My experience with a pocket chain saw is that you'd better have good cardio to do any serious sawing with it.

The last time I used one was with a friend and he had just bought it. We 2-manned a fallen 10" tree to get some splittable/burnable lengths and half way into the first cut we were more tired than in the 8+ hours of hiking we'd done to get there. I swore I'd never own one and I think he went out and bought a buck saw after that.

I like the pruning style saws. I've used the Gerber Gator EAB saw with good success but recently switched to the Bahco Laplander because it's easier for me to find replacement blades. It's a way lighter, way more efficient, and the blades last way longer (I hear) but they cost 3 times what the Gerber blades do...I guess that makes sense.

One thing that sometimes concerns me is that this style of saw can't be field sharpened while a buck saw style blade can be (if you know how). Realistically neither should go dull for a long time and spares are easy to carry.