Honest question- what is the use case for a half pound hatchet? I'm trying to think about many cases where it would not be better to have a good heavy knife.
Seems like a silly question to ask on an axe sub forum. The honest answer is preference combined with I enjoy Backpacking in the Appalachian Mountains. The first photo above was taken near the Priest shelter about 200' below the summit. Obviously it was effective for it's uses on that trip. Weight starts to matter in situations like that and the choices are big knife which I never found to be enjoyable to use, saw which I sometimes use but don't enjoy using, or nothing which is sometimes an option I go for. Being a short trip that I was doing for fun, I took my hatchet. In order to out chop my little hatchet a knife would probably have to weigh more, and would exert more stress on ones wrists in use, neither is appealing when Backpacking and using a trekking pole to aid in ascending and descending on the trail.