Hatchet Safety?

J

Jayronicle

Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
21
I'm going on a three night backpacking trip in the woods. In preparation, I recently acquired a new hatchet. I've never used one before (having never gone out for so long) and am a little nervous about safety. I've only had a a buck 110 in the past but figured it would be smart to have something bigger for this long of an outing.

Obviously, common sense is a huge factor and I will certainly use all that I possess but I was searching for some standard "safety rules" and I didn't find much.

Any tips or hard rules y'all can offer me would be much appreciated. :thumbup:
 
Continually think about where the head might strike if you miss your target. When I use a hatchet I like to do my chopping and splitting on a stump or some flat piece of wood. If you swing straight downward instead of in an arc you will hit the stump if you miss. Also, if you always keep the handle from crossing the horizontal plane, it won't swing back into you. Mostly it's common sense, like not holding a piece of wood you are splitting, because if you miss you can hit your hand, etc.

Every time I have cut myself it was doing something stupid, but at the time I thought nothing would happen. Always be safe. Accidents typically happen when you take unnecessary risks.
 
Use common knowledge, everything else you will learn through experience.

Other than that, make sure you get to know it before you take it, practice chopping
some logs in the daylight, most likely you will not chop enough for the night on your trip
and it will require some midnight chopping. The reduced visibility can make for some
painful experiences.

I hope you have a safe trip, good luck!
 
You didnt give a lot of specs on it, but I would check the following -

Is the head secure? If is a one piece new job, then no worries. If it is an older hatchet, or one with a wooden handle, then you need to make sure it is secure.

Can I grip the handle the way I want? Again, metal or fiberglass usually have good handles, grip wise. Usually some sort of rubber handle. Wooden handles you might have to "scuff" up in order to have a grip you want. Roughing them up with a coarse file will do the trick.

Is the bit sharp to my liking? Is it sharp enough to do what you want? Will kids have access to it? If so, just how sharp do I need it? Or, if it is going to be a hard core outing, when I leave is it good and sharp, and will I have the right tools to touch it up if needed? Do I know how to do that and in a timely manner? Do I have the tools to hold the hatchet while I sharpen it, not only the tools to sharpen it? (Never think about that one until you need it)

Lastly, practice with it. It is rocket science. Early people used basic similar items, and we are still around. The smart ones anyway.

Best of luck, and have fun!
 
Because of the short handle on a hatchet, it might sometimes be advisable to kneel down or crouch while chopping. That way, if you miss, you'll just hit the ground, not your knee.


Ookami
 
Bring a first aid kit and practice at home first. I'll echo the kneeling and being mindful of the path of the head and possible deflections. Don't be in a hurry and cut only during the day. Do not chop upwards to avoid deflections to the face. Chop away from your off hand or keep it out of the way if possible.

A safer way to use the hatchet for splitting is to treat it as a wedge and drive it with a baton. To split kindling, hold the hatchet on top of the wrist sized wood to be split and smash down on large piece of wood. Twist to split the wood. You can see this in Ray Mears' video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tUUctg6dfk
 
MY number one rule with a hatchet is ALWAYS use a chicken stick to hold the wood you are splitting. You will see quickly how easy it would be to lop of the end of a finger while holding the wood to be split.The method mentoned before of spliting with the axe and wood together takes a little practice. I have found you can pintch a finger with this method untill you learn it, pratice. When doing very much work with a hatchet I'm always on my knees, or have my feet spred wide and out of the way!
 
Once in a while, a lack of fire wood limits me to cutting up a downed tree. So, the log is horizontal and low to the ground, if your axe skips off the wood, you don't want to be in the path of the swing. Like mentioned, kneel down, or raise the tree up, if you can. Just watch your legs, you'll need them later.
 
Ookami said:
Because of the short handle on a hatchet, it might sometimes be advisable to kneel down or crouch while chopping. That way, if you miss, you'll just hit the ground, not your knee.


Ookami
Click to expand...


this. :thumbup:
 
One thing I like to do.

I like to get a tree or limb for firewood and then stand it on one end. Close to an arms length from my body.

Then I like to cut, say 45 degree cuts all the way around the tree by either walking or rotating the tree.

Then I like to chop straight in to allow the wedge of wood to come free.

On wood say 3" or smaller diameter I can go all the way around once, kick or step on the limb and that section falls off without me having to cut thru it. I work my way down sectioning it this way till it's too small to cut that way.

Having it out from my body standing on one end and cutting down rather than laying the wood down it has much longer way to travel to hit your leg or anything. Also since you do the final separation by stomping or allowing the weight of the limb to section it you don't run the risk of cutting thru.

I want to say that the majority of cuts I have done to myself with the hatchet is that mine is so sharp that it is usually just accidentally brushing the edge with my left hand when I'm not even cutting so be conscious of your other hand.
 
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