Pocket Hand Chainsaw - 650 mm Manganese Steel Survival Saw

A saw that weighs 100 g and lives in your pocket.

A branch drops across the track, the fire needs feeding, or a storm leaves half a tree over the driveway — and everything that would sort it in seconds is back in the shed. Nobody carries a bow saw in a daypack, and a chainsaw is no use at all if it is not with you.

This is the fallback that actually gets carried: 650 mm of toothed chain with a nylon webbing loop at each end. Wrap it over the log, take a loop in each hand and pull side to side — the teeth bite on each stroke and the cut walks down through the wood. No fuel, no bar oil, no engine to flood or flatten.

Be clear about what it is: a survival and pruning saw, not a felling tool. For camp firewood, storm clean-up, clearing a track or the glovebox emergency kit, it earns its 100 g many times over. For dropping big trees it does not, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

What It Does

• Camp firewood: cuts fallen branches and small logs down to fire lengths without carrying a rigid saw.
• Storm clean-up: clears a limb off the track, the fence or the driveway when the chainsaw is somewhere else.
• High branches: throw a line over the limb, hook the loops on and pull from the ground instead of balancing a ladder under a loaded branch.
• Emergency kit: at 142 g packed it lives in the glovebox, the daypack or the ute door pocket until the day it matters.

Key Features

• 650 mm chain: 1.03 m end to end including the two 180 mm webbing hand loops.
• 11 cutting teeth: the supplier states they cut on both directions of the stroke.
• Manganese steel: the supplier’s panel states 65 manganese (65Mn) spring steel.
• Webbing loop handles: sewn nylon straps with cross-stitched anchor points, sized to take a gloved hand.
• 100 g on the saw: 142 g packed with the pouch.
• Belt pouch included: 95 x 120 mm fabric pouch with a quick-release buckle keeps the coiled chain in one place.
• Packs small: coils down to a packed size of 200 x 100 x 50 mm.
• Nothing to service: no engine, no fuel, no chain oiler — if you can pull, it cuts.

Limits

Straight answers on where a hand chainsaw stops being the right tool:

• Not a felling tool: the chain has to wrap the wood with enough free chain each side to stroke, so big trunks are slow, hard work. Regular heavy cutting wants a chainsaw or a bow saw.
• Green timber binds: wood under compression pinches the chain mid-cut. Cut from the tension side of a loaded branch so the cut opens as you go instead of closing on the chain.
• Wear gloves: the chain runs close to your hands on the pull stroke and the teeth do not care what they bite. Gloves are not optional kit here.
• Slower than the videos suggest: the ten-second cuts you see online are thin, dry logs. Expect honest effort on anything bigger, and pace yourself.
• Steel rusts: 65Mn is spring steel, not stainless. Wipe the chain dry and give it a light coat of oil before it goes back in the pouch.

Q & A

How thick a log will it get through?

The supplier prints no maximum. The practical test is the chain itself: 650 mm of it has to wrap over the log with enough left on each side to pull. Branches and camp-fire logs are its home ground; the bigger and greener the wood, the slower it gets.

Will it cut green wood?

Yes, but green timber under load will pinch the chain. Work out which side of the branch is under tension and cut from that side, so the cut opens rather than clamping shut.

Can one person use it?

Yes. Loop it over the wood, one strap in each hand, pull alternately. For high limbs, throw a line over the branch first and work from the ground, standing well clear of where the limb will land.

Which strap colour arrives?

The main photos show orange. The supplier also produces black and camouflage strap versions and there is no colour choice at checkout, so the strap colour may differ from the photo. The chain is the same saw in every version.

How do I look after it?

Shake the sawdust out, wipe the chain dry, give it a light coat of oil and clip it back in its pouch. Stored wet, it will rust.

Specs