeoman's work in the yard today. I had neighbors coming over to check them out after seeing how efficiently my tree trimming was going.

I would echo mastertangler's sentiments: it will become a venerable favorite, but respect that blade. It is wicked sharp.