Bushcraft Saws - Lets take a Closer Look

Some solid info on the humble Bushcraft Saw

From the origins of the saw up until the finely engineered tools we now use in Bushcraft, lets take a better look and find out whats what. Materials, Blades, and Types of Saw that have been used in the past and still revered today.

The saw is one of humanity's oldest tools, dating back thousands of years to ancient civilizations that used flint or obsidian versions. Archaeological findings suggest these primitive saws were utilized as early as 5000 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia for cutting wood and bone.

As civilizations advanced, the design evolved. Egyptians developed wooden saws with metal blades, while the Roman Empire introduced iron saws essential for infrastructure building. During the Middle Ages, hand saws became specialized, with panel saws and ripsaws gaining popularity among carpenters for precise cuts.

By the 18th and 19th centuries, mass production made hand saws widely accessible, with various types, like back saws and coping saws, emerging for specific tasks. The hand saw remains an indispensable tool in woodworking, reflecting humanity's ingenuity and the quest for improved tools. Its simplicity and effectiveness continue to be valued by both professionals and hobbyists including Outdoors Men and Womem, Bushcrafters and Survivalists

When i think of Bushcraft Saws the first thing that comes to my mind is the Take Down Buck Saw.

The classic image of the Take Down Buck Saw

The take down buck saw is the classic Bushcraft Saw, made from wood often by the user making it popular among Bushcrafters and survivalists. It consists of few components normally two vertical supports, a cross beam, the blade itself and a tensioner to tighten the blade otherwise known as a windlass.

Its unique takedown mechanism allows for easy disassembly into smaller parts for transport, which is useful for packing when on the move, most people opt to use a bow saw blade which is perfect for the job. Being able to choose between a dry wood blade and a green wood blade also adds versatility to this timeless classic.

“Take down Buck saws come in variety of shapes and sizes mainly depending on the blade length and can even be made in the field pretty quickly so you don't even need to take the frame with you if you don't want the extra weight”.

One quick tip - if your thinking about making a take down buck saw as your “forever saw” use a hardwood and dont make it too thin. The pressure needed to tension the blade can be quite alot, and theres nothing more frustrating than spending hours making one, and when you finally add tension to the blade hearing that dreadful crack as the wood spilts or snaps.

Another key Factor is to make sure the verticle supports are positioned so the grain rings are running from side to side of the support, rather than front to back if you looking at the saw end on. This will also give it more strength much like an a good axe handle is made and designed to absorb shock.

This is a monster 750mm saw i made in the woods

I made this recently for a video in around half an hour as a quick demonstration.

There are other ways to make a Bushcraft saw in the field with just a blade including simply harnessing a bent green branch and bending it slightly more and attatching the blade at both ends essentially making a natural Bow Saw. The blade can be rolled up and stored in a billy can or even attached to the inside of a leather belt for safe transportation.

Be very careful when trying to fit a bow saw blade in a billy can though as a coiled spring with a blade on is essentially what this can turn into. Particularly when removing the blade from the can, as this can be pretty dodgy in my experience, a bigger can will be much easier but using something to cover the blade itself such as some soft leather or hessian may be well advised.

Another Natural Saw i made

The Buck saw has been used for centuries and has stood the test of time and rigors and stress of outdoor life incredibly well, but nowadays times have moved on and we have even more efficient cutting blades and configurations of saw to use at our disposal.

Other Bushcraft Saws we have to take into consideration are in no particular order -

DIY Handsaw - dont let anybody tell you you cant just use something like a stanly wood saw for bushcraft purposes. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with this especially if your a beginner at the end of the day a saw is a saw. Although bushcraft saws tent to have a more aggressive tooth pattern for faster cutting with less “tidiness” to the cut.

In the world of bushcraft, having the right tools is essential for efficient and effective woodcraft. Hand saws play a crucial role in this toolkit, offering versatility for various cutting tasks. This blog explores different types of hand saws commonly used in bushcraft, including:

Crosscut Saw - Designed for cutting across the grain, this saw features a series of sharp teeth that efficiently slice through wood, making it ideal for felling trees or cutting logs into manageable lengths you may have seen some rather large crosscut saws being used to tree fellers of the pasts when felling them. Sometimes they are that big that it takes two people to use one.

A fine example of a large cross cut saw

Rip Saw - Specifically made for cutting along the grain, the rip saw has fewer teeth with a wider spacing, allowing for faster cuts in lumber, this type of saw is the kind used to rip a piece of wood from end to end and have been used in possibly every ancient timber yard in sawing pits to process useable timber.

Bowsaw - A lightweight, portable option, the bowsaw has a thin blade tensioned between two arms, making it easy to carry. It excels in cutting branches and smaller logs, perfect for firewood or shelter construction.

Although more technologically advanced folding saws do not restrict your cutting depth as much due to not having a horizontal support, there are ways around this and the Bow saw certainly deserves a place still as a very trusty piece of bushcraft equipment. There are even modern versions of the take down buck saw which is essentially a bow saw like The Agawa Boreal or Canyon, which are a favourite among many a bushcrafter.

Bahco also make great Bow Saws

Fixed blade and Folding Bushcraft Saws - The high tech Fixed Blade and Folding Saws of today would be often what is conjured up in the minds of bushcraft enthusiasts when they are thinking of purchasing a new saw.

A certain few brands in particular especially Silky or Bahco or even Samurai who offer good value fixed blade pruning saws in my opinion.

Bahco offer the literally iconic Bahco laplander. A great lightweight pocket saw used by many a bushcrafter including the great Ray Mears Himself. If you have been doing bushcraft any amount of time im sure you may well have used one yourself.

The Iconic bahco Laplander

Silky offer a huge range of saws, literally one for everything including folding saws up to 1 metre long! But on that note you can also buy a small pocket saw like the pocket boy.

Silky are known for using some pretty advanced practices and materials like SK-4 steel cut by laser plated in zinc and electrically impulse hardened teeth in an array of tooth configuration ranging from extremely aggressive to a very fine cut for more intricate work.

The Blade on my silky katanaboy 650 with a shelter in the background i made with it.

The idea behind these folding saws is that when not in use they are generally half the length compared to when in use exactly the same as a folding knife and the only other thing id say to look out for is if the blade is curved or not. The idea behind a curved blade is that only one part of the blade is contact with the wood at one time creating less friction and a smoother cut. Im not a 100% on this but I'm sure it does help somewhat.

Whilst touching on tooth configurations lets take a look at that -

The Bow Saw blade used on a take down buck saw generally comes in two variations in different tooth sizes for varying amounts of aggression and a small kerf usually.

A dry blade - primarily meant for cutting dead wood or dry wood in particular. These saw blades are simple and look like the classic saw blade you may end up with if you tried to draw a saw blade. Basically lots of V`s right next to each other.

A Dry Wood Bow Saw Blade

A Wet Blade - A wet blade will be similar to a dry blade having maybe dry 4-5 teeth consecutively but then have the inclusion of a “raker” tooth. The addition of the raker tooth helps remove waste material from the cutting surface to stop the binding of the blade in damp material that would morethan likely occur without it. Once there has been a raker tooth in the configuration then the pattern starts again with another set of dry teeth. For Bushcraft purposes a dry blade i would say is what you would use mostly.

A Green or Wet Wood Bow Saw Blade

Here is also a detailed picture of every Saw blade part name on a green wood blade

Its difficult to describe all the different variations of saw blades used now days but heres some guidelines to help you understand what you are looking at.

TPI - teeth per inch. Simply put the amount of teeth per inch

Blade length - pretty obvious

Kerf - this is the gap that the saw will leave or the width of the cut. Essentially the maximum width of the teeth.

Lots of modern saws have staggered teeth at mainly 2 angles creating more kerf and therefore more of a gap in between the teeth for dust to fall out to help stop any binding that may occur on the blade itself. This works by having a wider tooth configuration than the actual blade itself and does a great job to help with less friction.

There are various ways teeth can be hardened with heat and tempering but id say the most successful method is what silky use and thats electronic impulse hardening which heats up and cools down super quick leaving the teeth incredibly hard but also brittle. Just as long as you don't hit any metal with the blade such as a nail or use it on a large antler this should not matter, and Silky now have the Outback Range made for cutting Bone also. So an even harder tooth which may well be suited for antler also im not sure though to completely honest before you blunten your new silky on one.

So guys - i may have exhausted my knowledge of Saws now if I'm honest.

If your interested in buying a saw we have a few on our website which i think are awesome value, two of which i use myself regularly and have 0 problems with. So heres a link to them

Theres also a Youtube video of me making one of the Take Down Bucksaws in the pictures above called “Making a Large Saw in the Field”

Here is the Link - https://youtu.be/hGUW1zrjhpg?si=7emv02laWdPmYZ3r

If you would also like to learn some more about Bushcraft Knives and what you should be looking for then heres another Blog Post for you to take a look at

If you have read this far i’d like to say thanks and id really appreciate any post likes if you hit the heart up.

Thanks again for stopping buy guys and il be back with ore news and Knowledge soon.

Dan Lake