Machete vs. hatchet

B

bladefoolish

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Mar 26, 2004
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Okay, you're out for a weekend outing. The decision to carry a medium sized fixed blade (4"-6" blade) and a folder is a no-brainer, but . . . assuming space/weight limitations, would you take a machete or a hatchet? Why?

I've always been a hatchet guy, but hey, you machete fans can try to change my mind.
 
I'm with you, bladefoolish. I carry a hatchet just because it works better here in the Rockies. A machete would be useful for clearing brush, but we don't haver a lot of that here. The hatchet does things that a machete won't, e.g driving tent pegs.
 
I'd take a heavy machete pattern. If I need to drive pegs I'll fashion a wooden mallet using the machete. Or use a rock. But that's just me.

I find that there are few things one can't do with a machete once you get good with one. It's all about matching the pattern with your region, however.
 
Ienjoy using boyj but in our area the hachet would serve me best. slitting wood would be the main use here.
 
Machete in jungle. Hatchet everywhere else. I have never carried a machete on a camping trip. Only carried a hatchet a few time. The rest carried an axe.
 
Something like the Martindale Golok machete or Condor Bolo machete for me. Thick enough for chopping wood if needed. But I wouldn't be sad if I had a nice Gransfors Brux instead. :D
 
bladefoolish said:
Okay, you're out for a weekend outing. The decision to carry a medium sized fixed blade (4"-6" blade) and a folder is a no-brainer,
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Not necessarily. I find I have no use for a knife with 4-6 inch blade. A SAK and a tomahawk/hatchet is what I need.
 
It really depends on Terrain. But just in general I would take a Machete. Simply because they are lighter for me to swing, and I can have more fun with a machete then I can with a hatchet.
 
Assuming strict weight limitations for a weekend I'd happily quit at the 4-6” job. Almost certainly nearer the 4 than the 6 too. Unless it is a themed weekend the rest of my kit makes anything bigger completely redundant.

If it is a themed weekend I'll go machete first, specifically a golok, in most instances. There's several good reasons for that but head and shoulders above all of them is that I think cross grain chopping with anything is a mug's game. I have never found that adding more mass to a chopping tool changes the truth of that so there's little point in me switching to an ax or hatchet there. I just don't do it and I use a saw instead.

On winter themed weekends a hatchet or ax does come into its own for paring down grim wood to get at the useful stuff, but that's always with the grain not across it. I'm at the point at which I consider cross grain chopping a sport all on its own with little bearing on anything outside itself, and that sport usually goes by the uneasy and maladroit term “testing”. On a themed weekend I usually find the versatility of the golok just right, and weight for weight much more useful than a little panel-pin hatchet, and less than half the weight of the big winter lumps. I have mixed woodland here both hard and soft and that changes nothing. Only the weather of winter and whether or not I want to deliberately force myself to use only certain types of kit by imposing a handicapping theme can do that.
 
Shotgun said:
Not necessarily. I find I have no use for a knife with 4-6 inch blade. A SAK and a tomahawk/hatchet is what I need.
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I played around with a hawk a couple of times, but for chopping a prefer the heavier weight of a hatchet -- in my case, an ancient Plumb. And while I usually have a SAK around somewhere, I like a nice heavy folder along with a stockman.

If weight were more of a factor in most of my trips (mostly camping rather than backpacking) I might make other choices. I've got a Bark River mini-axe I've never really used, might choose.
 
machete is a little safer - less likely to glance. so if i were hours or days from medical care and alone, probably go with the machete.

the word machete covers a wide spectrum - from a 1/4" thick golok with a distal taper to an Ontario machete. Never felt that my Valiant golok was outclassed in the woods by a hatchet - so I personally don't see it so much as a jungle vs northwoods question.

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Shotgun said:
A SAK and a tomahawk/hatchet is what I need.
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There isn't too much you can't get done with a small hatchet and a Vic Farmer. :thumbup: I used to carry this combo, but recently I picked up a hatchet with a little more chopping power.

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I still pair it up with the Farmer though. :)

Jeff
 
Yeah, the machete can vary in size quite a bit. I have several to choose from, 18" Lite Machete, 16" CS bolo, 12" Ontario cutlass, or 10" Bark River Golok.
Lots of folks assume machetes are only for the jungle, that depends on the style.
Which one would depend on the environment for that weekend. I have also taken a hatchet with me on many many backpacking trips. It worked, but I'd rather have the longer reach, and lightness of my Golok, Junglas, or Ontario cutlass. I don't need the reach to clear trails, but for fire wood, shelter, personal defense.
As one can see, man can adapt. Take the tools that will do what you need/want. Be safe and smart about it.
 
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jds1 said:
There isn't too much you can't get done with a small hatchet and a Vic Farmer. :thumbup: I used to carry this combo, but recently I picked up a hatchet with a little more chopping power.

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Jeff
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I've been known to carry that same setup.:D Right now I'm messing with a trail hawk and so far I like it.
 
Depends where you are!

In the North American woods, a hatchet for sure. In the tropical jungle, the machete for sure. If you are somewhere in between....it is a personal call based on the local conditions: I ride dirt bikes in the southwest desert, and in those conditions pretty much either one is just useless dead weight. But, high up in the Sierra forests I want a hatchet.
 
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Bark River Golok - I'm usually in chaparral to pine woods. The Golok does much better with chaparral brush than a hatchet, and as well in the pine woods. It only gets out-classed when the situation involves chopping larger logs - and then it's an axe that's needed.
 
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