knive vs. hatchet

I carry and Estwing Sportsman's hatchet and a big knife (usually a KaBar USMC) on my pack, I would not ever want to have to go through a big log with a knife, it'd take forever. But the knife is very nice for cracking little things out of the way, vines, small branches, etc. The knife weighs a heck of a lot less than a machete (which would be the right tool for this job), and a hatchet is just not very good for hitting something that's flimsy and going to move when hit, like a vine will. On me (as opposed to on my pack) I carry a small knife (usually 3"-4" blade) for opening stuff, cutting food, etc. It's not really a question of what's better for me as much as it is a question of what's better for what task.
 
I have carried an estwing hatchett on my pack for years with a 4-6 inch blade on my belt for smaller stuff. I misplaced my hatchett and went shopping for a replacement and found the longer handled estwing hatchett/ax. It's the cat's ass. A perfect mixture of a smaller hatchett and full size axe. You can achieve great head speed with the longer handle and chop through some large wood with ease without the weight of a full size axe. Please check it out....
 
anewrnn said:
I have carried an estwing hatchett on my pack for years with a 4-6 inch blade on my belt for smaller stuff. I misplaced my hatchett and went shopping for a replacement and found the longer handled estwing hatchett/ax. It's the cat's ass. A perfect mixture of a smaller hatchett and full size axe. You can achieve great head speed with the longer handle and chop through some large wood with ease without the weight of a full size axe. Please check it out....
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Yeah it's good, I like my sportsman so much I went out and bought another to keep in my car. I went through some big old logs with it the first day I had it and I was impressed and it's light enough that it won't be annoying when strapped to your pack.
 
+1 I thought I was ordering an Estwing hatchet with the rubber handle. Turns out it was the 16" E44A Campers Axe. It's a hatchet on steroids, a short two handed axe. I figured since it was for the car trunk I'd keep it.
 
I like hatchets.:thumbup:

As I do not own any large chopping fixed blades, can't carry them legally even while camping/hiking. I can't compare chopping abilities between the two.

But my hatchet does more than chop/split. I have used the poll to pound sharpened limbs into the frozen ground for shelter frames, break through ice, etc.

It is one item I will never venture out into the woods without during our colder months.

My current favorite is a 10" Wetterlings. It replaced my trusty 30+ year old 13" True Temper BSA camp axe. Noticeably lighter and more compact, I just might carry it in the warmer months as well, instead of just using the saw on my SAK.:thumbup:

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Hatchets are cool But I have yet to find one that could keep up with my outcast, if I need more cutting power a chainsaw or full size axe is my next step up.
 
I like the Wetterlings with the regular length handle better than the shorty. It weighs little more and still fits in a pack. For me, the longer handle offers more chopping power and versatility. However, as noted above, it's a matter of personal preference.

DancesWithKnives
 
KarlMaldensNose said:
Know where to get them online (or in store) in Canada?
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Hey Karl, How's things in T.O.

Paul at Workwear Canada can fix you up with a Wetterlings and I believe Lee Valley carries Grunsfors. (both companies under same ownership)

As already stated it really is personal choice when it comes to hatchet or knife, or both.

Like you I never considered using a knife in place of a hatchet until a few years ago when I was watching my kids trying to cut up kindling with a hatchet and visions of a severed thumb kept popping into my head.

Now we baton pretty much exclusively around the campfire, using either a Fallkniven A2 or BRKT Bravo 2 as our primary choices. We also have used the RAT RC4, Fallkniven F1, and Bark River Gunny for batoning with good success. Keep in mind you can also baton a hatchet if you want.

I also have both a small Grunsfors and the BRKT Camp axe. I haven't had an opportunity to use the BRKT camp axe much yet, but a very preliminary assessment would suggest it is very capable. It is less bulky than a wetterlings or Gransfors, but the slimmer head does mean a bit less wedge effect.

I think my personal choice for hiking would be a good quality medium length knife. Not too large to keep weight down and not overly cumbersome and in the way, and also usable as a kitchen tool. But also large enough for light chopping and batoning. Just my opinion.

I don't have a photo of the two togther, but my Wetterlings and BRKT are fairly similar in size.

BRKT-CampAxe-2.jpg


WetterlingsAxe-1.jpg


Kevin
 
The Government said:
Axes and hatchets can be batoned and achieve the "safety factor" that large knives claim. By the time you baton the axe so that the axe is even with the surface of the wood, the wood should probably be spit. If it is not yet split you can place a piece of wood on top of your axe head (that is the same thickness as the axe) and drive that piece of wood through the log with your baton. This drives the axe through the wood until it splits. Of course, you could just take the axe out at that point and use only the wood wedge to split the wood.

You can also lay your wood down on the ground and split with the grain -this way you don't have to balance the wood upright.

Finally, if you have a saw and your wood is not full of knots or twists in the grain, you can split wood with an axe much more efficiently than any batoning technique using the "traditional wood splitting technique." The Roselli axe is particularly good at this because of how thick its bevel is. It can split wood in one chop easily -the wood just pops apart.

The primary deciding factors between the "knife and axe dilemma" are weather, terrain, and weight IMHO.

Just like you said, a SAK is what sees the most action. That or a small fixed blade.
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tapedeck74 said:
The Fiskars hatchet that I bought on sale at CT for $11 out chops/splits my $300 Busse ASHI by a wide margin.
I take the Busse camping in the summer because it's fun. :)
I take the Fiskars and a RAT3 camping in the winter because I'm trying to stay alive.
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fudo said:
I travel with an inexpensive hatchet, medium FB, and a SAK.
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If a medium knife and an axe was good enough for Kephart and Nessmuk, they are good enough for me. I think that everyone should spend a month in the forests of British Columbia before deciding between a large knife or an axe.
 
Only you can decide what works best for you. I would recommend buying affordable versions of whatever types of tools you want to try and then if you decide for instance that a 10" blade is what you prefer the most then sell or keep the cheap one and invest in a better one. I've never really "needed" a hatchet but wanted one for canoeing or longer wilderness stays. Originally I set my budget at $60. After being disappointed with a Wetterlings, I pieced together this 19" axe from ebay. It's a $3 ardex head, $5 hickory handle and some homemade kydex. Shipping included, the whole deal was under $20.
DSC_0671.jpg
 
hoopster said:
Only you can decide what works best for you. I would recommend buying affordable versions of whatever types of tools you want to try and then if you decide for instance that a 10" blade is what you prefer the most then sell or keep the cheap one and invest in a better one. I've never really "needed" a hatchet but wanted one for canoeing or longer wilderness stays. Originally I set my budget at $60. After being disappointed with a Wetterlings, I pieced together this 19" axe from ebay. It's a $3 ardex head, $5 hickory handle and some homemade kydex. Shipping included, the whole deal was under $20.
DSC_0671.jpg
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If you don't mind me asking, hoopster, did you get that handle online? I have a nice head that I need to hang, and that one looks like a good size.
 
dawsonbob said:
If you don't mind me asking, hoopster, did you get that handle online? I have a nice head that I need to hang, and that one looks like a good size.
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I found it on ebay. Search axe handles and hatchet handles. It's a 19" piece. I really wanted something in the 22-24" range but couldn't find anything at the time so it was either 20" and below or 26" and up. Good luck. BTW it's probably a 1 3/4lb. head because the whole thing sheath and all weighs 2lbs, 2oz.
 
Thanks, hoopster. I have an old 2lb head that I've cleaned up, and it's just crying for a new handle.
 
Exactly the kind of responses I was hoping for. Thanks so much!

However badly I want to splurge and run around like a mad man in the woods like Paul Bunyon with a Battle Mistress, I think I'm going the axe/hatchet and medium knife route (although I still just might pick up a BK-7 or -9, on top of the hatchet, to test those waters at a reasonable price, like hoopster suggested). Like I said, I already invested in the Scrapper, so I have to put that to work. And I really like the looks of the Wetterlings Wildlife Axe (found it at Workwear, thanks Canucks) and the Bark River Camp Axe. Both are 13" and approx. 0.60 kg. The Wetterlings is obviously the better value at almost half the price of the BRKT, plus it is available in Canada, whereas the BRKT would have to come from KSF in the U.S. (which is excellent however for Can. orders). But I think the synthetic handle option (I'm very rough and careless with my hatchet) on the BRKT and its slightly more compact profile are swaying me toward it. Plus I have also received a few PMs warning me about Wetterlings' QC, something which my research on it also seemed to bear out. But hey, nothing is perfect, right?

I appreciate everyone's input. Much has been clarified. See y'all in the woods!:)
 
KarlMaldensNose said:
Exactly the kind of responses I was hoping for. Thanks so much!

However badly I want to splurge and run around like a mad man in the woods like Paul Bunyon with a Battle Mistress, I think I'm going the axe/hatchet and medium knife route (although I still just might pick up a BK-7 or -9, on top of the hatchet, to test those waters at a reasonable price, like hoopster suggested). Like I said, I already invested in the Scrapper, so I have to put that to work. And I really like the looks of the Wetterlings Wildlife Axe (found it at Workwear, thanks Canucks) and the Bark River Camp Axe. Both are 13" and approx. 0.60 kg. The Wetterlings is obviously the better value at almost half the price of the BRKT, plus it is available in Canada, whereas the BRKT would have to come from KSF in the U.S. (which is excellent however for Can. orders). But I think the synthetic handle option (I'm very rough and careless with my hatchet) on the BRKT and its slightly more compact profile are swaying me toward it. Plus I have also received a few PMs warning me about Wetterlings' QC, something which my research on it also seemed to bear out. But hey, nothing is perfect, right?

I appreciate everyone's input. Much has been clarified. See y'all in the woods!:)
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You can't go wrong with a BK-9 in any event.
 
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