I still find a friskar hatchet and LM multitool/SAK(OH Trekker) is very reasonable and practical for me. The SAK/LM Multitool has a saw on each that I use quite often. Although, I do enjoy having the FB (Mora 780) in my pack or on my hip though just in case, but I sometimes never find myself using it sometimes. Unless I go out of my way of course.
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
axe vs. knife
- Thread starter andrew7978
- Start date
About a year ago, I went backpacking in the Flattops in CO.
I had a detailed packing list and decided that I might need:
a good short FB (BM 160 Tk-1)
a folding saw (Laplander)
a multi-tool (SAK with plier and scissors)
a good folder (BM 555 CE MiniGrip)
I ended up misplacing the BM TK-1. The only knife that I used on the whole trip was the MiniGrip.
I did use the saw, but the only trees we came across were fir, and their wood is brittle. Small hatchets worked well, but the best tool was a small, hand-forged tomahawk with about a 12" handle and maybe 10 oz. head!
The point is that a good folder can handle most knife tasks, and wether you need a saw or hatchet/tomahawk is a function of the trees in the area where you will be.
I had a detailed packing list and decided that I might need:
a good short FB (BM 160 Tk-1)
a folding saw (Laplander)
a multi-tool (SAK with plier and scissors)
a good folder (BM 555 CE MiniGrip)
I ended up misplacing the BM TK-1. The only knife that I used on the whole trip was the MiniGrip.
I did use the saw, but the only trees we came across were fir, and their wood is brittle. Small hatchets worked well, but the best tool was a small, hand-forged tomahawk with about a 12" handle and maybe 10 oz. head!
The point is that a good folder can handle most knife tasks, and wether you need a saw or hatchet/tomahawk is a function of the trees in the area where you will be.
If that's what you think of, there's no doubt a quality locking folder will always be a good substitute.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
- Messages
- 1,236
Your friend is probably right, unless either a) you do not live in a forested area, b) weight is at an absolute premium for you, or c) it doesn't get cold or wet where you are.
If you need to stay warm, you must have a fire. If you must have a fire, an axe is more useful than a knife.
If working with wood is not a key component of bush living for you (for instance you live in the desert) then an axe is not especially important.
If weight is at such a premium that you cannot afford the extra half pound or so as much as you can afford the diminished abilities of a single large fixed blade over a small, precise knife and a large dedicated chopper, then go with a big blade.
Otherwise, there is a reason that people who live and work in the bush have axes!
If you need to stay warm, you must have a fire. If you must have a fire, an axe is more useful than a knife.
If working with wood is not a key component of bush living for you (for instance you live in the desert) then an axe is not especially important.
If weight is at such a premium that you cannot afford the extra half pound or so as much as you can afford the diminished abilities of a single large fixed blade over a small, precise knife and a large dedicated chopper, then go with a big blade.
Otherwise, there is a reason that people who live and work in the bush have axes!
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2006
- Messages
- 8,250
Either way IMO. The one thing that I see is that a fixed blade is on you when you're awake. Not everyone, maybe no one here, wears an axe on their belt. So, one point would be that a fixed blade is better becuase there might be a time when you're seperated from your pack and, consequently, your hatchet.
The original post isn`t exactly apples/apples. Is a GB hatchet and a Victornox Rucksack better overall in the woods than just a 7" KaBar, sure but it weighs twice as much and takes up a lot more room. Why just a fixed blade? Why not a good hatchet and a 4" blade Bark River or Spydie Moran drop point? Or a Busse Battle Mistress or AngKola khukuri and a Rucksack? Or the big chopper and a Spydie Moran or good Mora? How about throwing in a Fiskars sliding saw that weighs 3oz. That`s less than many folding pocket knives. It all depends on personal preference,location and methodology.
In the field I`m not splitting 18" dia. trees and a good khukuri or chopper bowie does just as good a job of chopping/splitting camp fire wood as any hatchet I`ve used. What`s more it`ll do a fair impression of a machette if I get tangled up in a thicket or a stand of thorn bushes. A hatchet (if it wasn`t back at camp) is about useless for that. You can use a big chopper for preparing meals and whittling but it`s awkward so I also carry a Leatherman and sometimes a small light fixed blade too. Just a different version of Nessmuk`s hatchet,belt knife,stockman combo. I guess IMO you`re both right in a way. Marcus
In the field I`m not splitting 18" dia. trees and a good khukuri or chopper bowie does just as good a job of chopping/splitting camp fire wood as any hatchet I`ve used. What`s more it`ll do a fair impression of a machette if I get tangled up in a thicket or a stand of thorn bushes. A hatchet (if it wasn`t back at camp) is about useless for that. You can use a big chopper for preparing meals and whittling but it`s awkward so I also carry a Leatherman and sometimes a small light fixed blade too. Just a different version of Nessmuk`s hatchet,belt knife,stockman combo. I guess IMO you`re both right in a way. Marcus
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
- Messages
- 1,236
I can't speak for anyone else but in the bush I do wear an axe on my belt, unless I know for certain that I will not need it (for instance walking on a logging road close to the camp.)
I am probably in the minority there but I mention it just to point out that there is no reason you can't wear an axe on your belt.
Too heavy, unweildly and gets in the way of pack waist belts etc.... For me anyway.
Skam
yeah I wouldn't head out on an hike with an axe in my belt, way to heavy. If I were at camp and was looking for wood, thats when you'll find it in my belt. Other then that, its strapped to the pack, or if on a day trip Its not there at all, just a hatchet.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
- Messages
- 1,236
I certainly wouldn't go for a day hike with an axe on my belt...but I did summit three mountains in eleven hours, total elevation gain and loss of roughly 3.5 km (roughly 11,000 feet each way) with a Wetterlings large hunter on my belt one time.
I could just have easily had it on my pack (82 pattern ruck) but I like the convenience of having it there on the belt, and this was in the middle of a ten day through-hike, so I wasn't really in the mood for swapping things around on my pack!
I am not commenting on whether this is or should be normal but it is certainly possible and I find it comfortable. It is also true, though, that I am a pretty big guy and that wetterlings is like a hatchet to me.
I could just have easily had it on my pack (82 pattern ruck) but I like the convenience of having it there on the belt, and this was in the middle of a ten day through-hike, so I wasn't really in the mood for swapping things around on my pack!
I am not commenting on whether this is or should be normal but it is certainly possible and I find it comfortable. It is also true, though, that I am a pretty big guy and that wetterlings is like a hatchet to me.
Fair enough,
I know I've like to tuck an axe or Hawk' in my belt. When I would target pratice back in NS I would stick a knife and hawk on my belt, .22 over the right shoulder and head out. A 1-2 hour walk in, stay for the afternoon, have some tea, a few snacks and I was on my way home by dark.
I know I've like to tuck an axe or Hawk' in my belt. When I would target pratice back in NS I would stick a knife and hawk on my belt, .22 over the right shoulder and head out. A 1-2 hour walk in, stay for the afternoon, have some tea, a few snacks and I was on my way home by dark.
He said it was a hatchet not an axe, BIG difference. I still prefer a large blade as it chops smaller trees and branches better and with more control which is 99% of what I do anyway.
To each his own
Skam
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2005
- Messages
- 9,680
Agree to disagree. There is no universally "right" answer when it comes to personal preference.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2006
- Messages
- 7,035
Amen. The right answer is the one that works for you.
I do have a "use" question, though. For the guys that prefer a knife to a hatchet: Yes, it may be easier to hit a small branch with some part of a knife blade, but the "sweet spot" (we are talking chopping, not cutting) on even a large knife is smaller than the cut length on even a small hatchet, so I'm not seeing how the knife is easier.
Just to clarify a bit, I'm not talking a full sized axe here, or even a large hatchet, I'm thinking more like the leather-handled Estwing hatchet. Just gauge the stroke and chop.
I do have a "use" question, though. For the guys that prefer a knife to a hatchet: Yes, it may be easier to hit a small branch with some part of a knife blade, but the "sweet spot" (we are talking chopping, not cutting) on even a large knife is smaller than the cut length on even a small hatchet, so I'm not seeing how the knife is easier.
Just to clarify a bit, I'm not talking a full sized axe here, or even a large hatchet, I'm thinking more like the leather-handled Estwing hatchet. Just gauge the stroke and chop.
If it is cold and wet, building a fire may be important to prevent or treat hypothermia. An axe can get to the dry interior of a downed log. Friends of mine who sea-kayak in the Pacific Northwest carry axes, not just hatchets, for that reason. Of course, the boats carry the weight. I like an axe along, too, though here in the semi-tropical Gulf Coast area, it is not as vital, and a small hatchet seems OK.
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2002
- Messages
- 2,959
I think it's kinda neat that you pay attention to your tools in use well enough that you can even tell how the sweet spot is reacting. FWIW, if the sweet spot is that narrow, it means you're using a smaller knife than I'm envisioning, or the dynamic balance is off. Just out of curiosity, would you mind sharing some specs? What knife? Length, weight, static balance, and dynamic balance points?
Well this summer i vacillated back and forth between my Kabar ? (Stainless version of the black fighter) and my Fiskars Garden hatchet.
The Kabar weights 13 ounces and the Fiskars weights around 17 ounces.
In either case they were accompanied by a sak (7 ounces) and a mora clipper (3 ounces).
Around here trees are kinda scrubby and tend to grow close together making chopping awkward.
For me the Kabar was more comfortable for limbing trees that were standing, while the Fiskars was better at limbing trees once they were on the ground.
For the actual chopping down part the Fiskars did a better job.
From a camping POV i think a hatchet is better than a knife at driving tent pegs and hammering.
Around here the grounds pretty rocky so that can be a chore.
I've tried using the kabar pommel to hammer, kinda awkward, the hatchet head just works better.
IMO the Kabar is more fun and has a higher "cool" factor but the hatchet is better from a strictly utilitarian perspective.
For me the whole issue of hatchet versus knife belt carry is moot as either way it would go in my pack not on my belt. The Sak and the Mora are what i carry on my person.
The Kabar weights 13 ounces and the Fiskars weights around 17 ounces.
In either case they were accompanied by a sak (7 ounces) and a mora clipper (3 ounces).
Around here trees are kinda scrubby and tend to grow close together making chopping awkward.
For me the Kabar was more comfortable for limbing trees that were standing, while the Fiskars was better at limbing trees once they were on the ground.
For the actual chopping down part the Fiskars did a better job.
From a camping POV i think a hatchet is better than a knife at driving tent pegs and hammering.
Around here the grounds pretty rocky so that can be a chore.
I've tried using the kabar pommel to hammer, kinda awkward, the hatchet head just works better.
IMO the Kabar is more fun and has a higher "cool" factor but the hatchet is better from a strictly utilitarian perspective.
For me the whole issue of hatchet versus knife belt carry is moot as either way it would go in my pack not on my belt. The Sak and the Mora are what i carry on my person.
Depends on what you are chopping. If its a 5 inch tree yes a hatchet is easier.
It its a 1 to 2 inch diameter tree or sapling a large blade is much easier. For limbing fallen trees a 7-9 " blade will make easier work of it unless the branches go above a couple inches thick.
Seeing as 95% of the wood I use in the bush is less than 2" thick I carry a large knife and leave the boat anchor hatchet or axe at home.
And beside a knife does a lot more than a hatchet outside of chopping.
I routinely challenge friends and win with knife vs hatchett, they switch once they see it for themselves.
Skam