Should I swap out the big blade for a hatchet?

It depends what I am doing, I find folding saws and a medium size knife to be more useful usually than a really big knife and a little one most of the time. I also have not ever owned a quality hatchet, but compared to the ones I have owned I would prefer a large knife to them personally.
 
I think it really comes down to what you have it for. are you clearing brush for hiking? lopping small limbs for shelter? self defense? machete or large knife will probably do best. if you are mostly using it for larger branches, processing wood for fire then a hatchet. if you are trying to clear branches and brush to clear a path, it is probably easier, less energy and safer to just walk around it for find another way then to hack through it.

you'll also need to consider weight between the too if you are having to hike long distance with it.

I'm a large knife, chopper, machete guy. I have several in different weights and lengths and use them more then any axe or hatchet. while I'll almost always pick the large chopper knife for camping or mucking around in the woods I did choose a hatchet for my get out of dodge bag as I felt it would process larger pieces of wood for fire, expending less energy then a larger knife or machete. another bonus is the ability to hammer with the butt more effectively then any part of a knife or rock

so I put a medium sized CPM3V knife for durability and a hatchet for wood processing. and a light weight saw for bigger stuff
 
It's a right tool for the right job kind of thing. While I have a hatchet, machete, and several monster knives, I'm more likely to favour a heavy backed machete or slightly longer handled forest axe if I'm planning to use an axe for more than just in case, but use the full-sized long handled ones around the homestead or a fixed camp. Hatchets are fine for delimbing and woodcrafting (something I'm generally going to use a knife for), but I think they're less than ideal compared to a forest axe, which gives you something much more effective without having to go full axe in the pack.

If I'm planning to do a lot of cutting logs I'm also bringing one of my Silky Saws.

 
I'd vote for hatchet over a big 8-9+ inch fixed blade for a urban get home type bag. Having a hammer face opposite the hatchet side might come in handy too. The big downside is the weight. The BK9 is a little over 1 lb, an Estwing Camping hatchet is 2 lbs 12 oz (just an example).

One item you might want to consider for a get home bag is a folding saw. I use a Corona from Lowes/HD. Laplander and Bahco are two other well-known names. My Corona pruning saw only weighs a few ounces. Also great for camping/hiking.
 
Zulus said:
Depends where you will walk with that stuff ?
Walk or drive 4 ton truck ?
And what's reason ?
:^)
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Oh, this won’t really be part of the usual EDC. More on for planned trips or assembling emergency kits. I can’t really walk around with a hatchet and not have people freak out. 😅
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I'll let you know, soon......

I'm a Big knife kind of guy, but I've been asking myself these same questions?
I scored a full tang hatchet made by Parks. Looks to be about perfect, it's smaller than I'm used to, but I hear Rave reviews.....
I should be getting it this week, and I have tons of stuff to chop up!
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Looking forward to it, man. If you open a new thread, please do update us hehe. I’m not much of an axeman myself, so it’s nice to learn from others.
 
Blackfish775 said:
unless you're cutting through tall grass/bushes
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Yeah , this ^^^ !

To cut some stuff efficiently , you need velocity enough that it can't bend / flex out of the way . A thinner blade is better also .

"Grass" type machete or similar is best .

Cold Steel Thai Machete works well for me because can use two hands .

Works pretty good as a cheap sword , too .

 
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DangerZone98 said:
Oh, this won’t really be part of the usual EDC. More on for planned trips or assembling emergency kits. I can’t really walk around with a hatchet and not have people freak out. 😅
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I also like the CS Trailhawk, it is light, super easy to rehandle, can hammer with it..
 
Another tool I love is a sandvik (a lot of people call them brush or clearing axes). I often refer to it as a Viking machete, but I don't think I got that to catch on...

It's a light axe handle, with a metal "C" bar and a blade across the open part. It's always been my favourite go-to tool for clearing brush and small trees since I was a kid.

 
The Grendels said:
Another tool I love is a sandvik (a lot of people call them brush or clearing axes). I often refer to it as a Viking machete, but I don't think I got that to catch on...

It's a light axe handle, with a metal "C" bar and a blade across the open part. It's always been my favourite go-to tool for clearing brush and small trees since I was a kid.

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Sandvik is actually the name of a tool? I thought it was just a steel hehe. I've got 12C27 and 14C28N.
 
I would actually use the big knife in the woods (unless I go by car and can bring an axe for a bigger type camping) and have a small hatchet in an emergency kit.

The hatchet will be a more versatile tool and less prone to damage and less dangerous if you need it to do things that a knife should not do, like wedging, prying, hammering...
 
I also agree depends on situation. A saw and good stout 4-5 fixed blade will handle kindling and be lighter. Summer time I’m a machete and knife guy. Winter it’s usually a saw and knife and axe/hatchet for wood and shelters. Even my Swiss Army knife saw handles kindling size wood fine and usually carry one when in woods. I don’t baton logs. But do baton small or small sections at a time so never abusing blade.
 
For camping, sure - try an axe/hatchet.

Urban get-home bag…
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Really having either tool in either situation is great if the specific tool in question is sound.
 
Environment. Northern boreal forest, I'm carrying a small knife and hatchet. Semi-tropical eucalypt rain forest, its small knife and machete, or small knife and saw.

To me its about what am I applying the cutting force to. The hatchet is always a compromise for an ax, and the big knife is a compromise for a machete. If the material I'm cutting soft and flexible, then it's all about sharpness, speed and wide cutting edge. Is it hard, not moving and accuracy requiring, then a hatchet/ax. Then its also about species, we have some stuff here like ironbark that laughs at saws and axes, hell even abrasive cutting wheels! But we also have smooshy wet palm and low density woods that a machete is almost as effective against as a good felling ax.
So for me, its looking at the compromise I'm going to make, and what is going to get closest to the ideal. Where I'm at, I won't be batoning because most eucalypt species drop fully dry dead limbs often, so the ground litter is everything from matchsticks to broom handles, or its full rainforest or open plain. So for straight fire-lighting no issues. Clearing trail, I sure don't want a hatchet. And having cleared trail in more northern climates where hazel brush and willow are common, I don't know I want a hatchet there either. If the machete doesn't do it, I think a hatchet is just tempting you to make poor energy spending choices.
So far not much talk of big knives, I'm not sure where they fall in to be honest. They don't make good machetes, they don't make good hatchets, and even if I'm batoning, its not going to be timber bigger than what an ESEE RC-3 can take. Just not something I want to be doing. I'm not froeing shingles. I get why someone would want a one-do-all, but I've yet to make that work out for me, and if 20 year old me couldn't make it work.... older me has less energy. But as I said I think its very environmentally dependant.
 
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