Axe Recommendation's For Bugout Bag

O

Outdoorsman7749

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Nov 23, 2014
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Hey Everyone, This Is Gonna Be My First Post On Here & It'll Be A Question For Y'all, What Is A Excellent Heavy Duty Axe/Hatchet/Tomahawk For My Bugout Bag. I Will Use It For Wood Processing & If Needed As A Weapon. Price Range Is Under $100. Thank's!!!
-Outdoorsman7749-
 
I would look at the husqvarna axes. Priced good for forged Swedish axes. Buy the size that fits you not what everyone else thinks works. I have a gb Scandinavian forest axe.
 
Wood processing how? As in, build fires or build a house?
As weapons go, an axe that is good for wood processing is going to rate pretty low on my personal list. As a self defense tool it's better than nothing, but I'd want something light and fast if I thought that was a real possibility. Maybe your wood processing requirements, if they are relatively light, could be handled by a large knife which would be much more suitable for defending yourself against most things.
 
It really boils down to weight vs energy equation, the weight of a 4lb axe vs felling an oak with a hatchet. To me the best bang for the buck in axes and hatchets are the vintage U.S. ones, for just a few dollars and some time you will have a fine tool that surpasses the expensive Swedish axes. The question is what do you really want to carry, a 3.5-4 lb felling axe, a 2-2.5 lb boys axe, or a 1.5- 2 lb hatchet, or a 1-1.5 lb tomahawk. Personally I'm a traditional tomahawk guy, I prefer the light weight and the fact they can be broken down. Since vintage hawks are very expensive new is the way to go here. I like the 2hawks Longhunter I think it's priced right at $100, I carry one as my constant woods companion and its well worth every penny to me. For tradition style hawks Cold Steel, CRKT, HB Forge, and Beaver Bill make nice entry level hawks.
 
This will be dependent on too many things to give you a good answer. Ask yourself these questions:

Where am I going?
How will I get there?
What is my plan when I get there?

That's a good start. After that, I'd probably recommend something in the 26"-36" range with a minimum of a 2.5# head. Recommendations from Council to Estwing to Fiskars to any of the big Swedish makers, depending on your answers.


In regard to self defense, do you have the intestinal fortitude to see the damage an axe will do to another human? That's some twisted stuff, I promise. Short answer, get a gun if you can. It's over faster, less time to consider the emotional toll it will take on you, and less like to take that toll, because it will be less gruesome. Furthermore, if you're seriously considering this, get training. When that's done, get more training. a 5'-6' staff would be better for self defense over all, IMO.
 
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You can get the council velvicut for 130 and a GB small forest and scandinavian forest ax around the same price. But really you need to define how much weight you are willing to dedicate to this. A tomahawk (like 2hawks) or a hatchet can be really nice for needing to stay mobile but will royally suck if all you have is 4+ inch wood to process wood.
I don't know if you though of it, but I'd bring along a decent saw. Little more weight but you really get some good wood processing performance
 
Its easy, get you a couple vintage ones to see what you like. Cheap, well made and they come in all styles to suit anyone. Here are a couple of my current favorites.
The plumb has a hardened poll, I really like it but I prefer a longer handle. The other one is a Kelly stamped Kelly Quality, its been recently rehung on a 16" handle.
P1010058_zpse51b9e75.jpg
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Here is the profile of the bits. The Plumb will excell at proccesing wood, chopping, splitting. The kelly would be better at carveing ect. The kelly has what the Sweedish axes lack, a high center line with a thin bit, it is just a better superior hatchet in every way to a Husqvarna or Wetterlings for the bushcrafter. I own or have owned the Husqavarna's, Wetterlings and GB's.
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If you want a classic head but don't want to take the time to do it yourself, which isn't really that much time but hey, look on Etsy. Just make sure the person who is selling is hanging them for use and not as wall hanger.
 
garry3 said:
Its easy, get you a couple vintage ones to see what you like. Cheap, well made and they come in all styles to suit anyone. Here are a couple of my current favorites.
The plumb has a hardened poll, I really like it but I prefer a longer handle. The other one is a Kelly stamped Kelly Quality, its been recently rehung on a 16" handle.
P1010058_zpse51b9e75.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
Here is the profile of the bits. The Plumb will excell at proccesing wood, chopping, splitting. The kelly would be better at carveing ect. The kelly has what the Sweedish axes lack, a high center line with a thin bit, it is just a better superior hatchet in every way to a Husqvarna or Wetterlings for the bushcrafter. I own or have owned the Husqavarna's, Wetterlings and GB's.
P1010059_zps1ba5800f.jpg
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Click to expand...

Those hatchets are great, I think going up to 19" can be a good way to get a lot out of a hatchet head without adding much weight.
 
garry3 said:
The kelly would be better at carveing ect. The kelly has what the Sweedish axes lack, a high center line with a thin bit, it is just a better superior hatchet in every way to a Husqvarna or Wetterlings for the bushcrafter. I own or have owned the Husqavarna's, Wetterlings and GB's.
Click to expand...

For bushcraft, I'm going to disagree. I much prefer a thin bit with a flat face for carving and most bushcraft.
 
smith357 said:
It really boils down to weight vs energy equation, the weight of a 4lb axe vs felling an oak with a hatchet. To me the best bang for the buck in axes and hatchets are the vintage U.S. ones, for just a few dollars and some time you will have a fine tool that surpasses the expensive Swedish axes. The question is what do you really want to carry, a 3.5-4 lb felling axe, a 2-2.5 lb boys axe, or a 1.5- 2 lb hatchet, or a 1-1.5 lb tomahawk. Personally I'm a traditional tomahawk guy, I prefer the light weight and the fact they can be broken down. Since vintage hawks are very expensive new is the way to go here. I like the 2hawks Longhunter I think it's priced right at $100, I carry one as my constant woods companion and its well worth every penny to me. For tradition style hawks Cold Steel, CRKT, HB Forge, and Beaver Bill make nice entry level hawks.
Click to expand...
For Cold Steel What Would You Recommend
 
garry3 said:
Its easy, get you a couple vintage ones to see what you like. Cheap, well made and they come in all styles to suit anyone. Here are a couple of my current favorites.
The plumb has a hardened poll, I really like it but I prefer a longer handle. The other one is a Kelly stamped Kelly Quality, its been recently rehung on a 16" handle.
P1010058_zpse51b9e75.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
Here is the profile of the bits. The Plumb will excell at proccesing wood, chopping, splitting. The kelly would be better at carveing ect. The kelly has what the Sweedish axes lack, a high center line with a thin bit, it is just a better superior hatchet in every way to a Husqvarna or Wetterlings for the bushcrafter. I own or have owned the Husqavarna's, Wetterlings and GB's.
P1010059_zps1ba5800f.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
Click to expand...
Do Those Come With A Sheath?
 
chuxwan said:
For bushcraft, I'm going to disagree. I much prefer a thin bit with a flat face for carving and most bushcraft.
Click to expand...

What does that flat face do for you? The thin bit I can understand and it just validates my point. This Kelly could be a hundred years old for all I know. They had it right way back when.

The Kelley is on the bottom with a GB wildlife hatchet and a Husqavarna hatchet. What are the sweedish hatchets bring to the table with there bits? The Kelly is thinner and it has a high center line.
P1010061_zps7408310c.jpg
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Outdoorsman7749 said:
Do Those Come With A Sheath?
Click to expand...

Just vintage heads I picked up. You can make your own covers or buy them on the internet for less than ten bucks. You can pick up a couple of these for less than what a new husqvarna will cost you. And they are both better in my experince.

The GB's bring some nice stuff to the table(carving) but so do these vintage heads. My wildlife hatchet is an older model with a turned up toe, the newer ones don't have that so I would think that the Kelly would be better in every way to the wildlife hatchet.
 
Here is a side profile of the three hatchets. The weight with handle is right around 23 oz for the sweeds and 27oz for the Kelly, so head weight must be real close. I don't have anything handy to measure the thickness of the cheeks but I can tell you they are all pretty close at the center. So with that in mind what are the sweedish axes going to be better at than the vintage Kelly?
P1010062_zps58f33724.jpg
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"Better at" is different from preference. They should make very similar cuts, and I understand the advantages of the high centerline, but for carving I find the flat face allows me to have more control over the piece I'm working on, the mark tha I make basically. I feel the same way about the amount of curve to the bit.
 
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