Hatchets are better than big fixed blades. Change my mind.

[ferider]

6" is not long enough.

Some people prefer hatchets.

(From: Toledo man accused of chasing a relative with a hatchet and hitting the hood of a truck with the weapon by accident pleads not guilty)

 

[beeinak]

6" is not long enough.

Some people prefer hatchets.

(From: Toledo man accused of chasing a relative with a hatchet and hitting the hood of a truck with the weapon by accident pleads not guilty)

In that instance I would prefer a 6” barrel with hollow points.

 

[scarysamcary]

The answer is always gonna be big chopper. Why, you ask? because BIG CHOPPER!!!

Once you find a fun entry level chopper, reach out to David Mary and have him make you something that terrifies hatchets.

 

[David Mary]

That dog is braver than any hatchet

 

[David Mary]

All I want is a proper cup of coffee made in a proper copper coffee pot; I may be off my dot but I want a proper coffee in a proper copper pot. Iron coffee pots and tin coffee pots they are no use to me; if I can’t have a proper cup of coffee in a proper copper coffee pot I’ll have a cup of tea.

And I’ll take a proper chopper over a hatchet.

 

[353]

I love axes, but it's also fun to use a blade sometimes.

 

[cutchu]

45 vs 9

Betty or Wilma

Ginger or Mary Ann

 

[cutchu]

45 vs 9

 

[Spillproof]

I have lived off the grid, alone, on a mountain for over a decade and have worked in the woods for 30+ years. My warmth during the winter comes from woodstoves. I do not own a large FB "chopper." I do own a couple hatchets, machetes, multiple axes, hand saws, and chainsaws.

Large choppers are cool, but they don't do anything another tool couldn't do better/more efficiently.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Horace Kephart in his marvelous 1921 book Camping and Woodcraft had this to say about hatchets: "A woodsman should carry a hatchet, and he should be as critical in selecting it as in buying a gun. The notion that a heavy hunting knife can do the work of a hatchet is a delusion. When it comes to cleaving carcasses, chopping kindling, blazing thick-barked trees, driving tent pegs or trap stakes, and keeping up a bivouac fire, the knife was never made that will compare with a good tomahawk." He favored a hatchet with a 17" straight handle that weighed 1 lb. 10 oz. with its leather sheath.

 

[scarysamcary]

Gentleman, your logic has no power against the glory of the big chopper. Hatchets are amazing if you need to pack light into the wilderness and live off the land with as little as possible. Big chopper for the rest of the time.

 

[sgt1372]

The way I look at it, "hatchets" and "choppers" are just a specialized types of fixed blade knives.

There is no "one-type fits all" kind of knife. So, just choose the one that best fits your needs.

 

[91bravo]

Horace Kephart in his marvelous 1921 book Camping and Woodcraft had this to say about hatchets: "A woodsman should carry a hatchet, and he should be as critical in selecting it as in buying a gun. The notion that a heavy hunting knife can do the work of a hatchet is a delusion. When it comes to cleaving carcasses, chopping kindling, blazing thick-barked trees, driving tent pegs or trap stakes, and keeping up a bivouac fire, the knife was never made that will compare with a good tomahawk." He favored a hatchet with a 17" straight handle that weighed 1 lb. 10 oz. with its leather sheath.

You should swing a Behemother. It’s like swinging a hatchet knife lol or a knife hatchet.

 

[Wild Willie]

Horace Kephart in his marvelous 1921 book Camping and Woodcraft had this to say about hatchets: "A woodsman should carry a hatchet, and he should be as critical in selecting it as in buying a gun. The notion that a heavy hunting knife can do the work of a hatchet is a delusion. When it comes to cleaving carcasses, chopping kindling, blazing thick-barked trees, driving tent pegs or trap stakes, and keeping up a bivouac fire, the knife was never made that will compare with a good tomahawk." He favored a hatchet with a 17" straight handle that weighed 1 lb. 10 oz. with its leather sheath.

There's no doubt that Mr. Kephart was an outstanding woodsman. If I were going to do nothing but drink moonshine in a cabin in the smokies I'm sure a hatchet or small axe would do everything I'd need. We also no longer live in a world where axemanship is a necessary part of day to day life, I'd rather have the speed and control of a power saw.

There are also tasks that an axe doesn't excel at. I'm yet to see the axe that clears grape vines on a service or guy wire like a machete. When it comes to bumming around the yard, or when I have brush to clear before going at a tree with a saw, I'd rather have a machete. If I hit a rock or buried fence with a machete, I take a flat file to it and move on. If I do that with one of my axes I have a full on caniption fit and its best not to talk with me for a while.

 

[shinyedges]

There's no doubt that Mr. Kephart was an outstanding woodsman. If I were going to do nothing but drink moonshine in a cabin in the smokies I'm sure a hatchet or small axe would do everything I'd need. We also no longer live in a world where axemanship is a necessary part of day to day life, I'd rather have the speed and control of a power saw.

There are also tasks that an axe doesn't excel at. I'm yet to see the axe that clears grape vines on a service or guy wire like a machete. When it comes to bumming around the yard, or when I have brush to clear before going at a tree with a saw, I'd rather have a machete. If I hit a rock or buried fence with a machete, I take a flat file to it and move on. If I do that with one of my axes I have a full on caniption fit and its best not to talk with me for a while.

Well said. Not to take anything away from Mr.Kephart but it isn't 1921, metallurgy is orders of magnitude better. If Mr.kephart has a busse battle mistress or 1311 or Keffeler Super assassin I doubt he'd have let it collect dust because the axe/hatchet was superior in every task.

 

[91bravo]

 

[Wild Willie]

Well said. Not to take anything away from Mr.Kephart but it isn't 1921, metallurgy is orders of magnitude better. If Mr.kephart has a busse battle mistress or 1311 or Keffeler Super assassin I doubt he'd have let it collect dust because the axe/hatchet was superior in every task.

No doubt. If I remember correctly, his biggest complaint against many knives of the day was a lackluster heat treatment.

And lest we forget, he was also a raging alcoholic that abandoned his family to live in the woods. If I had that kind of time on my hands I'd probably be a lot better than I am with an axe.

 

[Blues]

I carry a hatchet in my left front pocket, a khukuri in my right front pocket, a smatchet in my left back pocket, and a .45 caliber 9mm in the right.

On my ankles I have a golok and a barong.

 

[jlauffer]

I carry a hatchet in my left front pocket, a khukuri in my right front pocket, a smatchet in my left back pocket, and a .45 caliber 9mm in the right.

On my ankles I have a golok and a barong.

Where's Ginger and Mary Ann?

 

[Blues]

Where's Ginger and Mary Ann?

In my bedroom.

(I hope my wife isn't reading over my shoulder.)