Bahco 9" Laplander Folding Saw for Trail Maintenance, Wood Processing, and Survival Use, Rust-Protected Blade, Secure Lock, Ergonomic Grip, Ideal Bushcraft and Camping Tool

I was looking for something more efficient for cutting fire wood and shelter products in the woods. I have used an axe and a hand axe for cutting these items in the past but now that I am older, they get tiresome. So I decided to try a folding saw for ease of carrying and use. I liked the size of this, I don't think I needed anything longer. For a first folding saw, I didn't want to buy something like a Silkey yet. Maybe later. We recently had a storm, power was still out and some limbs were cracked and hanging waiting to fall. I could have gotten the chainsaw, but wanted to check out the Bahco instead. I was impressed. The angle from the handle to the blade looked odd but felt god in the hand. The blade lock was good, easy to lock open and close. The blade was quite aggressive and sawed through those limbs very well. Not hard on my hand or arm at all. Very smooth cutting. It's a good size for me and what I need it to do. Cut quality is quite good and leaves the cut surfaces quite smooth. Not a big deal for firewood but that may be more important for other tasks. Handle seems strong and grippy, hinge point seems strong, durability does not appear to be a problem either. Blade slices through wood well. The only co nab cern I may have is with the blade thickness. It seems a little thin but then this is my first folding saw and I had no problems with removing any limbs or cutting them into garbage can length pieces. Not sure how they temper these blades but seem to do a good job with heat dissipation. Glad I decided to buy this.

Took this saw backpacking with me along Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore and it was a great help. I was surprised to find downed wood at the only campsite we were allowed to have a fire at but this saw performed flawlessly.It cut through 2-3" branches in no time at all. 4" branches took just a bit of time. I did manage to get a 6-8" log cut but that took a solid 5 minutes for me to go through(had to take a break lol - in all fairness this was at the end of the day which included a 9 mile hike with a 50lb pack). The guy that cut the 7" log in 45 seconds...he must be a cyborg or something or else the wood he was cutting was extremely soft. Then again, I was cutting through a downed maple tree that was good and dry.I especially like how the blade's teeth are aggressively cut and I like that the saw cuts in both the push and pull directions. Other pruning saws only cut in the pull direction(which reduces the chance of bending the saw and also allows for a finer cut finish -ideal for pruning, but not so much for stroke efficiency.)I love that the blade locks into the handle and also into the open position. I have not had any trouble with the blade unlocking at inopportune moments but I've really only used this saw one day.The rubber grip on the handle is excellent and comfortable and the longer handle provides room for any size hand and position. You can almost use two hands on it.(Probably could if you have small hands but I have quite large hands - usually XL or XXL in gloves)The only thing you need to watch out for with this saw is BENDING THE BLADE. The blade is thin to make it lightweight and also to make cutting easier but if you happen to stray off center in a push-cut then you can bend it fairly easily if you're not paying attention. I didn't have a problem with it, but I can definitely see it happening.I'm also not a fan of the leather strap on a plastic & rubber handled tool. It just feels out of place not to mention that it's fairly dry and doesn't feel like it will hold up that long. I've already replaced it with some bright neon green para-cord to aid in finding the tool if dropped. It IS a very dark green/black handle/blade and blends in easily with ground cover.Now if I can just find replacement blades for this saw(not that I need one now, but it'd be nice to know they're available if anything ever happens to this one) then this would be the ULTIMATE lightweight pack saw.All in all this a great saw that merits the extra initial expense.UPDATE ON COMMENT QUESTIONS(2-21-2012):Hmmm... I don't have a kitchen scale to give you oz/grams but a little googling for "bahco laplander" brought up a few reviews(brian green / brian's backpacking blog) and some video reviews on you tube. According to "Brian" it's 6.4oz!In my experience: it's lightweight for its size, the blade is only about 1mm thick maybe a hair more so it limits the amount of steel, and it's slightly heavier than my 2-3" pocket knives(with aluminum handles and steel liners) but way lighter than my SOG B61 Multi-tool(iron brick lol). I just compared it to an empty nalgene bottle(32oz/1 liter size) without the cap on and the saw felt slightly heavier. More googling (backpack gear test)and I find that a review lists the 32oz Nalgene bottle with CAP was measured at 6.2oz. So that makes sense to me.If you would rather have grams, there's always google.The bottom line is this: If you're going to be backpacking and heavily dependent on wood fires - it's a life saver. IF you're mostly using stoves in the summer you could go without it. In the winter though - I'd carry this and a hatchet but I live in the wooded north or Michigan.

This saw has gained legendary status on the internets, and my iconoclastic disposition compelled me to skepticism on the subject of the Laplander. Well, I finally got ahold of one, and chopped some things up with it, and I can only report that it's an outstanding tool at a modest price.The first thing that struck me when I had it in hand was that it's super light. You really can stick it in a back pocket and drag it anywhere. The second thing that caught my attention was the craftsmanship of the locking mechanism. It stays closed until you press the button, and locks up tightly when it's fully open, and it's better than most pocket knives in that respect. The blade, of course, seemed sharp, rugged, and flexible, but you can't really say much about a saw blade until you put it to use.I took it out today and sawed up some dead hardwood ranging from 1" to 4" in diameter. It zipped through that stuff with no effort whatsoever. Based on that experience, I wouldn't hesitate to tackle anything that's thinner than the length of the blade. I can compare the Bahco to my experiences with: the Chainmate CM-24SSP 24-Inch Survival Pocket Chain Saw With Pouch, Gerber 31-001054 Gator Combo Axe, and the Truper 30518 2-1/4-Pound Boy's Axe, Hickory Handle, 28-Inch. I've carried all of those into the woods at one point or another, and can say that I'd have been better off with the Laplander in every case. I might stick with the larger axe if I really planned on splitting a lot of firewood, but I've generally found that unnecessary on my trips.I'd like to compare this saw with a Silky Folding Landscaping Hand Saw POCKETBOY 170 Fine Teeth 342-17 and a Shark 10-2337 Folding CutsAll Saw for good measure. Maybe I'll be able to try those down the road.For now I can just say I'm pretty happy with this Laplander, in spite of the hype.