Silky saws

T

teleturns

Adventurer
Silky Saws

I manage trail crews in Colorado and we have used silky saws in the past. They cut great but they are not durable enough for trail crews. The blades tend to get bent overtime. Trail crews are extremely hard on tools though. We use Corona raker saws for our light work now. They cut extremely fast! Plus they ony cut on the back stroke which eliminates bending.
 
Jerry Ward

Jerry Ward

Adventurer
I've used Silky Saws since 2008. We carried a couple Silky Big Boys when fighting wildland fire with the USFS out West to clean up anything the chainsaw teams missed when constructing handline. Great piece of gear for sure! Unlike most Western saws, Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke and therefore work with the body's natural biomechnical design-not against it by trying to push the teeth through. Plenty of kerf to help prevent binding as well. They zip right through even the toughest of manzanita and oak brush, plenty durable if you know what you are doing, and stay sharp for quite some time. I currently carry a Silky Pocket Boy on my trapline to cut stakes, makes cubbies, clear brush, etc. I recommend them with no hesitation...
 
Last edited:
frans

frans

Adventurer
Silkys are expensive. they work great but if you want a good saw just ask any tree service you see working. Corona, silky, ARS are all good saws. Silky and ARS make a better cut, corona makes a rougher cut. Stihl hand saws are o.k. but you pay for the name
 
F

FlyFishermen

Observer
After backpacking a few times I learned how valuable it was to have a hand saw - lighter weight and more effective than a hatchet for firewood processing. I had about 3-4 trips under my belt and finally went on the hunt for a good saw. I did some research and asked on a backpacking forum and got several recommendations for the Silky's.

My first Silky was a PocketBoy 170. For a compact saw this is pretty nice. It will cut through only a couple inches of wood, though. For light duty work it is fine, or packing "light" (others that are in to light weight backpacking will argue that a "saw" should not be in a pack at all, I beg to differ).

After another 3-4 trips with the PocketBoy I got a Gomboy 240. The PocketBoy has its limits. In the time of using that one I wished I had more blade for processing bigger "logs". The Gomboy 240 gets me up closer to 5" wood it can cut effectively. That makes for nice logs on the campfire.

A saw combined with a nice fixed blade knife (my camp knife is an ESEE-6, straight blade) is all the wood processing I need. The ESEE-6 is heavy and sturdy enough that I can split wood with it by baton'ing the spine with a log.
 
P

pajeepman

Adventurer
I have 2 hayauchi 21' pole saws. They cut amazing. For hand saw I use a corona fixed blade. (This was when I did tree work for a living). They cut good and do not cost much. When I go camping I bring a folding corona saw I got at a yard sale for $2 that was all but brand new. I never used a Silky hand saw but I imagine they are just as good as their pole saws. In 8 years I never bent a Silky blade.


Sent from my MOTWX435KT using Tapatalk 2
 
K

Kottonwood

Adventurer
I actually started a thread about these a while back.

I am a professional arborist and owner of a tree service so I know a thing or two about this.

First of all to the guy that had a crew bend his saws then bought coronas.... you will only bend a silky if you are trying to do it, Personally I have only seen it happen on a polesaw blade from someone being very careless... coronas on the other hand bend quite frequently and dull rapidly.... cheap to replace though. Also any tree trimmer hand saw only cuts on the back stroke and most are sharpened at three separate angles similar to the silky, cheap coronas only are sharpened on two angles and dull quicker and cut slower as a result.

Also to the guy that says you are paying for the name... this is simply wrong. There truly is not a saw on the market comparable to a silky and I and my employees have tried them all. When you are paying 80 bucks for a replacement blade (after a year of daily hard use) it is a bit tough to swallow and might make you want to try an alternative. Any time we have taken this approach we have regretted it.

Anyways, a silky is one of the best pieces of kit you ever have. For normal camping or around the yard use this is truly a saw that will last you a lifetime. The saw in my truck right now is one that I used for arborist work for over a year, it got a little dull for that so I got a new one. I put the old one in the truck and since then I have felled trees with it and cut literally tons of deadwood to make a fire. This saw is "dull" for a pro but whenever anyone else grabs it and uses it they are immediately blown a way and usually say something to the tune of "wow that is a ************ saw"

One more note; never cut toward your hand and never grab it by the blade! This is not your grandads bowsaw and it will cut the hell out of you! It is by far the most common injury in arboriculture and I have seen many a stitches go in and even seen one guy need surgery on his tendon, no fun!

Oh yeah last thing.... If you really don't want to pay for the silky the best comparable saw I have found is the samurai. Though it is a good saw and hardened steel it still will not last as long as a silky and I wouldn't buy one again... way cheaper than the silky and a world apart from the corona.

I have absolutely no affiliation but a great place to get good prices on both of these saws is treestuff.com for those interested.
 
7

7echo

Adventurer
"Also to the guy that says you are paying for the name... this is simply wrong.

I think frans was saying that with Stihl saws you are paying for the name.

I need a new pole saw, will definitely look into the Silky.
 
K

Kottonwood

Adventurer
7echo said:
"Also to the guy that says you are paying for the name... this is simply wrong.

I think frans was saying that with Stihl saws you are paying for the name.

I need a new pole saw, will definitely look into the Silky.
Click to expand...


oops... read to quick.. Thanks for correcting that
 
snekvasil

snekvasil

Adventurer
Kottonwood said:
I actually started a thread about these a while back.

I am a professional arborist and owner of a tree service so I know a thing or two about this.

First of all to the guy that had a crew bend his saws then bought coronas.... you will only bend a silky if you are trying to do it, Personally I have only seen it happen on a polesaw blade from someone being very careless... coronas on the other hand bend quite frequently and dull rapidly.... cheap to replace though. Also any tree trimmer hand saw only cuts on the back stroke and most are sharpened at three separate angles similar to the silky, cheap coronas only are sharpened on two angles and dull quicker and cut slower as a result.

Also to the guy that says you are paying for the name... this is simply wrong. There truly is not a saw on the market comparable to a silky and I and my employees have tried them all. When you are paying 80 bucks for a replacement blade (after a year of daily hard use) it is a bit tough to swallow and might make you want to try an alternative. Any time we have taken this approach we have regretted it.

Anyways, a silky is one of the best pieces of kit you ever have. For normal camping or around the yard use this is truly a saw that will last you a lifetime. The saw in my truck right now is one that I used for arborist work for over a year, it got a little dull for that so I got a new one. I put the old one in the truck and since then I have felled trees with it and cut literally tons of deadwood to make a fire. This saw is "dull" for a pro but whenever anyone else grabs it and uses it they are immediately blown a way and usually say something to the tune of "wow that is a ************ saw"

One more note; never cut toward your hand and never grab it by the blade! This is not your grandads bowsaw and it will cut the hell out of you! It is by far the most common injury in arboriculture and I have seen many a stitches go in and even seen one guy need surgery on his tendon, no fun!

Oh yeah last thing.... If you really don't want to pay for the silky the best comparable saw I have found is the samurai. Though it is a good saw and hardened steel it still will not last as long as a silky and I wouldn't buy one again... way cheaper than the silky and a world apart from the corona.

I have absolutely no affiliation but a great place to get good prices on both of these saws is treestuff.com for those interested.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more with Kottonwood. Great saws...and extremely sharp. Treestuff.com is probably the best tree care supplying company I've ever dealt with. Super fast shipping and great customer service.
 
P

pajeepman

Adventurer
Years ago when doing tree work, I tripped when I "found" a small hole in the ground. During my "recovery from my trip", I kicked the blade on our Silky saw it cut clear through my new quality leather work boot(not a cheap walmart boot), my sock and cut my skin slightly. Ruined my boot but I am glad I had good work boots on and not cheap boots. They are very sharp.
 
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