Anyone know anything about this hatchet?

L

Landodnal

Joined
Feb 28, 2013
Messages
59
I picked up this hatchet for close to nothing. I can't seem to find any information related to the hatchet. If anyone knows anything at all, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance!
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Cant see it. Take the sheath off and take straight down pictures. Particularly of any stamps.--KV
 
Reminds of inexpensive hatchets we used to see in the hardware stores back in the 60's. They were stamped out of sheets of carbon steel. The ones I remember held an edge OK but didn't have enough weight to be of much use.

A picture with the sheath removed might help.
 
Sorry about the bad pic. Here is a better one. The hatchet has no stamps, and it's only 10" long. It appears to be for a younger adolescent. It has black synthetic handles. It's in pretty rough shape. Thanks for your help.
image.jpg
 
I think that's an Imperial. They were a budget brand of knives and hatchets and such.
 
It looks like the sort that used to come with a kamp king scout knife by Imperial or a fixed blade handled like the hatchet. Imperial, West-cut, Utica...
There's a thread on them around here somewhere.
 
Square_peg said:
I think that's an Imperial. They were a budget brand of knives and hatchets and such.
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What he said seems right to me. I have one like new that is part of a set. The knife is the only part that has a name. It says Outdoor s
Sportsman tempered carbon steel made in USA. Looks like a Utica. The lettering is cheaply etched in so it probably won't show up after a vinegar bath. Should get razor sharp. Better to baton or chop legs off small game with that than your knife
 
rjdankert said:
Is yours marked. I can't find a trace of a mark on mine. Thanks
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Not mine. Just something I found in an internet search. It was advertised as an Imperial.

After digging around a little more I think Loosearrow and Tomcat have correctly identified this as a Utica.
 
You guys are great. Thank you for the info. My hatchet looks just like the one in that picture, but mine has screws instead of rivets. I see someone mentioned the OPs had the screws. I'm not sure what OPs is? And I haven't found any marks on mine yet. It is currently taking a vinegar bath. I will let you know if I find anything after it is done. A buddy of mine has the handles and is going to polish them up with his Dremel.
 
Landodnal said:
You guys are great. Thank you for the info. My hatchet looks just like the one in that picture, but mine has screws instead of rivets. I see someone mentioned the OPs had the screws. I'm not sure what OPs is? And I haven't found any marks on mine yet. It is currently taking a vinegar bath. I will let you know if I find anything after it is done. A buddy of mine has the handles and is going to polish them up with his Dremel.
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You're the O(riginal) P(oster). I'm pretty sure that's what it means.
 
Haha. Thanks scrteened porch. That makes sense.

I've tried to do as much research online as I can. Some people are calling this an Imperial and others call it a Utica. All of the pictures I have found show this hatchet with brass rivets and a leather sheath that can accommodate a matching knife. Obviously my hatchet has screws instead of rivets and the sheath is only for the hatchet. It does not have a place to attach a knife. I haven't found one picture online like mine. I suppose it's possible that someone drilled out the rivets and replaced them with screws and replaced the handles upside down. On my hatchet, you can see that a portion of the tang is sticking out below the handles, but if I flip them, this extra tang gets covered. As for the sheath, maybe someone lost the original and made a new one without the attached knife. Or, maybe my hatchet is just some Chinese rip off of the original. Who knows. Regardless, I'm gonna fix her up and maybe give it to my nephew when he's old enough. If you guys have any additional information, it'd be great. If not, thanks for your efforts.
 
Square_peg said:
Not mine. Just something I found in an internet search. It was advertised as an Imperial.

After digging around a little more I think Loosearrow and Tomcat have correctly identified this as a Utica.
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Square_peg the searches I did agree. I did a search on "utica hatchet" which I think mine is. I found several sets (knife + hatchet and sheaths for both). I didn't come up with just the hatchet. All had flush rivets to attach the handle scales. I suppose the screws and nuts on Landodnals could be replacements. One thing I found curious though was that Landodnals sheath matched the Utica sheaths except that it does not have the slots where the knife sheath would attach.

Also searched "imperial hatchet". The Imperial hatchets I found had a different pattern on the scales, had hilts, and did not have the nail puller notch. They also had a different sheath configuration.

Not sure where you got the picture from. Here is a listing for an Imperial set which I believe is miss-matched (Imperial knfe and sheaths with a Utica hatchet)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1950s-60s-VINTAGE-BSA-BOY-SCOUTS-IMPERIAL-HATCHET-AND-KNIFE-W-LEATHER-SHEATH-/121066094561?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c3019ffe1

Notice the difference in scale patterns. Sharp eyes Loosearrow and Tomcat.
 
I want one now LOL! I don't think I've ever seen one in real life in all my expeditions to antique shops, etc. But then again, don't think I've ever looked for one, one more thing to put in the back of my mind until I see one. To these go for big dollars? Don't really care if it is Utical, Imperial, etc. From what I can see they look like they seem to be fairly light weight, but knowing about the Utica "Sportsmans" knife I have and the Imperial pocket knives I have my impression is that this little hatchet would be fairly easy to get really sharp?
Mark
 
TomcatPC said:
I want one now LOL! I don't think I've ever seen one in real life in all my expeditions to antique shops, etc. But then again, don't think I've ever looked for one, one more thing to put in the back of my mind until I see one. To these go for big dollars? Don't really care if it is Utical, Imperial, etc. From what I can see they look like they seem to be fairly light weight, but knowing about the Utica "Sportsmans" knife I have and the Imperial pocket knives I have my impression is that this little hatchet would be fairly easy to get really sharp?
Mark
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I think it was Protourist in the other thread on these who said that the whole set is very hard to find and therefore rather pricey. The Kamp Kings are all over the place, and the fixed blades turn up more often than the hatchet. If you find just the hatchet, it will probably be pretty cheap because it doesn't look like a proper hatchet or a tomahawk, and it's obviously cheap construction. Nice light article for your BOB, though, and it will take a good edge.
 
I'm 99% sure it is a Utica. It is very lightweight. And it's pretty small too. The pictures don't really show just how small it is at 10 inch. I'm working on restoring it right now. As you can see from the pictures, mine was pretty rough, but the vinegar is doing much better than I expected. I'll let you know how sharp of an edge it takes. There are a couple on eBay right now. One is being sold with a mismatched imperial fixed blade for $125. But there are a few more that are starting out much lower. There was actually one with a wood handle but who knows if it was added later. Only the knife and hatchet set had a sheath. My hatchet is still a mystery in that it is a stand alone hatchet. The sheath has no room for the accompanying knife. I haven't found any evidence that they were sold as just a single hatchet.
 
Landodnal said:
I'm 99% sure it is a Utica. It is very lightweight. And it's pretty small too. The pictures don't really show just how small it is at 10 inch. I'm working on restoring it right now. As you can see from the pictures, mine was pretty rough, but the vinegar is doing much better than I expected. I'll let you know how sharp of an edge it takes. There are a couple on eBay right now. One is being sold with a mismatched imperial fixed blade for $125. But there are a few more that are starting out much lower. There was actually one with a wood handle but who knows if it was added later. Only the knife and hatchet set had a sheath. My hatchet is still a mystery in that it is a stand alone hatchet. The sheath has no room for the accompanying knife. I haven't found any evidence that they were sold as just a single hatchet.
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Somebody might have decided he didn't always want to drag around the axe and knife together and made other sheath arrangements.
Here's one I replaced the handle on (the plastic was swinging on one rivet). Also the sort of knives that sometimes went with it (West-cut, Imperial, Imperial), and a stainless Pakistan version maybe 20 years old.
Tl15IvA3
 
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That's a nice collection. I'm going to try to replace my handle screws with brass compressions rivets. We'll see how that goes. I may someday try to pick up a utica sportsman knife and some sheaths to try to put together the original combination, but only if I can find them for a good price. Thanks for sharing your pic scrteened porch.
 
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