replacing my hawk/hatchet, suggestions?

[Runs With Scissors]

I recently gave my father my Fiskars hatchet to throw in his airplane, (If I hadn't he'd have gotten something immeasurably crappy) And last night I pitched myPOS Vietnam hawk clone in the garbage. (speaking of immeasurably crappy...) I'm out of hatchets or hawks, none. nada. zilch. Now I must rectify this issue, and would prefer to buy something worth having this time around. Here's what's been rattling in my head:

As I've gotten older I've gotten lazier. everything I carry hiking these days weighs ten times more at the end of a trip than it does at the beginning. so, weight is nice to avoid. That being said, if I NEED a hatchet in the woods, I'm likely to need it badly. It'll most likely mean my canoes capsized, someone has become hypothermic or darn near it, and there aint time to screw around, so...cutting efficiency is an even higher priority. I'm also not really interested in spikes and such on it.

I've been considering these:

GB Mini
GB Wildlife hatchet
BM Rainier Scout
Roselli hand axe
K5 hawk

GB mini seems the lightest, and easiest to live with, friggin' hard to swallow paying around $100 for, but it's got a good reputation, and it's of a size that I know will be on me, not buried in a backpack when I need it.

GB Wildlife hatchet Same awesome reputation as the mini, but it seems that it would have a little more power to it ie: gettin' a fire or shelter made quicker. harder to live with day to day though, not sure how much...

BM Rainier Scout- looks great, I'l admit, I'm a sucker for looks, and I like the idea of being able to improvise a handle for it if need be. definitely heavier, but not sure that's a bad thing. I am a little dubious cause I've had such poor luck with hawks before (one was an ATC Vietnam Hawk) This one appears to have an edge profile that would do really well for camping and such though.

Roselli Hand axe....Gawd that things homely. Know I'd wind up thinning the edges down fairly quickly, but I do like the thick appearance of the handle, and the idea of being able to choke up on it like an inupiat style Ulu.

K5- awesome reputation, expensive as heck, but the modern handle material is nice...sorta...make me feel better out in the woods, even though the nostalgic side of me does tend to prefer wood handles, the pragmatic side of me knows better than to screw around with these matters.

your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[harpers ferry]

if you don't mind.. what was wrong with your other hawk?

 

[harpers ferry]

if you don't mind ...what was the problem with your other hawk?

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I'm really quite embarassed to admit it...

it was a Smith & Wesson "Throwing Hawk" the hole for the handle was way too narrow, I broke every handle I ever put on it within a couple minutes, finally, after the third handle broke, I threw it away last night.

 

[harpers ferry]

wait a minute... Throwing hawks and tactical hawks can be a whole different ball game here. Dig that hawk head out of the garbage b/c it can probably be salvaged and made right.

 

[JW]

I would drop the mini from the list first. They are cute little things but not big enough if you might have a crisis. The GB wildlife hatchet is a beautiful small hatchet and much more capable. IMO overall best compromise of size and ability and you can still choke up for finer work.
I've not handled the pugly axe-thing but I like Heimo Roselli's knives and would certainly consider the longer handled one.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

wait a minute... Throwing hawks and tactical hawks can be a whole different ball game here. Dig that hawk head out of the garbage b/c it can probably be salvaged and made right.

If you wanna pay the shipping, it's yours.

 

[hatchetjack]

I've used a Fort Turner Camp Hawk with good results around the camp. It's no too heavy and handles light to medium chopping and is under 50 bucks. Might be worth a consider.