Silky Saws: Silky Bigboy 2000 XL vs Silky Katanaboy 500

This is a comparison of two outdoor folding saws, the Silky Bigboy 2000 XL and the Silky Katanaboy 500. These are both high quality, high performance folding saws.
This is an excellent price on the Silky Katanaboy 500 amzn.to/2cRqcwh
Silky BigBoy 2000 XL amzn.to/2c9G4X4
Sheath for the Silky Bigboy amzn.to/2dsZkSg

[@MedLebowski]

Your uploads are so useful. Thanks for not telling me what to buy, but rather just presenting the information. I really appreciate the time you have put into these saw reviews. They are far and away the most useful ones out there in my opinion.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

Thank you for the kind words and good encouragement! I appreciate it. I'm glad some of this information has been useful. Thanks for watching!

[@citizenx1602]

Very nice comparison! Doing the math it results an amount of 6.44 pull strokes per inch deep for KatanaBoy and 9.1 for BigBoy

[@mversantvoort]

Great comparison, thanks! The Bigboy handled the big log surprisingly well, so that’s the saw I’m going for.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

The BigBoy is in a lot of ways my favorite saw. It remains very portable while being able to cut some pretty big stuff... You'll be happy with it.

[@mversantvoort]

Essential Gear & Useful Skills Thanks for the reply! I’m definitely going for the Bigboy, since I need the saw to be relatively portable.

[@mversantvoort]

Essential Gear & Useful Skills Do you know what kind of wood it is and if it’s still wet or if it’s dry? Thanks in advance!

[@betweenfiveandseven]

The BigBoy 2000 XL (Yellow handle in this video) has a tooth design meant for softer woods and all of this type of Silky Saw are designed to be pruning saws, so the design engineers have wood with high moisture content in mind. That said: The log I demonstrated with in this video was a very dry, well cured piece of cottonwood. That log was solid and dense. I have found the large tooth Silky Saws to be excellent performers in both fresh and cured wood and also great performers in both hard and soft woods. To add to that, Silky makes two other BigBoy saws with different teeth patterns. Some people prefer the finer tooth versions for hard woods thinking they might want to do some precision cuts. I am not one of those people because I prefer speed and using fewer calories to get the cuts done, but if you live where there's a lot of cured hardwoods, it's worth thinking about.

[@mversantvoort]

Essential Gear & Useful Skills Thank you for the extensive reply! I’ll be cutting fresh wood (soft and medium density), so the aggresive teeth should be good for that. Thanks once more, I’m definitely getting the Bigboy, with the sheathe to carry it.

[@PaulBissekerBushcraft]

Great review :) I picked up the BigBoy2000 Thanks for all the info, effort and time you put into the video.

[@johnmclain250]

Appreciate this, was deciding which to go with since I needed a larger saw than the Gomboy 240 for large pieces of wood. This makes it very clear I need the katana variant.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

You'll be happy with that choice. The katanaboy saws are impressive devices. .. And just FYI: This video is a couple of years or so old, but that exact Katanaboy 500 is still to this day my truck toolbox saw and it gets used for firewood and trail clearing on a regular basis. I'm still using the original blade and it's still super-sharp.

[@TinyIslandMaine]

Nice video. I also got a great deal on the Katana Boy 500 @ $112 on Amazon in 2019. I keep looking for a super deal on the Big Boy. Silky is king 👍

[@BrenticusMaximus1]

58 strokes katanaboy, 83 strokes bigboy

[@thomaspayne6866]

The blades aren’t the same size so this is a ridiculous comparison

[@user936]

@Gray Au the number of strokes relates to effort required to get the job done - not perfect as one needs a longer pull than the other, but as raw numbers go it is good data.

[@Drippinonthedroop]

When 5 inches costs about an extra $100... It matters. I've bought the bigboy2000xl for between $40-$80 and I've seen the katanaboy500 drop down to about the $150 range.

[@Jesuswillbeback]

@@thomaspayne6866 it is not comparison simply just show that both of them can do the job😉

[@flyingdutchman1352]

That's what she said

[@72PSI]

The Katana looked waaaay more capable. Thanks for putting this up. Was really helpful. Cheers

[@jasonmashburn1280]

9" slap of wood in 42 sec's i would say that a damn good job with the katanaboy, and 1 min even with the bigboy. I would still say these are some great saw's.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

They are both just great saws and real calorie savers. They make cutting logs easy. ... Thanks for watching!

[@hdrvman]

I COUNTED THE STROKES:58 FOR THE KATANA AND 84 FOR THE BIGBOY!!!!

[@aimansyahmidzulkhairy909]

Big saw did 58 pull strokes and small saw did 82 pull strokes, now that's a big difference.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

It really is a big difference. the larger saw isn't always appropriate for terrain or tasks, but any time I can use the Katanaboy I do and it saves a lot of work.

[@rabidfarmer9765]

The small one is fine for overnight stuff. But if you want to build a cottage, the Katanaboy is king!

[@OswaldBeef]

Thanks for this. Appreciated being able to watch strokes with both saw...being a taller longer armed person big boy would be great

[@betweenfiveandseven]

I'm glad this was useful information for you! Thanks for watching!

[@georgeh5075]

I suppose I would liken it to a sythe on a long handle and a short handle, the blades can be the same and yet it's the length of the handle and the physics involved that matter more.

[@thatsmydawg]

Ill probably get the 2000 for my bugout/camping bag. And one if the katanas to keep in the trunk

[@aslbach]

Your videos have convinced me to pull the trigger on a bigboy to keep in my truck for off roaring and camping. However I'm not sure which tooth configuration I should choose. I'm thinking either l or xl. I know you said you were going to do a video on teeth specifically but I want to get one of these order since shipping is up to 39 days. Any insight? It will be all dead fall, firewood and trail clearing, minus the occasional yard work. I'm in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies. Thanks for the videos.

[@aslbach]

Also I notice you use the curved (2000) model in all of your videos, have you had any hands on with the flat blade? Any thoughts on that? Thanks again!

[@betweenfiveandseven]

+Andrew Lauterbach I don't own a straight blade BigBoy. I do own a silky gomboy 300 large teeth, though (gomboys all have straight blades). It's very fast and is capable of cutting pretty big material... The curved blades add to both speed and control (and also make starting the cut easier) but create a limit to the material size you can efficiently cut. In the case of this particular saw, once you get to about 10 inches in diameter, and when your blade gets in about 4 inches or so, the center of the blade loses contact with the material you are cutting and the front and back of the blade end up doing most of the work. It's the same thing with any curved blade saw. The user can mitigate that effect by changing the degree of angle they are holding the saw, but the deeper the cut and the larger the diameter, the more pronounced the problem. ... I also live in the Rockies. South Western Montana forests look a lot like those in Colorado. Lots of lodge pole, scotts, ponderosa, douglis fir, and juniper. Lots of cottonwood near the streams and some poplar here and there. I don't cut pine in my videos because it just isn't challenging material for the saws I show. Expect a big boy like mine to seem about 25% faster in a lodge pole pine or douglis fir trunk than it does in any of the harder woods I've used in my videos. As for teeth size, I prefer the biggest teeth I can get for most material I find in the woods around here. ... Since you're about to make a purchase decision, I'd like to throw one little monkey wrench in the process. I just did a video comparing the 24" Bob Dustrude Quick buck Saw, the 21" Sven, and the Katanaboy. The Bob Dustrude Quick Buck Saw is a serious contender in the realm of "best pack saws" for the Rockies. It's length all folded up is a little long for most backpacks, but it's only a pound and it's price isn't all that much different than a Silky Bigboy. Thanks for watching my videos!

[@darrelllee6156]

nice job, very well presented. im curious thou, sense the big boy can't be sharpened how much work can it do until it needs a new blade ? do you have a ruff idea ? any how thanks very much !

[@betweenfiveandseven]

I've made hundreds of cuts of varying sized poplar, juniper, lodgepole pine, spruce, choke cherry, and dry cottonwood. The teeth still draw blood when I'm careless and let one touch my skin. I wish I had better words to describe it, but the pulse width modulation hardening process generates hardened teeth that seem to maintain their vicious edges for a very, very long time. I happen to have a replacement blade in stock and I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever need it. I hope that helps!

[@28anchor]

Thanks for the video. I have the Bigboy 2000 & going to purchase Katanaboy 500. Your video helped my decision.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

+Canuck Bushman I'm glad the video helped! You'll love the katanaboy.

[@JonathanRobinson11]

Which would you take on a portage canoe trip? I am finding I am doing a lot of cutting of big trees as I do not take standing trees, only dead fall.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

If most everything you are cutting is 4 inches in diameter and larger, the Katanaboy is a real work saver. If you are cutting a lot of stuff smaller than 4 inches, the bigboy 2000xl teeth are easier to get started and it's plenty of saw for material up to the size you see in this video.

[@arturobayangos1223]

Big thank you .

[@ionutvas6514]

Thank you for this video!

[@stanyuek]

I actually put Gomboy 300 in to that spare slot works perfectly for me anyways :)

[@betweenfiveandseven]

That's a great idea!

[@ryaniam22]

Cool video. Any idea what they weight differences are between these two?

[@Gunbei2]

Thanks for making this video. Very helpful and useful!

[@iGrowTube]

Best review i‘ve seen thx a lot 🙏🏼

[@mathiaskuchler6477]

Thank you very much for this great video 😃

[@DGH420]

Another amazing review ! Keep up the good work brother~

[@petervanlanen2433]

Is the Katanaboy 500 also extra large teeth, would like to know before I purchase one

[@betweenfiveandseven]

There's only one size of teeth available for the katanaboy. They are what you see in this video... In comparison to other silky saws that come with multiple choices, I'd call these extra large.

[@user-wr3gp8hj3i]

i might have missed it.. but you said the katanaboy IS able to be sharpened. i didn't hear if the bigboy was as well.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

The Katanaboy blades are listed as sharpenable. The Bigboy blades are not. Noteworthy: Bigboy blades are less than half the price of Katanaboy blades, so even though replacement isn't cheap, it also isn't nearly as painful to the wallet. Hope that helps!

[@user-wr3gp8hj3i]

Essential Gear & Useful Skills very much so. thanks for the speedy response!

[@GOTDAMITOFFROAD]

What kind of wood were you cutting?

[@ronjon5916]

Thank you. :-)

[@betweenfiveandseven]

+Ron Jon You're very welcome. I hope the information in this video was useful to you.

[@ronjon5916]

+betweenfiveandseven :-) Yes, very userful, thanks. :-) I saw Silky Katanaboy using by russian guy couple of days ago and was very impressed. :-) So, I'm going to ask for my son to buy some saws form Siky. :-))) Thank you very much again. :-)

[@mongo1243]

really great reviews on saw! Thanks!

[@betweenfiveandseven]

Thanks for taking the time to watch! I appreciate it!

[@JorgeGarcia-ld1po]

mongo will also have

[@BlazinBlades]

Boy oh Boy! I want to gets me one of those! Tanks BB

[@betweenfiveandseven]

Thanks for watching! And yes. I recommend either and both of these saws. The BigBoy 2000 XL never fails to impress and the Katanaboy is amazingly capable. If you get one, you will be happy with the decision to get one ;)

[@BlazinBlades]

I Just saw the 500 has an even bigger brother the 650... now I gotta save a little bit extra :-) I'm thinking I'll go with a small Corona 10" folder and put the $25 I saved towards the 650.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

I'm not a fan of the Corona 10. In fact, because I say so in a couple of videos, I occasionally get accused of "maligning" that saw ;). I won't recommend it. In the 240mm/10" size range, the Silky Ultra Accel Curved is the best. I can also feel good about recommending the Gomboy 240... The Gomboy Curved Professional 240mm not so much (but the Gomboy Curved in 270mm and 300mm are excellent). The Katanaboy 650 is a beast. I'll be doing a comparison video between it and the 500 sometime this winter. It's expensive, though. I imported mine straight from Japan and I spent over $225. Every so often, I see the Katanaboy 500 on Amazon under $125 and I got an even better deal on mine. If the 650 ever gets down under $180, I think I would recommend it strongly, but the extra 6" of blade (and only 5 extra inches of actual cutting surface) doesn't really justify the $100 difference in price in my opinion, anyway.

[@BlazinBlades]

Essential Gear & Useful Skills the 650 is on eBay for around 200 including expedited shipping from Japan. Thanks for all the insight!

[@vdgoteborg9216]

Great video, thanks a lot. What´s the name of the japanese company that you ordered the saw from?

[@betweenfiveandseven]

+Bushcraft Göteborg The Katanaboy came from "BuyTheJapan" and one of my BigBoys came from "Nihon Ichiban". BuyTheJapan sells on Amazon, but they can also be found on Buy Smart Japan and they will also ship through anislo.jp and a few other methods if you contact them direct. I've discovered I can save some money buying direct, but it's difficult without a translator. I can read a little bit of Japanese, but communication buying direct has been a struggle.

[@GRILLBUOY101]

great saw i think yoy shoulda one handed the big boy saw. nice cut though. i wanna get the katana boy 650 sow bad but im not a prepper and i dont have a fireplace eithe i just use to go every weekend for years and have a nice bonfire and cook out at the river. now im lookin to get a backyard fire pit so i guess i;b be cuttin 5 inch logs or 4 inch.ones and the katana boy boy is too pricey and overkill for 4 inch logs. guess im going for the bigboy its about 60 on ebay and the katana 500 is 125$ on ebay. still kinda big for just fire pit use sadly there not much would around here and most places its illegal to remove wood anywhere. a permit for wood removal was about 30 bucks 10 years ago for about a cord of wood or whatever some chucklehead sees fit l i had 2 cords here and my wife drilled me about it . she called me a hoarder and made me remove it!lol i gave it all away to a friend with a permanent camp site in va. also ants love wood those bastards!! my main saw and only saws i used are 30 inch bowsaws and 24 inch bowsaws, work fine but they dont fold and blades dull pretty fast just not as cool as a silky. maybe i can just but a shitty beat on weber 2 burn wood in! then i can be a stud and get the katana 650. cheers!!!!

[@betweenfiveandseven]

+GRILLBUOY101 The price tag on the 650 is pretty serious. Even what I paid for the 500 in this video was a lot... but I absolutely love the katanaboy 500. I find myself making excuses to cut big logs now and then just to use it ;) . I'd really like to have the 650 too, and in fact, that would complete my collection of Silky Folding Saws. I have at least one example of every model they make except for the 650... So, one of these days, I'll probably talk myself in to buying one, but it's difficult to justify. ... Thanks for watching!

[@GRILLBUOY101]

betweenfiveandseven thanks i know cutting a 4 inch log wth that katana boy must take what 2 strokes? i found a leatherman all steel model last week and i used the woodsaw on it last night it worked good for what i needed it to notch something my wife had were going to attempt primitive fire starting this spring so i better bring extra beer!

[@dinhnhuong6062]

Tôi có thể mua ở đâu vậy.

[@dawidczerniak5177]

Nice video! thank you for your efforts :)

[@betweenfiveandseven]

Thank you for taking the time to watch! I appreciate it!

[@2manysigns]

Thanks boss , great vid !

[@betweenfiveandseven]

+Geoffrey Carpenter Thanks for taking the time to watch! I appreciate it.

[@umbalaba]

Very nice video. Do you know what the katanaboy is like if you rip saw with it?

[@betweenfiveandseven]

You can rip cut with it, but it isn't particularly well designed for that. I have a Silky Takeru-Boy that is a far better tool for rip cuts but the teeth are a lot finer so it's not quite as fast.

[@umbalaba]

Thank you very much :-)

[@umbalaba]

By the way, how wide is the kerf of the saw cut?

[@betweenfiveandseven]

My calipers say 2.1mm but I think they advertise 1.75 or there about.

[@umbalaba]

Thank you :-)

[@darrelllee6156]

very much thank you !

[@betweenfiveandseven]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@michaelputnam3216]

👍🏻

[@starpirate9854]

Ok... Katanaboy it is

[@stealthmanofthewoods2570]

bonjour un peu tard mais les dents du katanaboy sont bien plus grande que celle du bigboy je pense que le katanaboy est bien meilleur bois frais et dur on ne vois pas la différence des lames aux niveau des dents la longueure ok mais les dents de pres cote a cote aurai montré vraiment pourquoi

[@freqeist]

price difference, the main thing

[@betweenfiveandseven]

That's absolutely true. I got in on a really good deal on my Katanaboy but even at the price I paid, I hesitated. I will add that I'm glad I bought it. I don't regret the purchase and the Katanaboy has found a permanent home in my pickup tool box. It gets quite a lot of use. If I ever talk myself in to buying the even more expensive katanaboy 650, my 500 will end up in my wife's jeep and will still get used pretty often.

[@GeistOdin1987]

Find the Hole Ami :-D

[@felixhejtman4773]

LIKOS

[@thatsmydawg]

Ill probably get the 2000 for my bugout/camping bag. And one if the katanas to keep in the trunk

[@davidfourte9253]

👍🏻

[@davidfourte9253]

your vid convinced me to buy the Bigboy for my backpack

[@betweenfiveandseven]

You will not regret that decision. It's an excellent saw. I'm glad this video was useful for you!