Am I wasting my money on a small hatchet

people seem to be really happy with their fiskars hatchet which is less than $20 i believe.....super lightweight if youre a backpacker, and apparently very durable if youre a serious wood chopper, hard to go wrong for under $20 with that in my opinion
 
Some products are geared toward sales versus actual use. How many knives do I own that I never use? A bunch....
How many hatchets or axes do I own that I never use? Three or four. I do occasionally use an axe however; maybe a couple times a year.
How many saws and folding saws do I own that I never use? None, they all get used. How long did it take before I actually purchased a folding saw? Years..., but I still did just fine without one.
How many machetes do I own that never get used? About half, but I have developed my favorites until the next one comes along that catches my eye.

What I am saying is don't worry about it. Buy what you like and go from there. It is part of the journey we all participate in when you have an interest in sharp things and using them. Be happy!
 
I have had a roselli axe for a few years now and even though I could use a large knife,which I carry anyway I choose to hump the axe along anyway. I find I like it better for splitting wood. I used it to skin a deer last fall and it worked really well. The ERGOS are fantastic. Very ulu like. Also I find I like to try add new techniques to the repertoire. It's fun ,challenging and gratifying as well. Try a good axe/hatchet as opposed to a cheap one, you could always sell it on a forum somewhere. Good luck with it.
 
I have a silky saw that I usually take camping. My typical camping trip is an overnight/multi day river trip. Sometimes you have to bring your own wood, but typically not. Sometimes I use my Silky but typically not. I usually use a knife for wood processing. That knife is typically a 3-4" blade. Sometimes I'll bring my Daniel Fairly Camp knife which has almost an 8" blade. Sometimes I'll bring a hatchet or tomahawk. The Camp knife requires less effort than the other knives due to its weight and leverage and much more room to baton the business end. The thinner grind/edge geometry are also pluses over the hatchet/Hawks. The hatchet (mine is a fancier S7 tool steel Hardwood handle Knifes Of Alaska) chops well and I may say a tad better than my hawks because it doesn't get stuck in the wood as often due to the standard "wedgeier" shape. But because my hawks (My fav is an RMJ Jenny Wren) are full tang they are a more diverse tool overall than a typical hatchet.
If I were to pick one of the larger tools over the others I would have to look at the circumstances. The longevity of the outing, the materials I would likely be working with and whether it's for fun or for an emergency. For fun I'd take a 3-4" fixed blade and my Jenny Wren. Otherwise I'd imagine I'd take the same smaller knife and my Fairly Camp Knife. I may or may not bring the saw.
 
tigercasual said:
I love the idea of having a small hatchet/hand axe to do my chopping. However, I have very little experience with small hatchets. So does a small hatchet out chop a big knife or are they pretty equal. In other words, is it really worth bothering with ?
TC
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I never figured much about having a hatched about.
was pretty convinced all that
extra weight would be in the way.
Besides, a hefty knife could do all the chopping
Or so I believed...
Well, the mora camp axe did it for me.
Made me a believer that there are better and easier tools
To handle specific task.
I guess it doesn't matter what make or model
All that matters is that for some reason
A solution is waiting out there somewhere
All you have to do is to drop preconceptions
And take chances on what presents it self
As a means to tackling an age old problem.
I am happy I found a neat tool along the way...
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_RlFsLFfjPg
 
Funny thing about knife vs hatchet or is it machete vs hatchet. I live in the country and have lots of sprouts/saplings/trees. I'll take a Small Forest Axe and a heavy machete. I'll use both for limbing. The axe is obviously better for the larger limbs and the machete for smaller limbs. In between, it's sometimes hard to predict. I prefer the longer handle of the small forest as compared to a shorter hatchet. You just get better head speed. I like to use the SFA one handed. The cleverly designed handle facilitates that. By swinging this in one hand, it's sort of like swinging a 36 inch handle with both hands.

In my climate I only split wood for the wood stove. I have whittled the outer layers off to get to the dry wood inside. I'm going to try batoning a thick bladed knife. I like the thin blade of a knife or the SFA as compared to most hatchets. I get the wedging action of a thicker blade, but it takes less force to drive a thin blade. I suspect neither one is is always a more efficient solution. Splitting firewood, I find some woods are so soft they just absorb the splitting maul whereas hard strong wood splits efficiently. Some hard woods have twisted grains and I either give up, split 'em with a chain saw, or cut them really short so they will split. My point is, if you are backpacking use whatever tickles your fancy. FWIW, the only saw I've ever taken backpacking was the saw on a SAK and the only time I ever used that was the time I forgot my walking stick and I used it to cut a substitute off the side of the road.

Incidentally, I second the idea of the Silky saws. They cut! They are lightweight. I might take one backpacking. As others have said, the big limitation on saws is how difficult they are to sharpen. I'd guess the only way to "sharpen" the sophisticated Silky saws is to replace the blade. Good for backpacking, maybe not so much for survival. Survival, keep it simple with axe of big knife.
 
RemyKaze said:
Buying a Cold Steel hawk could give one a feel for a long handle with a light head. I still love mine even though I have better options.
Click to expand...

I took the hammer knob off of a Rifleman. I think that it looks better and it still has all of that mass/heft. I do prefer the Frontier for carry, but as you mentioned, it's pretty light weight. Of the two, the Rifleman is the only one that I would consider as a temporary axe replacement.
 
upnorth said:
I took the hammer knob off of a Rifleman. I think that it looks better and it still has all of that mass/heft. I do prefer the Frontier for carry, but as you mentioned, it's pretty light weight. Of the two, the Rifleman is the only one that I would consider as a temporary axe replacement.
Click to expand...

Those Calabria axes that FortyTwoBlades has in his shop really caught my eye because of how easy it is to replace the handles, while at the same time having a true axe head versus a hawk shape which is obviously more suited for chopping with that rounded eye.
 
RemyKaze said:
Those Calabria axes that FortyTwoBlades has in his shop really caught my eye because of how easy it is to replace the handles, while at the same time having a true axe head versus a hawk shape which is obviously more suited for chopping with that rounded eye.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I should check out his site.
 
No

eastwing%20hatchet.jpg

Yes
IME-hatchet-job.jpg

Again, depending on what jobs are expected an skill level. I grew up using an ax and a hatchet can work similarly. For actual felling and processing timber you let the weight of the head do the work and just try to place it precisely. For saplings and such usually encountered camping this may not be a factor.
 
a large knife can chop on the same scale as a small hatchet im sure..but a knife would be more functional in other areas..a bk9 would be perfect for this..i like my bk4..of course they cost more than a small hatchet but they are more functional like i said
 
budazz said:
a large knife can chop on the same scale as a small hatchet im sure..but a knife would be more functional in other areas..a bk9 would be perfect for this..i like my bk4..of course they cost more than a small hatchet but they are more functional like i said
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Physics predicts that a BK9 would be inferior at chopping compared to an equivalent hatchet because of distribution of mass among other things. The relatively heavy head and good form will make the chopping almost effortless.

It's not all about time and results. Energy output is a HUGE factor, and often overlooked. A good hatchet will simply do more of the work for you if chopping is what you need to do.

All that said, I've never needed to chop or split wood on a camping trip. Sometimes it's fun to make a roaring fire though.
 
I agree with you Scouter. The deciding factor is how much chopping you are going to do versus how much knife task cutting. If you don't do much chopping, I think a knife works better because it is more flexible for other uses for the average person. I think everyone should try out axes, hatchets, big knives, machetes, and so forth for cutting and decide what they prefer. I would take an axe any day of the week over a knife if I had much cutting to do. But with moderate chopping, I prefer a short machete or a blade larger than the BK-9.
 
I have used large (10"+ blade) knives for chopping and batoning for years with great success. But earlier this year, I decided to try a small camp axe, and I do have to admit that I like the capabilities it gives me. I didn't want to spend too much in case it didn't work out for me, so I got this Estwing for about $25-30 at Home Depot. I'm still carrying it into the woods (instead of the aforementioned large blade), so it must be doing something right for me:



 
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