camping hatchet

[Todd Robbins]

I'm looking to get a hatchet or small axe for camping purposes, though it will also be used to keep fence rows clean, trim shooting lanes, clear underbrush, etc. I like the Hunter's Axe from Gransfors Bruks, as well as their new small hatchet, but have no experience with either. I'd like to keep the price under $100. Any suggestions?

Todd

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Those tasks are not well suited to an axe. Axes work best on material which is stiff enough to absorb the power of the swings, on smaller woody vegetation the penetration of an axe will be low as the wood will just move. For such work you are much better off with a quality long blade, a decent machete, see the Martindale line from Cutsforth Knives :

http://www.cutsfohttp://www.cutsforthknives.com/rthknives.com/

For camp use the Wildlife Hatchet is very nice as it is large enough to handle chopping of very large wood (relative to camp use), say 4-6" with ease, and can split such rounds under its own power. At the same time when choked up upon it is functional for whitting and other precison cutting, thus it can substitute as an awkward but useful knife.

For more general use I would go with a larger axe as the difference in power and overall functionality between two handed and one handed axes is many to one in terms of efficiency. The small forest axe is very nice in this regard being very light but still having a lot of the reach and power advantage of a two handed axe, it works *very* well as a limbing axe.

-Cliff