Big Knife or Hatchet?

M

Moses2792796

Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
186
Greetings,

Lately I have been considering whether or not to buy a large 'survival' knife such as the Ontario RTAK II or the Cold Steel Trailmaster. As far as I can tell, they are designed to fulfill roughly the same role as a hatchet - splitting and chopping small to medium sized wood. At the moment my 'wilderness' knife is a Kabar USMC, which I would like to upgrade to something which will save me time and effort without carrying too much weight. I also own a nice hatchet which get the job done, although if I had a knife which was similarly effective I would probably lean towards it for versatility and weight advantages. When weight is not an issue, I'm going to be carrying a full sized axe and a bow saw so this question becomes irrelevant.

So I guess my question is, for people who have experience using both a hatchet and a large knife in a camping/wilderness type environment, which do you prefer and why?

One more point, I have no intention of using a chopping tool for cross-cutting any significantly sized wood, I cannot understand people who do this. I find a saw to be a far more effective tool for this job.
 
Personally, I have found a large knife to be more useful for me. My large knives out chop my hatchet (admittedly, its not a great hatchet), are lighter, easier to carry, and more useful.

Here is a comparison review between the Becker BK9 and the Kabar ZK War Sword. I threw in my hatchet for a comparison.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-vs-KaBar-ZK-War-Sword-(PHOTO-HEAVY-and-EPIC)

ANd here is my initial review of the war sword, where you can see how it compares to the USMC. Just to give you some idea how it might compare to what you are using right now.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...Bar-USMC-and-KaBar-ZK-War-Sword-(PHOTO-HEAVY)

Good luck :).
 
Just buy a Kukri... It's a bit on the heavy side, but the only thing that can chop & split wood better is a full sized axed.
 
I'm a recent convert to a big knife instead of a hatchet. I feel like I can use a big knife more safely via batonning to split wood, and that it is a more versatile tool for other tasks. Also, a big knife is easier for me to carry or stow in or on a pack. I know that there are guys who are masters of hatchet use, but I am not one of them.

My current big knife is a Condor Hudson Bay.
 
Moses2792796 said:
Hmmm, I forgot about Kukris, I have been considering getting one actually. Any specific recommendations?
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Browse around the Himalayan Imports offerings. There are a couple nice ones that might still be available in the Deal of the Day threads in the HI subforum.
 
Get something in-between: and will have a tool which does either job mediocre at best. Get a good hatchet to split and chop and a knife good at cutting and slicing to do the rest. I can sharpen a pencil with a carpenter's axe no problem (just move a pencil, not the axe), but will choose a knife for this job any day! The same applies in the opposite direction. And the whole set will weight hardly more than a hatchet alone - nothing to talk about really!
 
I went from an Rtak II to a Gransfors Bruks wildlife hatchet and now back to an Esee Junglas. The thing with the axe is that when I chop into the wood, it breaks off chunks, whereas when I use a large thin blade like the Rtak II, it slices nice and deep, so I just have to angle the next chop straight and a huge chunk flies off.

Also with the hatchet since it's top heavy I find it much more tiring. I definitely enjoy the chopping process with the large blade more. Most important of all the large blade enables me to baton.
 
The Logical One said:
I went from an Rtak II to a Gransfors Bruks wildlife hatchet and now back to an Esee Junglas. The thing with the axe is that when I chop into the wood, it breaks off chunks, whereas when I use a large thin blade like the Rtak II, it slices nice and deep, so I just have to angle the next chop straight and a huge chunk flies off.

Also with the hatchet since it's top heavy I find it much more tiring. I definitely enjoy the chopping process with the large blade more. Most important of all the large blade enables me to baton.
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That is interesting. I've found splitting wood with a hatchet less tiring than with a big chopper! As many people seem fond of pointing out...Do what works for you. I like having a 3.5" drop point fixed blade, ~.125-.200" thick and a small high quality hatchet. I have never come across a wood processing camping task I couldn't accomplish with those two tools.

Edit:

I PREFER battoning, because it is more fun. I generally use a hatchet because most of the time I don't want to work harder than I need to when in a "survival" situation.
 
Foilist said:
I'm a recent convert to a big knife instead of a hatchet. I feel like I can use a big knife more safely via batonning to split wood, and that it is a more versatile tool for other tasks. Also, a big knife is easier for me to carry or stow in or on a pack. I know that there are guys who are masters of hatchet use, but I am not one of them.

My current big knife is a Condor Hudson Bay.
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Everything he said.
 
An RTAC2 & a good pack saw and i'm well equiped. I prefer my RTAC2 over an axe because i can use it for other things besides wood processing. Maybe it's because i'm not that great with an axe but I feel less prone to injuring myself with a blade vs. an axe. My son prefers an axe and a smaller fixed blade but i can process fire wood almost twice as fast as him every time and to me either way it's an intense workout, Pilates aint got nothing on wood processing. Really, i think it all boils down to personal opinion and finding what works best for you. I love my Ontario RTAC2 and can trust on it's dependability, i want to try out a kukri design one of these days but havnt so far only because i think for me the overall shape of it may limit it's usefulness for cleaning/cutting fish, food prep and finer cutting tasks.
 
Hatchet. Been doing the job since the dawn of time. You have to invest time for research and practice to use it safely, though.
 
dogstar said:
Hatchet. Been doing the job since the dawn of time. You have to invest time for research and practice to use it safely, though.
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I'll 2nd that notion. I remembered the first time I used my hatchet I swung at the wood and for whatever reason it missed completely and came literally an inch or less from hitting my thigh. :eek:
 
timbit said:
Edit:

I PREFER battoning, because it is more fun. I generally use a hatchet because most of the time I don't want to work harder than I need to when in a "survival" situation.
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It's perfectly fine to baton a hatchet! It's got a good wedge shape.
 
Considering I have both a fairly large Busse and a HI khuk, I don't like to bring my wildlife hatchet anymore. That said, if I had one of their forest axes I would probably prefer that. I just think the wildlife hatchet has too little mass to be as wide as it is. Feels like I never get anywhere when I'm chopping. Unfortunately, the hatchet has been on more trips than the knives because of other peoples comfortability - Knives are scary!
 
In my 30 plus years of going out in the woods i have found a big knife has aleays been more useful than a hawk or hatchet. A Kurkri would be a good choice. If you don't want a full size Kukri then check out the Becker Machax, I think its the BK-4 I would have to look at mine. I have used a hawk and a hatchets and big knives for years. There are time a good hawk or hatchet or a full size ax is needed so you might want to add them to your list to have on hand.
 
Either\or. I could or would use either and have basicly the same outcome. You only need X amount of kindling to start a fire, even in wet conditions. I do find it easier to use two hands on a big knife, than a hatchet or axe, and draw down the side of a damaged pine for resin encrusted bark. That material will have your fire started easily like you tossed a pail of gasoline on it.
 
A 4" fixed blade and a Bahco or Silky folding saw. That will let you process anything up to 5" thick with ease. Why would you need to process anything bigger than that, either for fire or shelter? But if you're splitting a lot of logs (say for a camp with a lot of people for several weeks), an axe is best: safer and much more efficient, if you use the right technique.

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The Swedish companies like Wetterlings make great axes that are fairly short and portable. I've discovered that the "camp knife" phenomenon seems to only exist on BF. Not many of the bushcraft forum folks seem partial to large knives. I know that big knives are very popular here, and I would never knock them since people seem to be using them successfully in the field with their own techniques. But you will note that none of the well-known bushcraft experts you may have heard of (Ray Mears, Dave Canterbury, Cody Lundin, heck even Bear Grylls) carry a knife longer than 4" into the field ever. But as always, YMMV and you should do what feels best for you.
 
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