For the kind of canoeing I do -- which does not include clearing portage trails or any sort of heavy wood processing -- I've never had a need to cut a log or tree more than about 6" in diameter.
For that kind of wood, I examined three candidates many years ago and periodically since then.
1. Bow saw. It is the fastest cutter and can cut larger diameter logs, but speed and log diameter capacity are not my primary criteria when I'm only cutting a small number of 6" logs at most. Bow saws are the bulkiest and heaviest, so I have ruled them out as
in-the-canoe saws on those grounds. If I were base camped or car camped for a long time and needed to process a lot of wood, or bigger wood, I would take a bow saw.
2. Pruning saw. By "pruning" saw I mean, by definition, one that has a
curved blade, which cuts only on the
draw stroke. I have used one of these to cut tons of branches and small trees on my 11 acres for 20 years. However, I don't want a curved blade as canoeist. I want to be able to cut a flat notch in logs and frequently something lying on the ground, and for those objectives a straight blade is much better. I therefore have rejected curved blade pruning saws, even if they fold.
3. Folding saw with straight blade. This is my choice. For my kind of canoeing, it is the lightest, most compact and has the right blade geometry. The teeth should be of the "medium" cutting pattern rather than the "fine" pattern. About four years ago I chose the
Bahco Laplander as the best in this class. It has an 8" blade and weights only 7 ounces. It locks in the open and closed positions. It cuts on both the push and pull strokes.
Recently, I have become aware of Silkie folding saws from Japan. The closest model in length to the Bahco Laplander is the
Gomboy 210 with medium teeth. It weighs about two ounces more than the Bahco and costs $8-10 more. It also comes with a plastic storage case, which I don't think I'd bring in the canoe. Functionally, the Silkie cuts only on the draw cut and it has two open positions, one where the blade is at an obtuse angle to the handle, which enables more ergonomic cutting of a log on the ground.
In every head-to-head cutting speed test I've seen, the Silkie beats the Bahco. Here's a test by my very favorite knife reviewer on the internet, virtuovice. He's using shorter models from Bahco and Silkie than the Laplander and Gomboy 210, but the blade geometries he analyzes and explains are the same.
Based of these cutting tests, the more sophisticated tooth geometry, the superior friction-reducing geometry, the two different open angles, and the fact that the Silkie has more metal in a stronger construction, I would now choose the Silkie Gomboy 210 over the Bahco Laplander even though it is a little heavier and costs a little more. There are also Silkie models that are longer and shorter than the Gomboy 210.
