All of the silky saws look awesome. I want to buy one I can use any season in the bwca. The 650 is too big and I'm guessing the katanaboy would be over kill for anything but winter. Any use the big boy in winter? I want something I can can use all 4 seasons and that is more efficient than a bahco or sven saw.

I use a Big Boy 2000 for canoe trips, winter trips, and ski trail maintenance. I've held a katanaboy, but never used it.

I love the Big Boy. You'd have to be cutting a lot of wood to need anything bigger. It might be overkill in the BWCA, but great for farther north trips where there is no campsite or portage maintenance, and it still doesn't weigh very much.

Last year when we had a huge bend down and all of the trails on the Gunflint were clogged with trees, I probably cut hundreds of small alders with the silky. It let me rest my arms in between long chainsaw sessions.

Quinn

I use the Silky Bigboy 360 (w/large teeth), which is reasonably identical to the 2000. It makes reasonably quick work of trail clearing, and since it has no obstruction above the blade (e.g., bow saw or sven), you can cut through relatively thick stock. (I've personally made a cut through trees over a foot in diameter with this saw.)

I like it well enough, that I bought a second one after my original purchase wound up at the bottom of a lake in western Woodland Caribou PP. It has been my saw of choice for a half dozen years or so.

As for preference of the Bigboy over the Katanaboy ... the handle appears to be better adapted to a hand grip, and the blade folds into a slot in the hand grip so the teeth are not exposed. (I also place a plastic "sleeve" over the back of the blade for transport so no sharp edges are exposed for transport purposes. I couple of thick rubber bands hold the sleeve in place.)

dd

I have to laugh. If a visitor to this forum came on to see what this place was all about and didn't know much about canoeing etc., they might get the wrong idea from this title :-)

I have a silky saw and at times it seems like it cuts faster than a chain saw. They hold their edge forever. Love them.

quote Pinetree: "I have a silky saw and at times it seems like it cuts faster than a chain saw. They hold their edge forever. Love them."

Which one?

quote Birdknowsbest: "

quote Pinetree: "I have a silky saw and at times it seems like it cuts faster than a chain saw. They hold their edge forever. Love them."

Which one? "

Silky 360 Sugoi with plastic sheath. Total length is 22 inches. Not a folding blade like you may want. May be a little too long for what your purpose of use. I don't take it to the BWCA,but sure would not hesitate to take it if I took any saw at all,especially in the winter. I usually just break sticks for my campfire. Do use it a lot around home and on my brothers land. Next winter camping trip it will go with me.

The only thing I can say I was extremely pleased with the quality. Treat it right it should last almost forever. Silky does it right.
I do like the bigger saw blade for it cuts bigger stuff faster and better,but if your not cutting a extremely lot of wood downsizing may be the way to go.

Always so many tough decisions?

my saw

Also wonder curved handle vs straight handle for ease of cutting?

quote Pinetree: "Also wonder curved handle vs straight handle for ease of cutting?"

The folding ones with a straight handle allow you to use both hands if you wish, but the pull cutting stroke is clearly simpler with one hand.

One thing that I should mention about the Silky Bigboy 360 that I have is that the blade has two open locking positions. The one you'd use most commonly is essentially a straight line continuing off the handle. The second position is a slight tilt beyond the straight line. It may have other purposes, but I will sometimes use this position when I'm undercutting a relatively heavy piece of wood.

What you will find when cutting a 12" horizontal tree is that the blade will begin to bind at about an 8" cut depth unless the work is counterbalanced in some way. At that depth, I'll start an underneath (reverse cut) to finish the job. The unsupported weight of the tree will tend to spread/separate at the cut to make your work a bit easier.

dd

quote dentondoc: "

quote Pinetree: "Also wonder curved handle vs straight handle for ease of cutting?"

The folding ones with a straight handle allow you to use both hands if you wish, but the pull cutting stroke is clearly simpler with one hand.


One thing that I should mention about the Silky Bigboy 360 that I have is that the blade has two open locking positions. The one you'd use most commonly is essentially a straight line continuing off the handle. The second position is a slight tilt beyond the straight line. It may have other purposes, but I will sometimes use this position when I'm undercutting a relatively heavy piece of wood.


What you will find when cutting a 12" horizontal tree is that the blade will begin to bind at about an 8" cut depth unless the work is counterbalanced in some way. At that depth, I'll start an underneath (reverse cut) to finish the job. The unsupported weight of the tree will tend to spread/separate at the cut to make your work a bit easier.


dd"

I will have to look online and see if one blade has more depth to make it sturdier?

Totally agree it's overkill/unnecessarily big/more than you need...but once you start using the katanaboy to cut with 2 hands, which I've only done a few times so far...you'll quickly forget about any other saw and not want to go back. If you're more into ultralight, it will cut more wood than you're able to burn before heading off the next morning and you'll have friends following your trail of leftover piles of wood.

Here's another option.

I agree with DDs advice on cutting through the larger diameter blowdowns. Consider also cutting a divot out of the top cut as you saw downward. It may or may not eliminate the need for the undercut. Just a thought.

bigboy 2000, if that's too big try the gomboy 240, I have both as well as several others. Also have the agawa canyon boreal 21. I still prefer silky.

quote Whatsit: "I have to laugh. If a visitor to this forum came on to see what this place was all about and didn't know much about canoeing etc., they might get the wrong idea from this title :-)"

Gotta admit that's why I clicked to find out what the heck you were talking about!! :) Not much into saws I guess.

quote BWPaddler: "

quote Whatsit: "I have to laugh. If a visitor to this forum came on to see what this place was all about and didn't know much about canoeing etc., they might get the wrong idea from this title :-)"

Gotta admit that's why I clicked to find out what the heck you were talking about!! :) Not much into saws I guess."

Thank you :-)
I was beginning to think I was the only one. I guess I don't know much either :-)
Mike

Silky saws

Any new saw reports?

Katanaboy made for a few fires that pushed the limits of the fire grates this spring. Leaving piles of 2 to 3 fires worth behind at every site on a trip makes me feel better about how many piles of wood I used in my earlier trips. Hoping to break even after my next trip or two.

Also, I've started strapping it to a thwart so since there were a few blow downs on the portages this spring. You can dang near leave your canoe on your shoulders while sawing through the smaller trees.