Can you chop with shorter knives (than 9")? (not batoning)

[Red Tamarillo]

I like my 12" Ontario machete for chopping wood, and have never tried chopping (or batoning) with knives. I was wondering the other day though what are shorter knives that you can still chop (soft wood) with?
Do you have to go to the lengths of an Esee Junglas or Becker BK9 say (9-10 inches)? To get enough mass behind an efficient chop? Or is it possible with 7 inch blades? I presume by the time you're down to a small survival knife like a 3.8 inch blade Fallkniven F1 it's only batoning.

[the_alias]

Sure - I've chopped with CS bushman which is 7 I believe.
Have also chopped with S5 from scrapyard.


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[Sen]

I've done a little with my BK2.

[ninja-elbow]

I've chopped thumb-thick limbs with my 7" leuku blade all the time, and those are pretty thin for a BFK.

[Mannlicher]

This blade by Mike Turner is 7 7/8s long, and has chopped through everything it has met yet. Steel is that superb CPM 3V.

[Whiskey]

What size stuff are you wanting to "chop" with what sized knife? Usually there is a better way to go about it than just swinging steel to wood.

[foxx]

Use a lanyard on shorter knives, put the lanyard around your wrist, and only hold the butt of the knife with two fingers and your thumb. The lanyard keeps the knife from flying away, and adds maybe a couple inches to the length. It's not the best way to chop, but it can help a shorter knife, especially if it has some blade weight like a BK2.

[Gixxer1237]

I'm of a differnt mind set. I like a bigger blade. You can do almost anything with a 7" blade, but then again I don't chopp a lot of trees down. I generally use found wood.
To reply to the op- Yes you can chop with a shorter blade, but its less productive. Why not carry one bigger blade? Maybe I learned that from my granddad. He spent a ton of time in the swamps in his 20s and thirties trapping and hunting for a living. He always carried a old no name knife 7" knife that looked kinda K-bar ish. Said anything it wouldn't do you needed a ax for and it wasn't to big to do anything.

[Turtlewolf]

Yup you can, I've used my little Chinese Buck and my OKC Aircrew to chop and they do just fine.
I generaly find, however, that dependant on AO and length of stay a hatchet/tomahawk/machete/khukri is a good match to a shorter blade.
Personaly I just pack a Fiskars hatchet (X7) and a Mora 611 or 612.
Yup even though I own more expensive stuff my favorites are cheaper than dirt and just as tough, go figure.

[RatDrall]

What size stuff are you wanting to "chop" with what sized knife? Usually there is a better way to go about it than just swinging steel to wood.

^ This, for sure.

I've never felt the need to "chop" anything with a tool that wasn't a cleaver, axe, hatchet, 'hawk, or other chopping tool. If I didn't have the right tool, breaking the wood using a nearby tree, or carefully batoning works.

There was a time when batoning was more than something that internet videographers did to break knives for tests...

[wagnerj]

When chopping wood I certainly used an axe, instead of using knife, as this could be the best and most convenient tool for me to chop wood.

___________________
"You're safety enough once carrying the firearm with firearms holsters."

[maine1]

yes, its possible, just not as easy. If its a very light, short knife, but with good edge geometry, it can do OK- i cut a lot of smaller trees back in the day with an old hickory 7" butcher knife. I have a 7 1/2" hudsons bay knife i made years ago that chops pretty well for its size, but weight as much as the 10 1/2" bowies i make. .

I prefer a larger knife, though. Once you get into a 10" or so knife with good geometry and weight distribution, you have got a real tool for wood up to the 5-6" range. Leverage, baby. But i dont chop much firewood, i just break it.

I chop and carve when i make traps, shelters, tools, ect, but life is too short to chop every stick of firewood. I will trim trails and such with it, though as it carries lighter than an axe, and is handier for me than a hatchet or saw.

[870 Shell Shucker]

An 8" or 9" blade will chop well, especially in the knife is a little blade heavy.