The Never Ending Axe Chopper Debate

Raymond1000 said:
Salamander said

Years ago I bought a new hatchet. The information pack that came with it didn't use teh word "batton" but it did caution me to never put the blade to the wood and pound on the back. They said that could deform the hatchet's eye. Makes sense to me.
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As long as you use another chunk of wood it won't hurt your hatchet. Chris
 
IN MY OPINION... a large knife is better for a back country fire. I am an absolute lover of tomahawks/axes. I have tomahawks in a range of sizes and I just had a GB Scandinavian Forest Axe delivered today just in case I appear biased. I want to see a chop off between someone with a hatchet and someone splitting with knife/baton through arm sized wood. I carry a large knife in the back country because splitting with my Steel Heart or Battle Mistress and a baton is as about as fast as a hatchet but FAR safer. You do not get glancing blows splitting by baton method in wood of this size where a tomahawk/hatchet needs speed to split wood.

Speed = chance of glancing and injuring yourself or the tool. It also equals flying wood splinters at times in my experience. Maybe I just suck with a 'hawk LOL. (no comments from the peanut gallery)

For a camp site, an axe wins hands down.

Edited to add: On batoning a hatchet....Yes, you can but since you don't have a length of the edge sticking out beyond the wood being cut you can only baton until the head is sunk all the way in. A LOT of times that's not deep enough, especially if there are nots. Sorry for the rant... need to read starting posts better.
 
Evolute said:
For my outdoor pursuits, I prefer a knife to an axe. A knife has a broader scope of use than an axe, and a knife can easily be made to perform as an axe, if necessary:
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I'm not disagreeing with you, but I just wanted to add that the inverse of the last part of that statement is also true. . . An axe (or more realistically a hatchet) can easily perform as a knife. I've used my Fiskars hatchet almost exclusively on my last couple of outings, for chopping wood as well as my other small cutting tasks around camp such as making shavings to get the fire going, opening food packages and cutting cord. I wouldn't want to use it to clean a fish or small game, but I've found it to be quite a versatile tool.
 
I'm stuck smack between the two right now myself. I've been enjoying my 18" HI AK Khuk as my ultimate end all, be all do it all chopper. Same stuff as already listed chopping, clearing camp spots, draw knife, shovel, solar cooker, yada, yada. It really is pretty awesome.

lately though, as my a$$ has gotten fatter, and my back weaker, I've been developing a true appreciation for my CS Norse Hawk. It's a helluva lot easier (lighter!) to carry, chops real damn well, and...well...that's what I mostly do with the big knives anyways.

For just impulsively grabbing something and jumping into my truck I still haven't found anything better than my BK#5 or a Leuku though.
 
Having a little of everything is best. I have to confess to having a preference for a 'hawk/hatchet and a small knife to go out primitive style. I have cut down and limbed out several 8" diameter maples in my yard with my Battle Mistress and it was surprisingly easy so I know I can get a lot done with the big knife. I think learning about different ways of using all these tools and experimenting to find your personal preference is the best. So go play more, report back and bring lots of pics :D ... sounds like the machete is winning out for now.
 
I like using both depending on what I am doing, how far I am going on foot/vehical and the environment I am in. There is a use for both!!
 
Machete or large chopper for me.

I always have both. In my car there is a estwing camp ax and a machete.
 
Raymond1000 said:
Salamander said

"You can by all means batton a hatchet for more controlled splits."

Years ago I bought a new hatchet. The information pack that came with it didn't use teh word "batton" but it did caution me to never put the blade to the wood and pound on the back. They said that could deform the hatchet's eye. Makes sense to me.
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runningboar said:
As long as you use another chunk of wood it won't hurt your hatchet. Chris
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It also depends on the hatchet. I can see how hitting the back of some hatchets might deform the eye, even if using a piece of wood, but it's definitely not an issue with the Fiskars. . . One more reason to love 'em
 
Salamander42 said:
It also depends on the hatchet. I can see how hitting the back of some hatchets might deform the eye, even if using a piece of wood, but it's definitely not an issue with the Fiskars. . . One more reason to love 'em
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It is user preference really. I for one think that a hatchet would be better for chopping since it's made for it. I never had the money for the big time knives of today, all I ever had was a hatchet and SAK. Although, it's nice to know that a knife can do it too if it's an emergency or my hatchet broke.

I too have baton with my fiskars hatchet and I don't have problems to report. Just lay the wood down on its side and work your way down the center to split. I have done this many times when I have a stubborn piece of wood that doesn't want to split.

I have also used a machete to split wood for the fire. I'm not very familiar with it but it works. It does have a tendency to chew up the baton alot though.

Rescue Riley :The search function does have some issues for me too sometimes. Other days it works, others it doesn't.
 
This debate will always be a matter of personal preferences. Me, I like anything that cuts. :D I love using an axe/hatchet and it is better in some situations then a large knife. If I'm wanting to pack/travel light, I prefer to have a big blade and a saw.
Scott
 
skammer said:
This topic is so done. Search function guys.

Skam
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But there's still enough interest to generate 2 pages worth of comments. ;) It may have been better to add on to an existing thread, but as Riley said:

RescueRiley said:
I can rarely get the search function to work.
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I do have a solution to that too though. If you go to Google and type in the word or phrase you want to search for followed by "site:bladeforums.com" you can search bladeforums (or whatever other domain you want to search) with Google and bypass the sketchy bladeforums.com search engine. Googling "axe vs hatchet site:bladeforums.com" returned the following:

http://www.google.com/search?as_q=axe+vs+hatchet&hl=en&num=10&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=bladeforums.com&as_rights=&safe=off

There always seems to be a ton of information in archives whenever I search for something this way.

Hope this helps some folks out. It would probably be nice to add that trick to a sticky post or to the FAQ or something.
 
GEC said:
Thank you! You are the man! I'll try this out more often.
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No problem. I can't remember who it was that I picked that up from. It was someone on bladeforums, but I don't remember who. the google search does have some limitations too, but it's pretty good if you're just looking for info and not worried weather it's in an active thread or in the archives.
 
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