I hate losing my hatchet in the woods

Chartreuse is anther color that can be handy. I have some real ugly small game hunting arrows. I get laughed at a little until they can't find theirs. Even with the bright colors I will still loose some.
I spent better than an hour looking for a hatchet on the forest floor. I did find it but I had to back track my steps exactly. I would never criticize a paint job on a tool that served a function. It's a very good rust preventer also.
 
tirod3 said:
Some come blue from the factory: http://www.estwing.com/ao_black_eagle_tomahawk.php

I don't worry about getting paint on my split wood. I treat the wood to a high temp cleansing process and keep the house warm in the winter with it. :rolleyes:
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It's to bad they make such a poor chopper and splitter. And I won't even tell you what I think of steel handles.
What is the head weight on that tool? Because handle weight just works against you.
 
Most axes are poor splitters, that's why they sell mauls. http://www.acehardware.com/product/...51&cp=2568443.2568444.2598674.2601430.1260315 Similar to my Vermont with fiberglass handle. The striking head works well on wedges, it took me a year to get one out tho. The 27 ton Troy finished it up. There are splitters and then, there are splitters.

I couldn't say how the Estwing handles, they are new this year, and not too many of them out there to get any feed back. As for steel handles, it's a matter up to the individual. Most of my striking tools have solid core fiberglass, they do just fine. The one steel 12 pound Monster Maul gave me no trouble because it was steel, the main problem was being too heavy with too short a handle. I could split more longer with the Vermont 4 pound.

Velocity has a lot to do with splitting, too. In ballistics, a small fast bullet can hit just as hard as a big slow one. With a striking tool like an axe, you can accelerate the head even more by stopping your swing just level with the strike point, which accelerates the head. It's exactly the point of golf and baseball. You swing and snap it.

Estwing doesn't make junk, plenty of fans like their other products. Perhaps if someone would purchase the tomahawk and try it out, we can get an impression of it. There's just one catch, however - the results only relate to other tomahawks, not splitting mauls or axes. Hawks are different, just like a pick mattock is different from a standard pick. But it also hoes better than a standard pick, too.

Back on topic, I've come to the conclusion that True Blue is likely the best outdoor tool color of all. There's reasons for it - it's an obvious color which doesn't hide it, there is very little like it in nature to blend with it. Yellows can get lost some times of the year in a flowering field or falling leaves, oranges and reds the same. The public image of blue is utilitarian and friendly - not aggressive, machismo, or warlike. You are not trying to "hide" in the woods, therefore you are there for a reason, and it's not tacticool or potentially dangerous. True blue isn't something you associate with weapons, exactly the opposite.

I went camping one spring, the guys had built a campsite on a river island under a bluff. Hiking to the top, we reviewed the various shades of tarps, tentage, and ramshackle shelter we'd put up in terms of concealment. The wood and vegetation hut was nearly impossible to see from up there. The red camping tent also well hidden, even tho it was still early spring. The blue and white truck tarp stood out like a bombing target, and could be seen for a mile. Later we read up on the existing literature of the day and found red was actually a good color to use when needing to be hidden against green. It receded into the scenery and blended well. No argument from us, we'd already observed it ourselves.

In the Pantone system it's #255 or thereabouts, not dark at all, and quite visible. Plus, if you are color blind, it's usually still in your range and you see it. I like orange too, but blue does the job.
 
tirod3 said:
Most axes are poor splitters, that's why they sell mauls. http://www.acehardware.com/product/...51&cp=2568443.2568444.2598674.2601430.1260315 Similar to my Vermont with fiberglass handle. The striking head works well on wedges, it took me a year to get one out tho. The 27 ton Troy finished it up. There are splitters and then, there are splitters.

I couldn't say how the Estwing handles, they are new this year, and not too many of them out there to get any feed back. As for steel handles, it's a matter up to the individual. Most of my striking tools have solid core fiberglass, they do just fine. The one steel 12 pound Monster Maul gave me no trouble because it was steel, the main problem was being too heavy with too short a handle. I could split more longer with the Vermont 4 pound.

Velocity has a lot to do with splitting, too. In ballistics, a small fast bullet can hit just as hard as a big slow one. With a striking tool like an axe, you can accelerate the head even more by stopping your swing just level with the strike point, which accelerates the head. It's exactly the point of golf and baseball. You swing and snap it.

Estwing doesn't make junk, plenty of fans like their other products. Perhaps if someone would purchase the tomahawk and try it out, we can get an impression of it. There's just one catch, however - the results only relate to other tomahawks, not splitting mauls or axes. Hawks are different, just like a pick mattock is different from a standard pick. But it also hoes better than a standard pick, too.

Back on topic, I've come to the conclusion that True Blue is likely the best outdoor tool color of all. There's reasons for it - it's an obvious color which doesn't hide it, there is very little like it in nature to blend with it. Yellows can get lost some times of the year in a flowering field or falling leaves, oranges and reds the same. The public image of blue is utilitarian and friendly - not aggressive, machismo, or warlike. You are not trying to "hide" in the woods, therefore you are there for a reason, and it's not tacticool or potentially dangerous. True blue isn't something you associate with weapons, exactly the opposite.

I went camping one spring, the guys had built a campsite on a river island under a bluff. Hiking to the top, we reviewed the various shades of tarps, tentage, and ramshackle shelter we'd put up in terms of concealment. The wood and vegetation hut was nearly impossible to see from up there. The red camping tent also well hidden, even tho it was still early spring. The blue and white truck tarp stood out like a bombing target, and could be seen for a mile. Later we read up on the existing literature of the day and found red was actually a good color to use when needing to be hidden against green. It receded into the scenery and blended well. No argument from us, we'd already observed it ourselves.

In the Pantone system it's #255 or thereabouts, not dark at all, and quite visible. Plus, if you are color blind, it's usually still in your range and you see it. I like orange too, but blue does the job.
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So how much did you say the head weighed? Bet the rest of that thing weighs as much if not more. It's not much good on wood. Maybe you could do some carving with it? In the end you can hang your hat on it being made in the USA, damn hard to break, and it's blue.
Estwing built it's reputation on hammers that are almost bullet proof. That's all they bring to the table. If that's what you need they are great.
I could go on and on about what is wrong with them, but what's the point? You will buy one anyway and think it is great. It's OK as long as your happy.
 
I have bought Estwings, the hammer is good. The camping axe, not so much. I prefer the Plumb if I know I won't be abusing it, or the cheap copy I bought just to knock down lathe and plaster. The Estwing axe head is too soft, being cast one piece, and the heavy handle does take away from it's chopping ability compared side by side with the wooden handled ones.

Didn't say I liked them all that much. Just pointing out the color, which the focus of the thread.

At least I do own one Estwing axe and have tried it. I don't base my comments on raw speculation, the internet is full of commandos who think they know everything. If there has been one consistent message I have been trying to get folks to think about, it's that the title of the forum is very informative: Axe, Tomahawk, and Hatchet. Three different tools with three different focuses on how to cut wood. They all exist because each one does it's specific job better than the other.

Lumping them all together and saying one is superior above all is a bit thoughtless. At that point, the game is simply oneupmanship, a polite term for the typical juvenile locker room measuring contest that all too many boys participate in on the internet.

How 'bout we stick to the topic? What color do you prefer to keep from losing your gear to the wood gnomes?
 
tirod3 said:
I have bought Estwings, the hammer is good. The camping axe, not so much. I prefer the Plumb if I know I won't be abusing it, or the cheap copy I bought just to knock down lathe and plaster. The Estwing axe head is too soft, being cast one piece, and the heavy handle does take away from it's chopping ability compared side by side with the wooden handled ones.

Didn't say I liked them all that much. Just pointing out the color, which the focus of the thread.

At least I do own one Estwing axe and have tried it. I don't base my comments on raw speculation, the internet is full of commandos who think they know everything. If there has been one consistent message I have been trying to get folks to think about, it's that the title of the forum is very informative: Axe, Tomahawk, and Hatchet. Three different tools with three different focuses on how to cut wood. They all exist because each one does it's specific job better than the other.

Lumping them all together and saying one is superior above all is a bit thoughtless. At that point, the game is simply oneupmanship, a polite term for the typical juvenile locker room measuring contest that all too many boys participate in on the internet.

How 'bout we stick to the topic? What color do you prefer to keep from losing your gear to the wood gnomes?
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My apologies, it just seems that someone must always post about or recommend the dang things. It grates on me at times. So yep, I took it out on you.
Again my apologies.
Friends don't let friends swing Estwings.
Hunter orange would be my pick, if I could bring myself to paint it.
 
Tired. I disagree about axes being poor splitters. You can get the head moving much faster than a maul. Mauls are good for twisty grain like elm or high elevation Douglas fir. With straight grained wood a good 3.5 pound double bit will split as fast or faster, and tire you put less.
 
I agree that light weight works well, I sold the Monster maul wedge splitter because it was too heavy and short. However, none of my larger axes do as well as the Vermont 4 pound, even the double bit. I probably just don't have the right ones.

It's interesting that point comes up - if the larger one doesn't suit, move down in weight, and many find it does better. Taking that the next step, tho, we find nobody gives the light hawk any credit compared to the typically heavier hatchet. Nonetheless, it still can chop, among other things.

Hunter Orange is definitely popular now, I have some knives handled in it. Still, that's the focus of the color, a connotation of killing. Looking at having a hawk in hand, I'm thinking that the blue would be interpreted as a "working tool" color, not "weapon." We've built up a common theme in society these days that black, camo, orange, etc are all colors of weapons, even if it's used to signify it's not a working weapon. How much that is playing on the user's perception of machismo has a lot to do with it. Seems to me if you want to downplay the weapon aspect of a field tool, then using a benign color with no combative inference would be the way to go. Estwing was just a handy example.

Nothing wrong with an axe or hatchet in orange, tho, as people see them as tools first. It's a mind game, it gets complicated. Most important thing is to be able to see it. One thing blue can do is carry a lot of ultraviolet and that tends to help it "glow" a bit against the background. It's the reason most deer hunters avoid blue jeans now - with deer and their shift in color perception, it looks almost florescent. One thing blue won't do as much as red or orange is fade in intense sunlight. The pigment doesn't break down as rapidly as red. If you go looking for it months later, it's still blue!
 
Tirod3,

Your comments on the perception of the color blue is an interesting trend..

Training weapons are blue, NATO peacekeeping helmets are blue, He is "true blue", in skrimishes "Blue team" and "red team"- red is aggressor team.

I have never misplaced my Husky chainsaw but I do misplace orange felling wedges and drift hammer. I have used flo yellow in the past but I am going to have to look for some bright blue equipment paint and start trying it out myself.

Bill
 
tirod3 said:
Hunter Orange is definitely popular now, I have some knives handled in it. Still, that's the focus of the color, a connotation of killing. Looking at having a hawk in hand, I'm thinking that the blue would be interpreted as a "working tool" color, not "weapon." We've built up a common theme in society these days that black, camo, orange, etc are all colors of weapons, even if it's used to signify it's not a working weapon. How much that is playing on the user's perception of machismo has a lot to do with it. Seems to me if you want to downplay the weapon aspect of a field tool, then using a benign color with no combative inference would be the way to go. Estwing was just a handy example.

Nothing wrong with an axe or hatchet in orange, tho, as people see them as tools first. It's a mind game, it gets complicated. Most important thing is to be able to see it. One thing blue can do is carry a lot of ultraviolet and that tends to help it "glow" a bit against the background. It's the reason most deer hunters avoid blue jeans now - with deer and their shift in color perception, it looks almost florescent. One thing blue won't do as much as red or orange is fade in intense sunlight. The pigment doesn't break down as rapidly as red. If you go looking for it months later, it's still blue!
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Interesting comparison since so many things related with tools and work areas are still orange. Orange hard hats, orange work vests, orange flags, orange signs, orange tools.
 
Charlie,
Depending on light levels and background- hunter orange can glow like a fire or become pretty flat. In early Fall in hardwoods, it can blend in. In bright sunlight in broomstraw it fades in somewhat. In October bow season a buddy of mine in the older hunter orange camoflage blended right in. Like most things, there is no one answer. It is surprising how bright blue does jump out against greens and browns.

Even true black sets itself apart in nature.

Bill
 
lmalterna said:
Charlie,
Depending on light levels and background- hunter orange can glow like a fire or become pretty flat. In early Fall in hardwoods, it can blend in. In bright sunlight in broomstraw it fades in somewhat. In October bow season a buddy of mine in the older hunter orange camoflage blended right in. Like most things, there is no one answer. It is surprising how bright blue does jump out against greens and browns.

Even true black sets itself apart in nature.

Bill
Click to expand...

I was mainly commenting on the belief that orange is associated with weaponry for whatever reason, and pointing out that orange is still used a lot for work-related matters.
 
I understand and agree that it certainly has its place. I would choose it everytime for high visibility vests on the side of roadways.

It has just surprised me at times that blue stands out in the woods, I would not have believed it would.

Bill
 
lmalterna said:
I understand and agree that it certainly has its place. I would choose it everytime for high visibility vests on the side of roadways.

It has just surprised me at times that blue stands out in the woods, I would not have believed it would.

Bill
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Just look at all the flowers that are some shade of blue. Its not an accident.
 
I HATE LOSING STUFF FROM SETTING IT DOWN!! I like to have all my stuff in vibrant colors when I can but lots of quality knives end up being all black, I use brightly colored rubber bands lol, I really want skm glow in the dark stuff too.
 
The blaze safety orange, yellow, chartreuse, etc are pretty commonly used - but think about it, usually in an urban setting. Someone is standing up against a background of concrete or old asphalt.

Get out in the woods, the natural background is completely different. Hunter orange is bright enough, but in the color shifted perception of a deer's vision, it comes off as a bright yellow. It actually blends better and if we are not moving or otherwise the wrong thing in the wrong place, it's low key. And deer use their sense of smell to a much higher degree. I've had them stop and just stare, nothing happens until 1) I move 2) they smell me, which is usually sooner. Face camo is what does it - they can't see a fat white face with eyes staring back, so they ponder about the new stump standing there.

So, hunter orange was chosen more so we could still see it without spooking the game much - Conservation Departments do actually depend on us as a predator and need our license sales, too. Grumpy hunters who won't use it wouldn't be much help, and the few more people who got shot would be a big problem, too. But, it doesn't mean that Orange is the most brilliant color out there. In the fall woodland palette, red, orange, and yellow are pretty common.

Glow in the dark - these days, that's something that is actually working pretty well. I tried it back twenty years ago, the paints available then needed hours to recharge and then lasted just a few hours. The best stuff I've run across lately is the paint for the hands of a Seiko dive watch, but it's hard to get. There are other sources now in polymer which is a lot more durable in the outdoors. Certainly something to think about. And, IIRC, Boxmart is selling paracord in glow in the dark right now. There's quite a bit of interest in using small amounts of it on gear to see it, especially looking into the average back pack or bug out bag where the makers cheaped out and didn't use hi viz liners. <--- which the pro grade stuff does. Zip it open and you can see everything.

Next time you are out in the woods in an area to be partially logged out, check the colors on the trunks.

National Paint Scheme for Timber-Related Activities


Work Item Primary Color Secondary Color Tertiary Color
Cut Trees Blue Yellow Green
Leave Trees Orange Pink White
Cancel Prior Work Black
Property Lines Red

So, Blue for cutting does fit in.
 
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As a construction surveyor I prefer flo-pink on all my hammers and spikes. Not only does it keep me from losing them, I rarely see a pilebuck with a pink hammer in their hands. Fortunately, because theyde break it.
Cheers!
 
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