Used the 3 day weekend to chop down a couple of hackberry trees on the back lot. I did not really intend to use any of my Khuks as a ax, but I was inspired by the chopping prowess of the folks on this forum. I had picked up a 15' AK blem as a "user" or a "do it all" camp knife, so I pulled it out to go head to head with my old Rifleman's hawk from Cold Steel. Let me start by saying that I really like this hachet. It is big, heavy, and has a long enough handle for a 2 handed grip, if needed. I have used it quite a bit, and am a novice at wood chopping with the AK. my tets was somewhat unscientific, I gave the slightly smaller tree to the hawk, I would use 4 strokes, then switch to the other tree/blade and do 4 strokes. Made a couple of observations. First couple of chops, the hawk cut deeper, but then the AK caught up due to 2 factors. First, a full swing with the hawk did not seem as accurate as the khuk. I easily put the khuk right where I wanted it, but had to take a little off the swing with the hawk if I wanted precision. The second factor was that the hawk's rough surface held a LOT of sap that reduced penetration, the mirror finish on the Khuk seemed to allow the depth of cut to stay the same, even with the sap on the blade.
My final discovery was one of technique. By changing my wrist angle slightly, I could cut nearly 270 degrees around the trunk with the curved blade, without changing my foot position. This was important as the notch got deep. Both trees were alongside an old fence, and it was difficult to change my position to get the best angle with the hawk, but I could point the wrist down to cut past the notch, or back to cut in front of it, when using the AK.
I had expected to come back and say "Ok, how do you guys cut down a tree with these knives?" but actually, the tree went down fast and easy, the AK actually out performing the Rifleman's Tomahawk in both number of cuts and effort expended. However, further testing revealed the hawk to be much superior at driving nails and fence posts! (it has a hammerhead on the back, for those who have never seen one). End result, I still love the big tomahawk, but the 15" AK is now high on my recommended list as well.
My final discovery was one of technique. By changing my wrist angle slightly, I could cut nearly 270 degrees around the trunk with the curved blade, without changing my foot position. This was important as the notch got deep. Both trees were alongside an old fence, and it was difficult to change my position to get the best angle with the hawk, but I could point the wrist down to cut past the notch, or back to cut in front of it, when using the AK.
I had expected to come back and say "Ok, how do you guys cut down a tree with these knives?" but actually, the tree went down fast and easy, the AK actually out performing the Rifleman's Tomahawk in both number of cuts and effort expended. However, further testing revealed the hawk to be much superior at driving nails and fence posts! (it has a hammerhead on the back, for those who have never seen one). End result, I still love the big tomahawk, but the 15" AK is now high on my recommended list as well.
