hatchet or hawk

[RescueRiley]

have had a fiskars for a while and I love it..I'd like to move toward something with a more traditional look was thinking of maybe a small axe or a hawk..I'm sort of ona budget though for now so GB's are out of the question...I'd like something I can choke up on for rough carving as well any thoughts> thanks...

 

[Fonly]

ugh oh.......


No, just kidding. I love my trail hawk, neat little hawk, good chopper too, and easy to sharpen.

Also, I find the rifleman hawk a little heavy for field carry.

 

[j williams]

Trail hawks are awesome. I have a modded frontier hawk that is a great chopper/ thrower. I like to throw hawks, it relaxes me. For a camp tool id rather have a hatchet.
Estwings are good on a budget, and can be had at home depot or lowes.

Being said, I have carried my frontier hawk into the bush, and it did everything I needed it too., but splitting wood is no contest axe or hatchet hands down.

 

[SpookyPistolero]

My experiences mirror Fonly's about the trail hawk. It's a good piece of steel. I reprofiled mine a bit and it's improved quite a lot. The penetration is amazing with the hawk, but the draw back to this is it gets stuck in their pretty good; it takes extra work to pull it back out and slows down your chopping. Another drawback is that you've got a pretty thin length of blade to work with, so hits have to be more precise. But they look cool and are fun to throw!

All in all, I've gone back to my Fiskars as a primary chopper in the woods. It just functions better on most of what I work with. The short length of cutting edge to the hawk was one of the major drawbacks for me, as well as length. But if you want something traditional looking, a Wetterlings seems like the best place to start looking.

 

[Fonly]

I wish I still had my wetterlings, but I broke it. lol

 

[siguy]

riley, tough question...

so i'm planning on getting one of each soon.

i want to get both a CS trailhawk and a wetterlings 20" axe...

i handled gene's wetterlings at the CT gathering and it was a beautiful chopper, loved the handle contours and the bit was nicely shaped and had a nice bite in wood. i don't have a really quality axe or hatchet, so i want a pure chopper so that i can start abusing the ones i have and not have to worry about sharpening as much...

but i also have read so much good about the trailhawk and at that price i just can't resist getting one to play with...if it doesn't make such a good woods tool i just might pick up the hobby of throwing hawks... but i have always been drawn to a tomahawk for a light woods chopper that is very versatile (all in theory for me so far)

but if i get both, at current prices it will cost around $70...less than a GB hatchet. (WOW the trailhawk went up a bit!)

another choice that looks like it could be fair is the trail boss axe that cold steel started making recently...

 

[Cpl Punishment]

have had a fiskars for a while and I love it..I'd like to move toward something with a more traditional look was thinking of maybe a small axe or a hawk..I'm sort of ona budget though for now so GB's are out of the question...I'd like something I can choke up on for rough carving as well any thoughts> thanks...

It's not small, but:
Snow & Neally Penobscot Bay Kindling Axe

 

[HornyToad]

Ragweed Forge http://www.ragweedforge.com/ThrowingCatalog.html
has a lot of traditional hawks and axes. I bought a British Belt Ax which is a good size with more edge than a hawk for $43.

 

[Fletcher Knives]

Trailhawks are pretty cool. Mine works like a champ and it was a lot of fun to modify.

 

[Flotsam]

I have a 15" wetterlings & a20" wetterlings - both are very nice, although the grinds are not as nice as the GBs I have seen. The edges on both of mine were very sharp, although not shaving sharp (but could easily be honed to a finer edge). They were both around $30-35 from smoky mountain knifeworks. I'd take a look there for a more traditional axe at a decent price. For a hawk, I have been sorely tempted by the trailhawk - I may have to pick one up soon.

Sam

 

[hollowdweller]

I think Hawks hit harder than a short hatchet but I like the short hatchet better because of the longer (usually) cutting edge.:thumbup:

 

[Smash05]

I have recently used my Fort Turner Hawk in the woods. Worked pretty well, light weight, more cutting edge than the Trail Hawk.

 

[Fonly]

I know when I had my wetterlings, if it was between my trailhawk and wetterlings I would take my wetterlings.

Over all it was an awsome axe, If a gransfur was better, it have to be god like, and I dont see it getting much better.

I know the wetterlings sometimes have very nice two tone handles, A few I looked at in a local shop were in just as good shape as the gransfur's, but I suspect they were hand selected for the showcase. but either way, my 19" hunters axe was without a doubt my favorite axe.