# Best Handsaw? Shape? Length? Teeth?



## M.D. Vaden (Oct 20, 2006)

What would you say is the best handsaw for you?

My pick is between the Silky Zubat and an ARS although I'm leaning away from wooden handles these days.

I prefer the curved blade saws because less downward pressure is required on the pull stroke, alleviating strain on the forearms.

Also, I don't care for any handsaws that have the notches between every so-many teeth, as that prevents use of the saw on smaller tree and shrub branches. A good sharp saw can keep me from pulling my handpruners out for 3/8" to 1/2" twigs and branches. But the notch will snag the little ones.


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## trevmcrev (Oct 20, 2006)

Just got onto a Silky Zubat after many Ars saws and love it. super sharp, comfy grip, good scabbard. Highly recommended.


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## Stumper (Oct 20, 2006)

For general use 13" curved, pull cut and 6.5-7.5 pts per inch is hard to beat...which is why the Silky Zubat and Corona Pony saw are so tremendously popular. For fruit tree and shrub work I find a straight blade and finer teeth to be advantageous-I use a Gomtaro or Oyakata in orchard work. For ripping through bigger work and popping out dead twigs a Sugoi shines.


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## Ryan Willock (Oct 20, 2006)

I'm fond of my Silky Natanoko. It has greatly reduced the use of a chainsaw in the tree for me. When pruning I pull my climbing saw up just a couple times a day when before I was using a fano I kept the chainsaw in the tree with me at all times. I've been thinking about maybe trying a Sugoi.


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## MNClimber (Oct 20, 2006)

I use a Stihl PS 70. I also have a silky zubat but like the stihl better it weighs less and it seams to cut cleaner and faster. It has a 13" chemical nickel blade.


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Oct 20, 2006)

The stihl has the problem MD already mentioned, the slots in the blade that make it not work for small shoots. 
Wood handles are slippery when wet, and don't give any shock absorbency. Can you say CTS?
It also has the hook at the end of the handle, which constantly snags on ropes, but that could be cut off with a Zubat.


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## treeseer (Oct 20, 2006)

Ryan you can borrow my Sugoi if you want. I don'''t like silky scabbards. md, I'd rather bull out the handpruners on the small stuff < 1".

That's my answer--favorite handsaw--florian ratchetcut handshears.


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## M.D. Vaden (Oct 20, 2006)

treeseer said:


> Ryan you can borrow my Sugoi if you want. I don'''t like silky scabbards. md, I'd rather bull out the handpruners on the small stuff < 1".
> 
> That's my answer--favorite handsaw--florian ratchetcut handshears.



I pull out the hand pruners too. But it looses time for me when I have to switch from one tool to the other.

At least I"ve eliminated the lopper 97% of the time.

A sharp saw reduces the time to scabbard and switch a tool.

Apparently some arborists have more of a selection than I anticipated, even within the same brand name.


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## ozy365 (Oct 21, 2006)

The Zubat is my choice. I also like it in the pole saw version that shares the same blade. The pole saw is not as rigid as I like, but the light weight and blade swap-ability still make it a good combo.


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## elmnut (Oct 22, 2006)

Corona, and Silky are the best I have seen, and of course Felco #2 hand pruners.


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## Tree Machine (Oct 22, 2006)

I've always dug the straight-blade saws, Silky Gomtaro line. If you tend to do cut a face-cut / back cut like you would in dropping a tree, but on a miniature version, up high to direct a limb where you want it to go, a straight-blade meets and makes the V-notch. Curved blades overshoot at the sides.

I like the straight-blade folding saws, the Silky Gomboy 300mm and the Bigboy 360. Compact, straight blades and no scabbard. I tend to have saws fall out of the scabbard while up in the tree.


Last week I got a curve-blade Silky Sugoi, not a lot different from the Zubat. That baby really sizzles. 

For fine pruning I like the Prosentei with the fine teeth at the tip and the larger teeth nearer the handle.

I got my sister the pocketboy, large teeth so she can prune her pygmy palms and all her ground plants.

I like the Silky Top Gun, musically speaking. If you tune it just right you can get it to sound like a classical guitar with rock and roll flavor. Check it out.


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## KentuckySawyer (Oct 25, 2006)

The 13" Kanzawa Samurai is far better than any Silky saw I've ever used.

No contest.


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## Tree Machine (Oct 25, 2006)

I've had a couple of those, the green / red handle one, curved, scabbarded. They really are good saws.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 25, 2006)

I think a the Sugoi is a step up from the Zubat in that it's sturdier and the blade arc is better. It makes it so easy to use the entire blade. Cost is an issue though.

I like the curved blades for general use, and a striaght blade for removals where I may need to finish a back cut.


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## M.D. Vaden (Oct 25, 2006)

I think I'd liike to try one of those Gomtaros.

The tooth pattern looks like it may be the best of both worlds. More set apart on the handle side, and closer finer spacing near the end, which would be great for smaller twigs and some plants like Japanese maple.

Someone mentioned the Kanzawa Samurai. It should be built reasonably well, but it has a design issue that I found on a couple of other saws I tried about 6 years ago.

The attachment and angle of the handle demand a bit more energy from the upper half of the fingers on the handle.

At least that's the way the images appear. I like saws that have the handle a little bit more inline with the blade. Not totally inline though.

Regardless of brand, I like the protrusion on the handles that prevents the hand from slipping off. It saves on having to waste energy squeezing to keep a grip.


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## Tree Machine (Oct 25, 2006)

John Paul Sanborn said:


> I think a the Sugoi is a step up from the Zubat in that it's sturdier and the blade arc is better. It makes it so easy to use the entire blade. Cost is an issue though.
> 
> I like the curved blades for general use, and a striaght blade for removals where I may need to finish a back cut.



How can cost really even be a factor on something that will begin to make you money the second you begin using it, and will easily pay for itself in the first several hours you use it? This is not a cost, this is an investment. Assets make you money. You are buying, for $70, an asset that can earn you hundreds a week, week after week after week. 

I can see the Sugoi outlasting my folding Gomboys many times over, partly because the thicker gauge blade will be less prone to breakage. I will be sure to stay away from chain-link fences with it and if I treat it right and work it hard, I hope to get a year out of it. The packaging says the blade is *resharpenable*, which is unheard of with my folding Gomboy blades and the Gomtaro series, those blades are just replacable.

The Sugoi, I'm finding, is _really_ aggresive. I'll keep it away from dogwoods and magnolias, and carry it up for ash and oak and maple. The hook end at the tip of the Sugoi is not sharpened. I don't know what function it''s supposed to serve, but you can reach out with the saw and retrieve an out-of-reach rope without it ever touching a sharp tooth. On the pole saw blades, that tip is sharpened.


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## M.D. Vaden (Oct 26, 2006)

Tree Machine said:


> The Sugoi, I'm finding, is _really_ aggresive. I'll keep it away from dogwoods and magnolias, and carry it up for ash and oak and maple. The hook end at the tip of the Sugoi is not sharpened. I don't know what function it''s supposed to serve, but you can reach out with the saw and retrieve an out-of-reach rope without it ever touching a sharp tooth. On the pole saw blades, that tip is sharpened.



I've got two guesses on those tips - because I've been thinking that one over this week.

One guess - to keep the front teeth from ripping the scabbard. I've seen that scabbard damage from some of my saws like the ARS I used to use.

The second guess is that it helps prevent pulling the saw all the way back on the pull stroke.


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## Stumper (Oct 26, 2006)

The tip hook on my Sugoi IS sharpened. It is a twig slicer/chopper. Reach out, grab little sproutlet with hook, snatch it off cleanly.


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## Tree Machine (Oct 27, 2006)

I'd prefer mine sharpened. You can still pull a rope in _very gently_.

I took the Sugoi up the tree yesterday to take out a dead top and some dead wood. The little job paid just about what the saw cost, so I thought, let's make an exercise of this. Can the saw pay for itself in 15-30 minutes in the work that it does?

Finding myself rather comfortable in leaving the chainsaw behind, besides it was raining lightly, I climbed the slippery thing and proceeded to to the deadwooding. Third limb in, I drop the Sugoi. No chainsaw, but I do have the 360 folding Bigboy. the blade is a few month old, so it wasn't being magical like the Sugoi was a few moments earlier, but it was cutting and I finished in under a half hour. 

What I really noticed, using a thinner blade straight blade, as opposed to the slightly thicker Sugoi blade is that the Sugoi blade doesn't bend. It's super stiff, and that's really nice. Blades that bend can snap and I've done that a good, many times, especially when the weather is in the freezing temps.

Curved blade, WAY better for limb sizes from wrist-diameter up to leg-diameter.


On the Sugoi I found you can overcome the grabbiness of those super-aggressive teeth by moving the saw really fast, like _zipppp!_ Single pull removals of smaller dead wood branches, does it better than anything I've used yet. Shoulda bought one of these in 2005 when they came out.


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## OTG BOSTON (Oct 27, 2006)

I have a sugoi that I really like. The one think that bothers me is the big circular nut? thingy that attaches the blade to the handle. It always loosens up. But really the thing cuts like crazy


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## KentuckySawyer (Oct 27, 2006)

I was (and continue to be) thoroughly unimpressed by the Sugoi.

Kanzawa!!!!


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## gitrdun_climbr (Jan 12, 2007)

*Just got my Sugoi yesterday...*

and if looks could kill the next tree I encounter is dead meat! That hook on the tip came razor sharp on mine and is described on the box as an ivy/vine slicer. I do alot of removal work and wanted to get something aggressive to reduce use of the 200T. Previously I was in a corona but the scabbard was cheap, crappy and largely ineffective as the teeth always hung up on the way in or out if you didn't line it up perfectly.

I was also impressed that the Sugoi came with leg straps as that's where I carry but after opening the box the straps turned out to be a bit cheesy...I will upgrade those and can't wait to get the thing into the action.

Can anyone attest to any major problems with this saw?

Thanks!


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## Tree Machine (Jan 13, 2007)

GitRdun said:


> Can anyone attest to any major problems with this saw?


No major problems, only personal preference sorts of things, but I'll share some stuff.

First, I have to stand corrected on an earlier reply. The ivy slicer on my Sugoi IS sharpened. It's the blade hook end tip on the extendable Hyauchi that is not. They're both curved, about the same length and both yellow tools. Please pardon that mistake.

I've had both the Kwanzaa and the Sugoi. The Kwanzaa is smaller in scale and size. It is more on the level of the Corona scabbarded saws, which are OK saws in their own right, but like when you directly compare a Jaguar XK series to a Hyundai, you can compare that they both have 4 wheels and get you down the road in pretty much the same way. To many gas mileage and overall economy and upfront cost are major issues. Because of these considerations and you may have been, (and continue to be), unimpressed by the Jag. To that, I can only say, enjoy your Hyundai.

Here's a downside of the Sugoi.... the price of replacement blades. Now, they say the Sugoi is resharpenable, but I have attampted this. One day when my truck was having an engine mount replaced, I was waiting and had nothing else to do as my rig was up on the lift. I sharpened every single tooth on the Sugoi, handle to tip, on both sides. It came out sharper than the thrashed state I started with, but now it doesn't cut a straight line. I'm a freak about keeping tools sharp and sharpen all my stuff, and take great pride, but the Sugoi..... not a simple task. I was using a Corona diamond hone, but I think there must be a better tool for that purpose, mebbe like a 30 degree acute diamond angle file. Still, the carefulness and patient time you'll need to spend to bring it back to near new.... , best of luck. I'll sharpen it again if I find the right tool to do so, but for now, I have retired the Sugoi to ground duty, mounted the scabbard to the back of the chipper for use in collapsing fat V's in brush and as a 'machete' for trimming bushes and tips, fenceline work and general ground use. I traditionally use folding saws for these kinds of duties. The folding saws, when using in a machete-like manner, carry the possibility of folding back and the teeth slamming the tops of your 4 fingers. The Sugoi doesn't carry this risk, has the sharpened hook tip and is 60 mm longer than the folding Gomboy. Ground duties are taken on in a much more authoritative manner now and the Chipper is a more versatile tool because of it.

I almost bought a second Sugoi at a treeguy conference the other day, but there was a Natanoko 300mm, straight-blade scabbarded that I learned will accept a 300 mm Zubat blade. Overall, I like straight-blade better than curved, but the Natanoko can go both ways. I suppose it's fair to assume that the Zubats you all have can be converted to straight-blade by purchasing a Natanoko replacement blade. But then you have the problem of fitting the straight-blade saw into the curved sheath.

I've never climbed with a big scabbarded Silky, only the smaller ones like the ProSentei, Rootsaw and Gomtaro.


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## gitrdun_climbr (Jan 13, 2007)

*Thanks for your input...*

One other mentioned the bolt holding the blade on loosens alot...did this happen to you? I was curious about the 'resharpenability'...Sugoi teeth look awfully tricky. Replacement blade at Wesspur is $44! One other concern was the bulkiness...it seems like they made that plastic scabbard with all kinds of extra flaps and holes and protrusions rather than going for a more stream-lined, space-efficient design. That said, it does seem to fit well on the lower leg at my height and I did like how the scabbard holds the saw snug and accepts the saw easily. Believe me, I was torn, while stocking up on rope, wedges, etc. I walked around Wesspur with it in my hand for 30 minutes before I finally decided to get it. I did a little footlocking with it when I got home and that was no problem. Anxious to be able to leave the chainsaw on the ground a bit more...as much as I love it


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## arboralliance (Jan 14, 2007)

*Same...*



treeseer said:


> Ryan you can borrow my Sugoi if you want. I don'''t like silky scabbards. md, I'd rather bull out the handpruners on the small stuff < 1".
> 
> That's my answer--favorite handsaw--florian ratchetcut handshears.




Pretty much always carry my secatuers with me also, alot guys laugh till they see you in action...


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## limbwalker54 (Jan 15, 2007)

Perhaps I'm a little old fashioned. I prefer my Fanno #13 and leather scabbard. Works great for small limbs, and the occasional need for a handsaw when it is unsafe to use a chainsaw on larger limbs. 

-My 2 cents

-Michael J. Platt


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## Tree Machine (Jan 15, 2007)

Hey Limbwalker,

Welcome to the site!


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## Yeahman (Jan 16, 2007)

Silky Gomtaro!


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## 046 (Jan 16, 2007)

Silky Gomtaro here... most excellent saw!


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## treemendous (Jan 16, 2007)

*handsaw*

A little embarassing but I use a Coglan's (you know the camping stuff?) handsaw. Came with a decent scabard, was super sharp and cost $20 can. It's a straight blade 12". I just ordered the 15" Silky Ibuky to use for thinning all the big evergreens everyone is afraid of now in the N.W.

I'll let everyone know how it is.


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## Tree Machine (Jan 16, 2007)

In the sense of handsaws, treemendous, you're going from one end of the handsaw universe to the other.

Whereas the ever-popular Zubat (the largest one) is 330 mm and the Sugoi is 360 mm your Ibuki blade is 390 mm (15.4") long- ZOIKS! The Ibuki is like the big, older brother of the Silky family. Enjoy.


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## rbtree (Jan 18, 2007)

gitrdun_climbr;568048
Can anyone attest to any major problems with this saw?
[/QUOTE said:


> Weeeellll, i'se don't have one of 'em, but I reckon it could leave some nasty pointy incisory marks on the top of your off hand.....or not, if you stay fo-cussed ....every momento that said weapon is brandished....


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## gitrdun_climbr (Jan 19, 2007)

*holy SUGOI!*



> Weeeellll, i'se don't have one of 'em, but I reckon it could leave some nasty pointy incisory marks on the top of your off hand.....or not, if you stay fo-cussed ....every momento that said weapon is brandished....



Ran that puppy today for the first time pruning a big, multi/leadered Deodar Cedar...I wouldn't challenge Luke Skywalker with it but she did her job. I spent an hour or so taking 3-4" diameter branches with it just to get the feel, then ordered up the 200 when it came time to take two stripped leaders. I may re-evaluate carrying on leg, my chaps kept bunching up around top of scabbard and before I knew it I was sawing cuts into them every time I holstered that beast. I can probably figure out a fix.

LOL, interesting that I can run saws in the tree all day without a scratch, then one quiet evening at home with a pocket knife, slash open the radial artery in my off hand cutting open a stupid shrink-wrap package, sending me to er, surgeons and painful, painful recovery. Don't get too comfy yall!

:stupid:


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## climb it (Jan 19, 2007)

sugoi... and gitrdun, you should wear protective pants not chaps, chaps suck. the leg holster,... I love it but I have cut my fingers and pants more times then I would like to admit, while holstering and deholstering


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## windthrown (Jan 19, 2007)

*Felco folder...*

Best and sharpest hand saw that I have. I can cut 3-4 inch branches with ease. If it is too big for loppers and too small for the Echo, it gets a Felco haircut.


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## rebelman (Jan 20, 2007)

My pole saw blades are the same as my handsaw. Seventeen inch Fanno. I've used big logger hand saws, I liked them for bigger cuts, I've tried some Japanese models which were nice for suckers or smaller cuts. If my climbing chain saw is pinched the straighter models are nice. I keep a stock of blades all the time, so it's best for me overall. I'll show a photo someday of an old school saw that served me well for years.


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## SRT-Tech (Jan 20, 2007)

i'm really liking my FANNO 17" curved blade, with wood handle and rubber/leather sheath. Was $40 less than some of the Silkys and works just fine. I also have a small Sandvik folder that i carry for rec climbing, to remove deadwood.


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## Tree Machine (Jan 20, 2007)

I can see the advantages of a 17" blade, especially when you use the same blade on the pole saw.


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## Stihl088stock (Feb 16, 2007)

windthrown said:


> Best and sharpest hand saw that I have. I can cut 3-4 inch branches with ease. If it is too big for loppers and too small for the Echo, it gets a Felco haircut.




I've been using the felco 60 in my back pocket for years, It worked great until in a pinch I used it for a couple bone cuts while butchering a deer last season. That made it very dull, and I couldn't sharpen it by hand much better.

I replaced the blade, but I've also replaced my back pocket favorite with a Silky F180, it cuts a lot faster and smoother, but tends to tear at the end of the cut a little more than the felco. Probably due to larger teeth.

I've had a Sugoi since mid 2005, I may never use a bowsaw again.


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## ATH (Feb 16, 2007)

Where do you buy Kanzawa saws?

Thanks.


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## SRT-Tech (Feb 17, 2007)

OOPS , double posting!!!!!!


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