Bone saw review

mcseal2

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Calving went well today and I had a little time to test out some saws. I never carried or used a saw away from base camp on hunts in the lower 48. Recently I started hunting in Alaska and for bone-in units especially I want to have a saw. I have several larger saws that I've used for work and on fishing and camping trips. I also have an 18" Wyoming saw we used on our moose hunt. I wanted to look at lighter options for this fall's caribou trip.

I tested the saws on bone, dry wood, and green wood. The bone was ribs from a cow that died over the summer. I cut the first rib and then used it as a guide to cut the others at a similar thickness. The dry wood was a 4" hardwood limb that had fallen near our silo, and the green wood was a 3" sapling that needed trimmed along the road to it.

The saws I used were a couple Outdoor Edge saws and a couple Gerber saws. I had the Grizz saw and the 7" Flip & Zip saw from Outdoor Edge. From Gerber I had the Exchange A Blade saw and an older discontinued T handled saw. I ranked them by how they handled bone since that is the primary reason I would carry a small saw. If I was planning on a lot of wood cutting I'd go with a heavier, longer bow saw.

My favorite of the test was the older T handled Gerber saw. It cut the rib in 34.9 seconds, the dry wood in 34.75 seconds, and the green wood in 14.5 seconds. The saw in it's sheath weighs 12.3 ounces. It had advantages over the others in a double edged blade that was up to 4" longer than the competition. It has a fine tooth bone saw on one side, and a coarse wood saw on the other. I used the bone saw side on the rib and the wood saw side for both the wood cuts. I tested it this way since it's a double edged saw and not one I would pack extra blades and weight on for different uses. It was the most comfortable to use and never bound up when cutting. It will be going to Alaska, and I wish they still made it. A friend that spent 25 years as an elk outfitter had the same saw the first time I hunted with him and I bought mine after seeing it. I packed it away it got forgotten until recently so I never used it much.

The next best saw on bone was the Outdoor Edge 7" Flip & Zip. It cut the rib in 37.54 seconds, the dry wood it failed on, and the green wood in 26 seconds. It weighs 6oz with it's sheath or 5.1oz without it. With this saw's design the sheath is not necessary. I called the dry wood test a failure because after 1 minute of sawing I was still only halfway through the limb. I wouldn't want to feed a fire with it, it just didn't do well at all on dry wood. The teeth on this saw are considerably finer than the Outdoor Edge Grizz saw and I think it showed in the test results. It did not hang up cutting anything and was pretty comfortable to use.

The third best on bone was the Outdoor Edge Grizz saw. It cut the rib in 1 minute, the dry wood in 40.01 seconds, and the green wood in 27 seconds. It weighs 5.3oz. It had the second longest blade of the test at 8", about 2" shorter than the Gerber T handled saw. It did all right for it's weight, although it does feel a little flimsy to me. I had it hang up once on the dry wood and bent the blade. It bent right back using the notch I already had cut to bend it, but it was worth noting. If this was the only saw I had along I would be pretty careful with it. It would probably be my second place saw overall since it did not fail on cutting anything in a reasonable amount of time.

The saw that I was most disappointed in was the newer Gerber Exchange-A-Blade saw. It's bone blade was not good at anything and hung up on everything I cut. It only made it halfway through the rib in 2 full minutes so I called that a fail. The same bone blade only made it halfway through the dry wood in 1 minute so I called that a fail also. On the green wood the blade stuck and almost broke, getting a severe bend. The blade felt sharp and was new or close to it, but it did not cut well. I cut the green wood with the wood blade it also came with, and it did fine but not much better than the Outdoor Edge saws. I must not have got that time wrote down. I would not buy or use this saw.

TESTED A BAHCO LAPLANDER AND SILKY BIG BOY LATER THIS AFTERNOON, RESULTS BELOW.

This was not meant to be an all inclusive test, just a test of what I had on hand. I am going on a caribou hunt this fall if Coronavirus doesn't screw it up, and wanted to check out some lighter weight saw options. I have an 18" Wyoming saw and a Silky Big Boy 360 with medium teeth that are better performing options, but also heavier and bulkier. For this hunt I'm not likely to need that much saw. I might try to use the Silky to do the test if I get a chance to see how it does compared to these others, it only weighs a pound. I would also like to try the Bahco Laplander saw I have. Mine is in my truck and was not at home today. It's a similar size and weight saw to the ones I tested today, and has worked well for me in the past. It's a sturdier saw than any but the T handle Gerber also.

If I get a chance to test the Silky and Bahco saws I will post the results here.

Edited 9:46, fixed a couple typos and added that I tested the other saws in a later post.
 
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mcseal2

mcseal2

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Test materials.
 

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mcseal2

mcseal2

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Well the wife called and is running late and Dad got back with my truck so I went back out and tested the Silky and Bahco Laplander. I tested the same way on the same things.

The Bahco did really well. It cut the rib in 28 seconds, the dry wood in 18.5 seconds, and the wet wood in 7.25 seconds. It weighs 6.7oz with the factory leather lanyard. That puts it firmly in first comparing all the options. It cut well, never hung up, and is light. It's also a pretty inexpensive saw. I've owned this saw longer and have used it more also, it's not a new blade or even close to new.

The Silky Big Boy 360 medium tooth is by far the biggest saw with the longest blade of the test. It is a little harder to keep from jumping out of the cut cutting one handed. It cut the dry wood in 12 seconds and the green wood in 9 seconds. Both times would have been faster with a 2 handed cut that I controlled better. This saw weighs 16oz. The rib cut was a fail with this saw. The blade kept jumping out of the cut and making more of a V shaped notch than a clean saw cut. I quit the test at 30 seconds only 1/4 of the way through the rib. Great wood saw, not a great bone saw with this tooth configuration. It's a heck of a saw for 1lb to feed a campfire or clear a path to get horses to a downed elk though.
 
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mcseal2

mcseal2

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Silky and Bahco saws with the Gerber T handle saw for size reference

Looks like we might be taking a couple of the Bahco saws instead of the Gerber to Alaska. That blade design just seems to cut everything pretty well.90D3AA58-21DF-4321-AF41-C88698123991.jpeg
 
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Thanks for posting the results of the test....do you know what the teeth per inch are on the Bahco and Silky?

Looked up : looks like Bahco 7 TPI, Silky Bigboy 360 med 8.5 TPI
 
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robby denning

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Hey man, thanks for taking all the time to write all that up. This is the definitive saw review on Rokslide


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mcseal2

mcseal2

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Very welcome, hope it helps others.

I still have the 18" Wyoming saw I used on the moose hunt with both bone and wood blades, and a Boreal 21 saw with a dead wood and green wood blade I might have to dig out. I'm curious now to see how the bigger heavier bow saws perform compared to these. They are packed away in my fishing/camping gear now, but it's getting to be about time to dig them out anyway. If we aren't supposed to travel or be around people during this Corona Virus period it sounds like a heck of a reason to fish more to me!
 

thinhorn_AK

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I love my wyoming saws, that being said, I don't really pack them. I take them when I'm hunting out of my boat or float hunting though.
 
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mcseal2

mcseal2

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They are definitely a versatile option. Mine was sure handy to have on the moose hunt. The bow part hung up a little on the ribs, but it definitely did the job without much hassle. My buddy was doing the sawing on them while I helped hold the ribs up off the guts. He said he would have preferred a saw without the bow but it sure did the job fine. It worked great clearing wood out of the way so we had a place to work on my bull and then clearing a path to carry him out of the brush. I like that saw a lot. I would take it over the Silky Big Boy any time I might need to cut bone and wanted a larger saw.

I like that the Wyoming saw has the threads and nut to tighten the blade. I have a Bob Dustrude folding bow saw that I really liked when I got it for wood. I packed it to Canada and on some other fishing trips, plus on the ranch walking fence in the spring. It was nice for cutting a tree that fell on the fence. As I used it more though it must have bent just a little or the wood handle compressed. It doesn't hold a blade as tight as it used to, and there isn't an adjustment to tighten the blade further. The Boreal 21 is a similar design made with different material that seems to not have that issue so far. It hasn't seen near the use of the Bob Dustrude saw yet either. The Wyoming Saw's design seems superior to either of these to me. Only downside is that it has more pieces to keep track of that could put it out of commission if they are lost.
 
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mcseal2

mcseal2

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I don’t have that one.

Anyone that has the ability to do a similar test please post the results. I’m sure there are others out there that work as good or better than what I had to try.
 

Shraggs

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Nice review.

I have every silky, and love them. The bigboy for me is best as a camp saw, it’s big fast and a two handed.

For hunting I like the pocket boys much better. Lighter and one handed. Those 5-6” blades still handled about 80% cut diameter of blade length.

Medium teeth better for dead wood but I like the fine teeth for bone
 

Kobuk

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Great write up, Thank You! Like you, my Wyoming saw is my work horse but to heavy to pack. I have one of those folding Gerber saws but it is very old and the blades are all bent up. I also have an old buck t handle saw that is sturdier but it never cut bone well, kind of big and has a leather sheath making it heavy. I remember the Gerber cutting pretty well but always felt a little flimsy. From what I’ve read from you guys, I think I will look into and buy either a silky or bacho to leave in pack.
 

thinhorn_AK

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They are definitely a versatile option. Mine was sure handy to have on the moose hunt. The bow part hung up a little on the ribs, but it definitely did the job without much hassle. My buddy was doing the sawing on them while I helped hold the ribs up off the guts. He said he would have preferred a saw without the bow but it sure did the job fine. It worked great clearing wood out of the way so we had a place to work on my bull and then clearing a path to carry him out of the brush. I like that saw a lot. I would take it over the Silky Big Boy any time I might need to cut bone and wanted a larger saw.

I like that the Wyoming saw has the threads and nut to tighten the blade. I have a Bob Dustrude folding bow saw that I really liked when I got it for wood. I packed it to Canada and on some other fishing trips, plus on the ranch walking fence in the spring. It was nice for cutting a tree that fell on the fence. As I used it more though it must have bent just a little or the wood handle compressed. It doesn't hold a blade as tight as it used to, and there isn't an adjustment to tighten the blade further. The Boreal 21 is a similar design made with different material that seems to not have that issue so far. It hasn't seen near the use of the Bob Dustrude saw yet either. The Wyoming Saw's design seems superior to either of these to me. Only downside is that it has more pieces to keep track of that could put it out of commission if they are lost.

that’s a good point, the wyoming saw has 2 small pieces that would end the show if either was lost, I really doubt you’d be able to rig anything up.

In addition to cutting moose and caribou apart, I’ve used mine to make poles for my camp as well as clearing channels to drag my pr49 through, I’ve even used it to clear sweepers so I can drive my boat further up. And of course it’s great for campfires.

At this point it’s think I have ~ 5 wyoming saws, I keep them in the trucks, in my boat, and then have a large and small one to go hunting with.
 
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Love the Wyoming saw. Wish it was lighter but it’s dependable!

I forgot it on a trip last year and picked up an outdoor edge one at sportsman’s . Well, I shot a buck and about put my hand through the blade and an antler tip when the plastic handle broke while cutting the skull cap. Got lucky.

I brought it back to sportsman’s for a refund!!

Pre-sawing!

2ec9e628e2a805d8be93ab27aaad75b7.jpg




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mcseal2

mcseal2

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Great buck, and good to know.

It does feel pretty flimsy to me. The Bahco Laplander is not much heavier and much stouter. I know it has a good reputation with the bushcraft guys from a little online searching. Some of them probably use a little saw a lot more than most hunters. I know if I plan to use a saw much I take a bigger saw.
 
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