Is the Axe outdated?

An axe is a versatile tool, and the right one can do a lot of wood shaping and carving. However, I have yet to see an axe that clears small saplings, scrub brush, brambles, and grasses as well as a machete will. An axe does better at dedicated chopping and splitting, but a machete can still do these things if necessary. That's where the advantage of a machete lies--maximizing versatility of targets and usage. Other tools do a better job for dedicated tasks. :)
 
All comes down to use and environment. For backpacking I've carried a kukri, pruning saw, machete, and hatchet, and currently carry a machete (mostly just for fun/difference and experimentation). Where I do most of my packing I have no need to clear lots of undergrowth, but do need to make the wood that's available into something that will burn - even when wet. Push comes to shove, a hatchet with good technique can do a lot more with a lot less energy if the wood you're dealing with is relatively hard. Consider, you have to work a lot harder pounding nails if you're using a light hammer. The same principle applies to a hatchet - way more energy delivered across a smaller area. Admittedly, choking up on a hatchet for smaller chores is not much fun, but it works - that's where a smaller knife comes in.

If you need one tool to clear dense brush, chop saplings/vines, do smaller camp chores, then the machete is King.

Sears didn't carry a machete.

An axe is still incredibly useful, especially if the dang chainsaw won't start.
 
I can split pretty well with this machete, but it's a bit of an odd duck. :D

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42B,

You're clearly biassed. Why not send me a sample Baryonyx? I'll give you all the unbiased feedback you could ask for :D


God bless,
Adam

Edit: In case the intended sarcasm is missed, the bias comment was sarcastic.
 
Sorry dude! Only have 2 left, and one's my personal one! The other's up for grabs though-on sale for the fall, even! :p

Seriously, though, it actually splits wood pretty darn well for machete-type chopper. Batons nicely too. I've been using it for all sorts of tasks around the farm ('cause I haven't had the time to get out in the woods lately) and it's done everything I could possibly ask of it. For the record, the pins on them have been replaced with hand-domed rivets. The small hole size in the tang was an error on the waterjet cutter's end, so I wanted to be able to rest easy about it holding together under hard use.
 
While I probably wouldn't take my axe or splitting maul with me while backpacking or backwoods camping, it's an absolute necessity for splitting firewood around the house or at our friend's cabin. It'll wear you out, especially with the 8lb maul, but I can process a big pile of wood a lot faster with my splitting maul than I ever could with a machete.
 
Of course--it's made for it! Dedicated tools used for their intended purpose will always trump general purpose tools. A full toolbox will easily best a multitool any day, for instance.
 
42B,

If I had the cash, I'd be all over it. :(


God bless,
Adam

PS: Would you consider a payment program? A dollar a month for the next 14 years?
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Of course--it's made for it! Dedicated tools used for their intended purpose will always trump general purpose tools. A full toolbox will easily best a multitool any day, for instance.
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I definitely wasn't bashing the machete! Yours is particularly nice looking and if I had the cash for a machete, I would add that to the collection. Problem is, I'd probably be getting stitches in my shin if anyone handed one to me. :D
 
Oh, I got what you were saying--I was more shuddering at the thought of splitting firewood for a wood stove using only a machete! :D :D :D
 
I, personally, would leave my knife at home before I left my axe if I was going to be spending a significant amount of time in the bush. The edge profile of my GB Wildlife Hatchet is as thin as my ESEE-4 on the cutting edge, and can handle any bushcraft task that my knife can. With it I can notch sticks, split wood, fell a tree, skin and butcher a deer, spark flint, hammer a nail, as well as whittle and carve. Is some of this easier with a knife? Sure. But my hatchet is more valuable to me than any of my knives are.

When it comes to the triumvirate of wilderness tools - axe, knife, saw - I find the axe to be the most difficult to master, but also the most versatile in skilled hands.

JGON

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ks-Wildlife-Hatchet-Review?highlight=jgon+axe

[youtube]dFpZJ2ICR5M[/youtube]
 
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The axe is the oldest known human tool in the world-it certainly isn't going by the wayside in our generation. I think civilization will fall if the axe disappears, as it was built on top of it. In fact I've grown incredibly more fond of them as of late and realize that bushcrafting with saws and machetes are fun, but when it comes down to business, a good axe will last longer, chop faster etc than any other substitute out there. As for the kukri being easier to lug around in the bush and blah blah, my 18 inch WWII weighs more than my Scandinavian Forest Axe.
 
Well I still carry one as a tool and a weapon. I know that there are not a lot of people that carry them as weapons, but does who do and have used them will tell you that they are excellent CQC weapons. I don’t think they are out dated at all.

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When you need to hammer a nail, do you use a hammer or a 2lb piece of pipe? Mebbe all the knife/machete/kukri guys should go out to the closest construction site and "help" all the framers see the light, put down their cumbersome energy intensive framing hammers and show them (with a Youtube vid) the proper way to baton nails into 2x4's?


'nuff said.
 
Tireur said:
When you need to hammer a nail, do you use a hammer or a 2lb piece of pipe? Mebbe all the knife/machete/kukri guys should go out to the closest construction site and "help" all the framers see the light, put down their cumbersome energy intensive framing hammers and show them (with a Youtube vid) the proper way to baton nails into 2x4's?


'nuff said.
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I sure will. There's a thing called a nail gun. Who swings a hammer anymore?

Nufff said.:p
 
People who want things to stay together... (I've yet to see a nail gun that can shoot a galvanized nail.) Or when you're climbing all over trusses and don't want to drag 80 ft. of air hose...

I have a 28 oz Rigging Axe my Grandpa gave me on my first day of work--still my favorite tool.

:p
 
Shotgun said:
I sure will. There's a thing called a nail gun. Who swings a hammer anymore?

Nufff said.:p
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I do. A full fleet of Estwings, each for it's own purpose. I have a "fleet" of sledges also from 1# through 24# and each does what it was designed to do. I also use an axe when I need an axe and a hatchet when I need a hatchet. Being an old fashioned guy, I reserve my knives for knife-like tasks. I have a machete but it sits in the shed most of the time. What it does, it does well. But I just don't have that many machete tasks to be done.
 
Codger_64 said:
I do. A full fleet of Estwings, each for it's own purpose. I have a "fleet" of sledges also from 1# through 24# and each does what it was designed to do. I also use an axe when I need an axe and a hatchet when I need a hatchet. Being an old fashioned guy, I reserve my knives for knife-like tasks. I have a machete but it sits in the shed most of the time. What it does, it does well. But I just don't have that many machete tasks to be done.
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Well stated. My thoughts exactly.
 
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