Came across this little guy and thought this looked pretty darn awesome!
Anyone else try this before?

I too am interested to see if anyone here has used it? Thankfully it works much faster than this guy can demonstrate and talk about it!

I've used this high-limb model before to drop some limbs around the yard. It cuts pretty fast- but mine has a 48" chain. 10" limbs took 60-90 seconds to cut.

Of course for this use I was cutting limbs 30-40' off the ground. I replaced the poly rope with 50' of zing it throwline on each end. The hard part was throwing it over the right branch- but once you have it over the limb and flip the chain the right way- it cuts pretty fast. I imagine the 24" survival one might take a little longer to cut- but would be easier because the branch is already on the ground.

I have tried one very similar but with Dowell handles instead of straps. I'm just not that much of a minimalist. Looks good for a daypack or even ditch kit. It just didn't't fit fit me that well. :)

I have tried something similar. For all cutting you will be pulling it towards you. It works well for cutting down limbs over your head (i.e. trimming trees). I never tried to cut wood for a fire with it. With a standard saw you are pushing and pulling and gravity helps a little (your weight pushing down). With the chain you are likely making an 1/8" or larger kerf. With a standard saw it's 1/16" or less. In theory you should be able to use less energy with a saw. The guy seemed pretty winded. I'm pretty sure that a standard saw would have taken 15 - 20 seconds on that same piece of wood.

I cut to the chase. looks might it might handy for cutting the limbs off downed trees but I would not want to do any heavy work with it. I would like to see it cut resin filled pine.

I watched a guy use one on a trip, and I've never seen a more exhausting spectacle. He loved it and swore by it, but man was he working hard. It could be that his was extremely dull. In my opinion, there are good hand saws that will break down small enough and work a whole lot better.

Cool idea, though.

I had one. It was a lot of work and slow. Maybe mine was dull. I switched to a pocket saw which was lighter and worked faster and packed easier.

I've tried something similar.

As mentioned, it works decent enough on small limbs & cuts that are firmly anchored. But, at least for me, those type of cuts are few & far between in canoe country.

My Irwin saw is indispensable.

Exactly what Tuscarora said. I have one, used it a few times. It's something to use if your looking to try something different and works ok on stuff a couple inches in diameter. If your looking to make a bunch of wood with the least amount of effort the Irwin saw is by far the way to go, in both performance and price.

For $13, I'm going to give it a whirl on my winter camping trip. I'll have an ax and saw x 2 with as well. :-)

If you find that it doesn't cut wood as well as you hoped there is no doubt you will get an upper body workout that will make the gym goers jealous!

+1 to what Tuscarora and Dean said.

And I'm a gym-goer!

I bought the one with the orange plastic handles and tried it out on a dead log that was about 6 inches in diameter. It actually cut very quickly. What kind of surprised me is the fact that you wrap it around the log means it cuts on three sides, which I assumed was why it cut so fast. I was also testing a Take Down Buck Saw and found that the Pocket Chainsaw cut faster than the Buck Saw - I think because of the 3-sided cutting action.

I'm not sure why it cut so slow for others. Maybe their saw was used and dull? Maybe they were actually using a wire saw - which I've not used but read bad things about?

My big concern would be durability - of the blades and the cord that connects to the handle.

Be careful though - if you have your hands to one side while cutting, and the branch starts to drop, it will really bind the chain making it virtually impossible to cut. If you're alone and can't lift the branch while pulling the chain out at the same time you'll have a struggle on your hands. Its best to have your hands toward the bottom while cutting - which is a pain when the branch is on or near the ground.

I forgot to mention ... because of the shape the blade/chain before I'd used the Pocket Chainsaw I was a bit worried that the would want to somehow flop over on the wood or that it would be difficult to start the cutting action, but in use it actually was easy to start the cut.

quote kennk: "Be careful though - if you have your hands to one side while cutting, and the branch starts to drop, it will really bind the chain making it virtually impossible to cut. "

Interesting point. I guess the natural tendency would be to put the chain underneath a fallen, low branch and pull upwards. Haven't tried these saws, but I can imagine more than a few people have had them pinch, as you describe.