survival knife or hatchet?

Joined
Mar 30, 2011
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7
instead of a large survival knife suck as a kabar usmc or cold steel srk i prefer to carry a small fixed blade such as the esee izula and a med size hatchet. whats your opinion on this?:jerkit:
 
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this ;)
 
Heck yeah!

I was always taught that a knife is a cutting tool. If you need to chop, use the right tool. I'm always amused a bit by these posts, where some Y-tube yo-yo is batoning a large knife, and it breaks. Knives are not choppers or wood splitters, their knives. Tempered a whole different way to different specs. Just because you can get away with it for a while, don't make it right.

There was a reason that back in the old days they packaged up a sheath knife and a small hatchet in one piggy back rig.

Carl.
 
I consider those to be tools. Survival based on the unexplained, leaving me alone with no gear no food no water, but the knife that i carry on my belt or boot. THAT survival knife will be able to chop, cut and whittle. And that 550 cord wrapped around the handle is not a decoration. We all pack survival gear, but the knife is always carried on your person. IMHO
 
I have carried a hatchet alot and in the end I always go back to a pocket saw like a silky and during elk season a bigger saw like a Wyoming saw for elk skull plates . A saw is a much more effiecient cutting tool than chopping . A hatchet is heavy and a saw is light and more effective.
 
Yup,

Put down the hatchet and go with a folding saw.
Good combo is BK2+silky/bacho/gerber folding saw+ LM/SAK multitool.

Saw saves lots of energy when it comes to cutting down thicker branches. BK2 will take care of thinner branches.
Carrying hatchet will take significantly more energy then carrying a saw.
 
After many years and dollars spent this is what I've found works best for me. I use my GB mini both as a hatchet and in the role of a fixed blade. It's convexed edge is thin enough to do just about anything that I don't want to risk my folder on. The saw does most of the work (processing larger pieces of fire wood).

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Because I am in the deep south, I find that a machete works in place of an axe, because the terrain can be so overgrown so as to be impassable. Otherwise, I agree. A smaller knife coupled with one of larger mass works for me.
Ideally I will also carry a light folding saw (bahco) because they save me a ton of energy, but if I didn't have one no biggie.
 
+1 for putting down the hatchet for a saw/ knife combo

i totally liked to handle hatchets as a boy scout. so i got a gb some time ago. never used it though - don't see why. my silky super accel does the job as fast with less effort and is way less weight.
i don't know what's the problem with using knives for chopping.
i wouldn't shy away using my brand spanking new junglas for some woodwork if i had to - i don't go out anymore to build a fort (i guess that's when the gb would see some light again ;)) and of course no one in their right mind uses knives for splitting frozen stock (except for entertainment purposes and clicks...) so what's the harm?
 
Use what you are most comfortable and proficient with. I like a small knife and big knife, but there is nothing wrong with a knife and hatchet.
 
When you know you're going to be processing wood, then an axe, hatchet or saw is clearly the way to go. The specific tool is chosen by the size of the task or by weight limitations if you're humping the stuff a ways. A knife needs to be able to process wood to some degree when it is a survival knife, carried when there is some chance that a survival scenario could occur. Otherwise, the knife(s) needs to match the intended task, such as food prep. Knife or hatchet should never be the only choice.
 
I ues a hatchet too.

I've got a couple of big knifes, but a 3-4" knife, a GB Wildlife hatchet and a folding saw really can't be beaten for power to weight and general size in British woodland.

I tend to have a foder of some kind on me at all times too.
 
Both. Tools are like golf clubs, you need a set. Use the ones that are appropriate for the job or the trip.
 
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