Big knife vs Axe

HaroldB said:
Yep,

If I'm just hiking and need to remove branches or small trees up to around 2" diameter, I'll take my machete.

If I'm building a cabin and need to cut BIG trees, I'll use an axe.
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I think a lot of folks think the only use for an axe is building cabins and felling large trees:)

Now those trekking in the summertime could easily get away with nothing more than a SAK with a saw on it, but those that trek in times of the year when it could get really cold are better served with a light axe because one can build a shelter and process lots of firewood for warmth much faster and with less energy. One can also make tent pegs with an axe as well as feather sticks, utensils, etc. The best part is that a good axe is much tougher overall than survival knives (see the Youtube destruction tests and note that the Gransfors Bruks hatchet came out ahead of all the knives when subjected to brutal destruction tests).
 
well, pending location I guess would affect ones decision greatly, also what they're use to using..

for me I don't think I could trust myself out away from civilization with an axe at hand, I'm barely use to knives:D so I leave the hatchet behind.. beside a large knife is more versatile, lighter, and for me safer..


with that said, I've used an axe enough to know they're dangerous if you miss your target, I still however chop heads off of foul and such with a hatchet, and no I don't let them fly around after:D
 
Down here in South Alabama, the undergrowth requires a machete if you have to do any clearing. After that, it's all going to come down to preference. Having grown up clearing trails, hunting and building forts with a machete, the idea of using large knives had to grow on me in my later years. I have a number of large choppers (the usual suspects) and have'nt used them for anything yet because everytime a job arises I instinctively reach for a machete. For instance, a buddy and I were clearing out a small area at a hunting camp to install a ladder stand against a tree. The tree we selected had various types of underbrush growing around it, ranging from 1/2" to 3 1/2" scrub. My friend brought a gas powered tool with a chainsaw attachment and was preparing to crank it when I unsheathed a machete and after 4 or 5 swings most of the work was done. He was'nt very familiar with a machete and marveled at how it had made short work of the scrub. Now we know that several other 'tools' could have performed the same task, but for that type of work I still have to believe that the machete was the most efficient one. For me, style will have to take a bow to function when I have to get something done. If I can approach a task leisurely then I might experiment with something else, otherwise I sweat too much and too easily to look good doing it!
 
For me a big knife doesn't compare to a good axe but a hatchet or poor axe don't compare to a big knife
 
I think it's really area and user specific. I wouldn't want an axe as my only tool in a jungle and I wouldn't want to have a thin machete as my only tool in the far northern ranges... but I have managed to adapt a decent sized knife to every environment I have spent time in. I spent a few years in a real and constant "survival" situation that was a mix of urban and wilderness that ranged across the southern U.S. and my largest tool was an issue pilots survival knife. I managed just fine apparently. I'd much rather wield a knife defensively than an axe.
 
I agree with mistwalker. What strikes your fancy since somehow I think you can do the same thing with any tool with some practice
 
My 10" knife weighs 23oz and is shorter than my 36oz hatchet. It's easier to slash small branches with, easier for me to split and/or baton wood with, and will take down a small tree just as quickly.
It also holds an edge longer and is a little more versatile in the tasks it will perform such as flipping bacon. :)
The hatchet is great for a car trunk.
 
styx said:
I agree with mistwalker. What strikes your fancy since somehow I think you can do the same thing with any tool with some practice
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One of my main problems with axes is that they lack a decent point. Granted I can usually make of for that with something else in a pinch...but axes still suck (IMO) at clearing trails and in a defensive role. One exception I've run across lately is the new hammer poll hawk from RMJ. It's really sharp, fairly light in the hand and swings quickly so I have managed to employ it successfully at clearing briers and vines from my path. It has a great edge geometry for cutting wood, the beard gives it a good point I can use for most of my needs, and I wouldn't mind having one in a fight.
 
Zombiechopper said:
I'm just trying to understand why a blade like this would be preferred over an axe. How and why did it come to be that this blade style replaced axes for bushcraft/survival use?
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Well, this is a knife forum. You get a lot of different sales pitches for knives here. They can do anything. Go to an axe forum, you'll probably get a different view of reality. I'd never heard of any of this stuff until I visited this forum. I'd chalk it all up to viral marketing. Not all bad though, I've picked up a couple of 'do it all' knives, but I stop at about 8", and I've still got an axe in the trunk of my car. I'd prefer an axe over a big chopping knife, but I started using hatchets when I was about 12. Of course back then you could find gunsmiths in department stores downtown and kids carried knives at school.
 
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It comes down mostly to what folks know. Sorta like the old bit about asking the same question of a politician, a tailor, and a soldier. The politician will answer with lies, the tailor with clothes, and the soldier with tactics.
 
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I see alot of pros and cons for each, big knife or axe. I personally don't have a preverance either way but I'm more likely to be carrying a large knife or machete. Recently I've been carrying around a tomahawk and have bee finding it very useful. I don't think I'll stop carrying a big knife though. If anything the hawk is an addition, not a replacement. If I feel I need to carry both, I will. The extra energy in a hike added by a mere 2lb. hawk is negligable in my opinion. Barely noticed. So, I guess you could say, I swing both ways ;) :D
 
There is a reason why in hardwood country loggers uses an axe.

You cant do this with a machete
[youtube]IcR28Yqt4mY[/youtube]

And you cant clean undergrowth and a route through a jungle that affective with an axe......both have their place IMO.

Area and wood plays an important role in the tool I chose. A tool should make your live easier and therefore the work faster.
 
I have to agree with what has been said by several here, the choice of tools will relate to the tasks either at hand or anticipated and on the type of vegetation you will be dealing with.

I think the above video is an unfair example of the capabilities of the axe. If you've got androids using a tool you can do just about anything with it! (Seriously those guys are awesome though.)

At the end of the day you still need the right tool for the right job.

God bless,
Adam
 
jumpmonkey said:
I have to agree with what has been said by several here, the choice of tools will relate to the tasks either at hand or anticipated and on the type of vegetation you will be dealing with.

I think the above video is an unfair example of the capabilities of the axe. If you've got androids using a tool you can do just about anything with it! (Seriously those guys are awesome though.)

At the end of the day you still need the right tool for the right job.

God bless,
Adam
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Agreed Adam. However, once one does learn how to wield an axe properly it is truly a very effiecient and useful tool. I can process firewood and shelter materials for survival many times faster with a good axe than I can either a machete or a large knife or even a saw (though I always carry a folding saw too). I love my 12" Cold Steel Barong machete and is my go-to survival tool here in the Rockies in the warmer months. However when I hike in the fall or early spring I take a small axe (Wetterlings Large Hunting Axe), and in the winter when snowshoeing I put a full sized axe on my sled and take it with me. The Canadians know this well, which is why they are such axe fanatics up there.

If I were in a southern area like FL or LA or in AZ though I would just bring the Barong and it would be great for those places year round.
 
Colorado,

I've got nothing against a good axe or hatchet. As I said, it's a matter of picking the right tool for the right job. There's no tool axe, knife, or saw that doesn't work better with a little know how. Just FYI while I may not always have one with me in the woods (depends on what I expect I'll be up against) I always have a full length double bit, a 3/4 length single bit, and a plain ol' hatchet in the trunk of my car. Between the three of them and my maul, plus a couple of wedges I've done a lot of damage to all kinds of wood which I'd never pick up a knife or machete to deal with.

Since you seem to have a good bit more experience (as I'm sure many here do) than I with an axe in the woods what do you think is appropriate to the task? I'm still deliberating usefulness vs size/weight and general encumberment for such a tool.

God bless,
Adam

PS: Please watch yourself with hatchets and the 3/4 and shorter axes. The full length ones are safe as can be, they'll ground out before they ever get to you (though bystanders may outright loose a limb for lack of care for where they stand). But those shorter ones will hurt a man.
 
I think both have their pluses and minuses. The plus for a big knife is brush clearing. The plus for the hatchet is it's easier to use for small tasks. Like others have said it comes down to the area and the user. I don't think there's a clear cut "This is better than that." My preference is for a hawk/hatchet but I would be just fine with a knife/machete. In the summer I don't carry either.
 
A GB Wildlife hatchet will make fuzz sticks,notches much easier than most large blades :)
Axes are awsome,I really love 'em.
But I soon will try a larger knife like the BRKT Bravo 2 and I'm very interested to see the results of the comparison between the two :)
 
mistwalker said:
One of my main problems with axes is that they lack a decent point. Granted I can usually make of for that with something else in a pinch...but axes still suck (IMO) at clearing trails and in a defensive role. One exception I've run across lately is the new hammer poll hawk from RMJ. It's really sharp, fairly light in the hand and swings quickly so I have managed to employ it successfully at clearing briers and vines from my path. It has a great edge geometry for cutting wood, the beard gives it a good point I can use for most of my needs, and I wouldn't mind having one in a fight.
Click to expand...

Oh I agree. For fighting I'd rather use sth else. A tomahawk yea, but a more traditional axe no.
As for clearing trails... again I agree. It all depends on who you are and where you are
 
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