Toong Northerner Billhook

Works great with or without a pole. It came sharp enough out of the box, but I still sharpened it with a file. Takes care of just about any brush that grows in Kentucky. The point was a bit on the rough side, not really serrated or anything. Probably just needs to be hit the grinder. Still that being said this is one tough implement, unlike many other hand tools out there. Will purchase from them again in the future.

This thing is superb at cutting through brush about 1" thick or less. The mouth on the blade (as stated by Miles himself) excels at biting into whatever you put in front of it and requires very little effort to swing. Although it can't reach as far as my Latin machetes, it is very comfortable to carry and small enough that it doesn't get in the way. A nice added feature on this model is the groove on the top of the blade. You can use it for quick limbing and fruit gathering. pound for pound, it may be one of my favorite Aranyiks that I own. *Warning* This shape swings very smoothly and you could easily get carried away and cut into your leg without even realizing it. I strongly recommend attaching a pole to it for increased control and distance from yourself, mine came with one and some cordage as an added bonus.

The inside where the wooden stave/handle would go had a portion metal inside making mounting difficult. The blade was off center. Other than these issues after a wee bit of sharpening, this thing is a beast!!

I have yet to sharpen this tool, so I am not sure how it will react to sharpening. So far, this product is great and appears to be of good metal. I would recommend this product.

Hacks through everything I've come across. Used primarly for clearing old brush along an alley way, of which it made short work. Buying again for Christmas for my Nephew.

I've actually had this product for over a year, but I have quite a few other Aranyik tools that I've chosen to use in the yard instead including the Eneps K1, K2, and K3 and 27" Latin and saber machetes. But those were mostly jobs where I need to take down a crepe myrtle or hack through some woody overgrowth. Today, the task was preparing stone-filled and weed infested flower beds for new plants. This Toong Northerner Pra seemed just the tool for such a task. Now when I say "stone-filled", I don't mean a rock here and there. I'm talking good sized chunks of granite that made our shovel question it's manhood every time we tried to dig in. But the "tooth" of pra, somehow, was a really able to dig between and underneath the the rocks more adeptly and break things up. Using the spine of the pra as an improvised shovel also proved to be extremely useful as we only had one proper shovel. It really made displacing the stones and dirt go a lot faster. Though I would not suggest subjecting any edged tool to such abuse, the edge really didn't seem to notice. No damage to speak of. The other thing the pra showed strength in was digging up plants. There were 3 small bushes that we wanted to dig up and transplant to another bed. After getting under the plants with a shovel, I was able to use the curved edge of the pra to cut some of the more stubborn roots away to release the plant. Also, again the "V" section at the front of the pra came in handy for digging to the dirt and prying the weeds up by the roots, never to return again! And after all that edge-dulling work, I was still able to hack down some overgrown limbs and vines, which it did with all manner of ease. Even if you take a bad angle, the long curved edge still gets the job done. You can definitely clear paths with this as well as chop down fairly thick tree limbs with this outstanding tool. It will shrug it all off with equal abandon. As another reviewer said, due to the shape of the blade, I found myself being extra cautious with my swings because it'd be super ease to get the tip of the pra lodged in your thigh or knee. I intend to attach one of the pole arms Aranyik offers to make that a bit less of an issues as well as give me greater reach and leverage. Also, just a note that this item comes with no sheath. That's not a problem. I just made one out of cardboard and duct tape. You don't really need it for an item like this, but I just like to make people aware. But there really are no issues at all with this extremely durable and well-made tool. This is an affordable, never die, must have, invaluable tool with the best parts of a sickle and machete that is a jack of all trades and master of most. Get one or two for yourself and I promise that you will be glad you did.