Axe, Hatchet or Saw?

M

Mitcott

Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
3
Hello everyone!
I would like to hear your opinions on what would be the best bushcraft/wilderness tool for long periods out in coniferous forests, I'd be using it for making shelters and other camp chores that I wouldn't want to put a smaller blade through. Right now I'm thinking one of these three: Silky Oyakata, Gränsfors Bruks Hatchet, or Gränsfors Bruks Forest Axe. So what are the pros and cons of the axe, hatchet, and saw when using them for the wild life?
 
Steven Andrews said:
I'd say folding saw and hatchet.
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying! Why do you say both? What one be able to do that the other couldn't, and do well enough for my to buy and carry both?
 
The saw is nice for cutting wood to size for a fire and the Axe is great for everything else!

The axe is heavy but friggen handy especially up here in the winter.

I'd choose an axe so I could make shelters and taking down dead trees for fire wood. Here I'd need big wood to make it through the night.

I think the axe would be my choice. The hatchet is handy and if I didn't have a knife might be my choice. The hatchet is more likely available in a survival situation than an axe as it could fit in a day pack. Winter camping I like to have all three plus a shovel in our group.
 
I'd choose the hatchet. It's more like a small knife and when ya bury it in a peice of wood ya can turn the wood over and slam the hatchet down on another piece of wood to split it. For me the hatchet is lighter thus easier to carry and the closer to your work the easier to control. Ya can't split wood with a saw(very effectively) and lots of extra handle that an axe has tends to wear out my arms while trying to shape things.
 
A Hatchet would be my first choice.

1: Coniferous woods are not that hard so chopping them isnt such a major chore.
2: A small hatchet will limb trees pretty easily
3: You can use the Poll to break branches where they jut from the tree. These parts of the tree are full of resin so they will burn nice and bright, you couldnt do this with either a saw or knife (unless it was especially thick). They will also burn easy if its a wet day, or has been wet for a long time.
4: A hatchet can split wood into chopstick sized pieces easily
5: A hatchet can be used as an 'All in 1' woodworking tool if you are creative enough.
 
You can make shelters with poles 1-2" thick, a large axe is awkward for that size of wood. A saw cuts these easily, but a small axe like the small forest axe from GB does just as well, and will limb them out *much* faster and as well is much better for splitting any wood if necessary but it usually isn't.

In regards to burn time, even flash burning wood like pine when not seasoned will burn for a long time when only 4-6" thick, plus wood much larger than that is *very* heavy, dangerous to cut and very difficult to move. I slugged dozens of 8-12" wood this year, but it is not wood I would ever choose to cut, way too much exertion and danger.

I would get a medium sized axe which is big enough to use two handed but not so big that it can't be used one handed. I would also pack a saw as it has lots of benefits, it cuts wood to length easier, and is a big help on felling if the grain is bad or there are lots of ring knots which can be easily avoided. As well take a file and a coarse/fine stone for keeping the axe sharp.

-Cliff
 
From my camping trip this past summer... I would definitely choose in this
order... saw, axe, hatchet...


I took along my OVB Fisk 11" blade to do "wood" work but cutting dry pine
over 4" in diameter was just a chore.. a folding saw or one of those triangular
take down saws would have been excellent for cutting large diameter wood
for the fire... axe to limb and split the wood...IMO A large knife, woulld be best used for slicing or defense... by the way I dented the edge of my knife slightly when I hit a hard knot in the pine... wouldn't of happened with a saw or axe...
 
bladefan said:
... by the way I dented the edge of my knife slightly when I hit a hard knot in the pine... wouldn't of happened with a saw or axe...
Click to expand...

Or a decent knife, did the edge ripple or dent directly inwards? Is that knife actually intended for heavy chopping? What is the edge thickness and where is the balance, what is the blade weight?

-Cliff
 
Right now I use a hatchet, hope to move up to a GB SFA in the next year. I also have the sven saw which I love but find a little hard to back right now, still trying to work out the kinks since I use a smaller pack. I do back up the hatchet (gerber gator) with a SAK huntsman, the saw on that comes in very handy.

Merry Christmas to all

Michael
 
Try a Martindale Golock.

Chops better than any small hatchet, cuts like a large camp knife, and can be used as a draw knife for camp projects.
 
Why are you trying to pick only one tool for long term use. Each one of these tools will complament each other in a long term situation. For me, I always carry a folding LapLander Saw but if I know I would be in a long term say Live in the woods or a long camping trip I would have all three. Axe on your Rucksack, Hatchet on your belt, Saw in your Day Pack. As someone else stated a small folding shovel like the Gerber NATO Shovel would come in handy as well. Since I am in the Army I also have and would carry my U.S Army Matix/Axe that is small and can pack well on a Rucksack.
 
I was thinking more along the lines of a Hudson's Bay style axe...with a 24" handle...

Not one of those great big Paul Bunyan Choppers...

I got one around here somewhere...

Shane
 
HB style axe w/ 24" handle would be perfect, in my opinion, if you had to choose one tool. I love hatchets, but next to a full sized cruiser/camp axe, they are but mere toys, and dangerous if you are swinging w/too much force using only one hand.
 
GB forest axe baby and maybe a saw, but those puppies are sharp as knives and cut through darn near anything.
 
If I couldn't bring along my folding chainsaw, I would select a saw for speed, safety, ease of use, then an axe or hatchet.
 
Mticott,

The various plastic handled folding saws ( Gerber, etc...)are all so lightweight and useful that I don't see a need not to carry one, regardless of almost all weight reduction considerations.

Saw and hatchet combo covers almost all wilderness emergency continginces in which you need to work a lot of wood, but most of those aren't real common. Folding saw (even the one on a SAK), stout fixed blade knife and (gathered on scene) hardwood baton can almost always carry you through.

Due to weight and size, I generally wouldn't carry an axe unless I planning to be there a while, and wouldn't be engaging in axe work unless I had a good food and water supply. Still, as has been said, when you need an axe nothing else will really do. The trick would be in never "needing" the axe if at all possible.

The Golock, as jackknife mentioned, would be handy in a wide variety of situations but you'd have to alter a lot of the traditional hatchet based techniques to get the most out of it, and it's big and attention grabbing.

If I had to pick just one, give me the saw...the saw on a big SAK or a leatherman. :)

Take Care,
Jeff
 
I'm looking to get something to take with me when I go hiking. The most I'd be cutting would be 2" guava branches.

Hatchet, big knife (BK&T), or small khukri (HI)?
 
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