Under 1 lbs trekking hatchet

T

TLM

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Jan 11, 2000
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The beatifull picture of the rail road spike hawk brought this guestion. How light a hatchet is practical, all the ones I own are about 2 lbs. Has anyone experience using the very light weight hawks? How light can one still use?

This would be for continually moving not stationary camping.

TLM
 
The Gransfors Bruks Mini is like less than a pound I think, and I have a Reeves that is about a pound and an ounce. I think both cut well for the weight. I don't think I'd want to carry anything more than a pound and a half if I was backpacking and walking 6 to 10 miles in a day.
 
A Fiskars 14" hatchet weighs about 18.5 oz. according to my postal scale. It is quite practical, too.
 
The fiskars / Gerber back Paxe is smallest & lightest of the gerber / fiskars
line of hatchets. It measures 8 7/8" in straight line from head to shaft tip.
The advertised measurement is diagonal from upper tip of head to lower tip
of shaft: 9 7/8". Weight of hatchet in stock cordura sheath is 20.4oz
measured on Starfrit digital scale +-.01oz

Comments on the Paxe. Unfortunately it is very poorly executed. The extremely
short and drop curved handle make for a very inefficient swing.
Add to that the centre of balance is brutually top heavy AND the head is
set at aprox 20deg drop-angle (similar to khukuris). To make matters
worse, the head is completely designed for larger splitting applications.
The angle is too blunt and severe for the length. The end result is a
hatchet that is very awkward to swing, has very little penetration, and
a terrible tendancy to snap the wrist just begging to lurch out of your hand.

The head design is really only effective in the 20" handle version, and for
the weight penalty in that handle length you could carry several options
from himalayan imports (khukuris), gransfors, and several light tomahawks
that will each whip the gerber in performance, comfort and multi-utility.

For a serious lightweight hiking hatchet I would highly recommend the
gransfors bruks mini hatchet. weighing in 11-13oz range. Pure performance,
highest craftsmanship, no other frills. Too heavy for most ultra-light folks,
but definately derived of sound ultralight philosophy - everything you need,
nothing you don't.

Thanks.
 
I am quite familiar with Fiskars hatchets, I have several, they are still too heavy for my liking for backbacking use. Maybe the question should be 1/2 lbs hatchet!

TLM
 
Wow. That Gerber is really heavy for being so short.

My 3 favorite axes for backpacking are the little GB mini, it chops stove wood really well and not bad on firewood. You have to kind of whip it a little to compensate for the light weight but it does the job. Next would be my Ft. Meigs Double Bit from Ragweed forge. It's like 14" or so long but the handle is really narrow so it still only weighs 15oz. With the longer handle it has a lot of force when you swing it. The only downside of this one is the bits are pretty small so you got the longish handle and small bits so you have to be a bit more conscious when swinging. Then the Reeves which is like a pound one or two ounces. It is my favorite because it has the largest bits, 3" of the 3. Also with the one thicker bit it works pretty nicely to split, which the other two won't do really well.

I have some other hatchets I use here at my house, like the GB Wildlife and Hunters, but to me they are getting closer to 2 lbs and not really useful for backpacking unless you make the choice to leave other stuff behind to compensate for the extra weight.
 
Gransfors mini is about 1 lbs.
Gransfors wildlife is about 1.5lbs.

Mini is okay for quite a lot of tasks, but being 50% heavier, Wildlife is a lot more capable imo.

Gransfors small forest axe weight 1kg (about 2 lbs) and that's a pretty large axe.

Wetterling also makes pretty similar patterns at a lower price.
Estwing makes light axes too. They look good but steel isn't that great.

For a light axe, the head being lighter you'll want a longer handle to replace mass with velocity. And of course you'll want a sharper edge, which means choosing a quality axe.
 
Question-
How often do you plan to use it on the trail? Would it see regular use for clearing the trail and helping with the fire every night, or would you only bring it along just in case?

If it's for the latter purpose, I've been pondering a different solution. How about just carrying a tomahawk head, with no handle? Because the tomahawk has a big round tapered eye, a rudimentary handle can be fashioned from a branch or small sapling extremely quickly if it gets called into service. This would save the weight of the handle, but also most of the bulk associated with such a tool. By the same token, you could also carry a large enough head (since you're saving the weight & bulk of the handle) to make a more serious chopping tool than the minis.
 
That's an interesting idea. Reminds me of that Skatchet thing (covered here), which I've always wanted to try. Seems like a neat idea.
 
How often do you plan to use it on the trail? Would it see regular use for clearing the trail and helping with the fire every night, or would you only bring it along just in case?
Click to expand...

In the local forest one never has to clear the trail, so the hatchet is for light fire making and possibly for making a shelter. For fire wood I wood expect to use only small diameter or already dry wood. I have often carried a small axe but as years go I am getting to think how to lighten the load. Locally the very light weight heads (like a tomahawk) are not readily available so I ask for experiences before I order one.

TLM
 
TLM, I myself prefer hatchets which have at least a 1 1/4 lb. head, 3" edge and a 14-15" handle. These parameters allow me to chop with less force.
Hollowdweller is right, the smaller/lighter the hatchet, the more attention and control it demands to use it efficiently. Yes, they are cute and easy to haul, but significantly less efficient than the slightly heavier hatchets.

If you want a light but strong working tomahawk, you might consider the Fort Turner tomahawks:

http://www.fortturner.com/store/index.htm

Their Scout tomahawk is the medium size one. It has approximately. 3.5" blade edge, 16" long handle. Wt. 1.25 lb. The bit is thin but strong and made of 1095 steel, while the eye of a milder steel.
The sheaths are superb, well worth to purchase them too.

You may ask Dana Turner to treat the hawk for woodworking purposes rather than for throwing. He will also choose you a vertical grained handle, if you request it. He does not check every day his e-mails, since he is traveling a lot to reenactment events, but is a very nice person to deal with. :thumbup:

I have the largest Buck tomahawk. It feels relatively light, due to the slender and flamed handles and nice overall balance.

While the FT prices here in the USA are relatively moderate, the international shipping, insurance and custom taxes might be prohibitive.


Another alternative could be the recently re-introduced Norlund Voyageur axe:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search.htm...eywords=Norlund Voyageur Axe&tag2=over-adv-20

This is a Hudson Bay style pocket axe, with 14 oz. head and 11" handle.
It is too short for my taste, but could be just the thing you are looking for.
I don't have it, and don't even know if it is made in the USA or abroad.
Members who have this new variant might comment on the performance.


Ravaillac already suggested a slightly heavier hatchet, the Wetterlings Wildlife axe (13H). According to Ragnar (who still calls it the Small Hunter), it is just over a pound and a half with the sheath included.

http://www.wetterlings.com/

Maybe the Wetterlings is cheaper in Finland.
 
A cheap, really mini axe is the Vaughan & Bushnell Supersportsman's Sub-Zero Axe:

http://www.vaughanmfg.com/hatchet_frameset.html

Forestry Suppliers sells it as a Tree Sounding Axe:

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=1747

This is the one Old Jimbo (Outdoors-Magazine.com) ground to increase its performance, and Mark Stewart, the owner of BRKT used to upgrade to an even better performing one. Many people found it too small (8 oz head, 2 1/4" edge, 10" handle) and fragile, but for small firewood/kindling it might be perfect.
 
A hatchet or tomahawk gets it chopping power by having most of the mass clustered at the head end. The mass of the handle can indeed affect the way it rotates on impact, and therefore its chopping power, especially if we're talking about something with a light head anyway. The guys on swordforum have said this is especially noticable with long axes, and Cliff Stamp has said the same thing while testing various hatchets. Some hatchets can chop with more power than others with more weight overall, because of the way that mass is distributed.

I think this is another reason a tomahawk would have an advantage over a hatchet here, since the tomahawk handle is usually (should be) tapered to get bigger towards the head end, instead of staying roughly the same thickness as on most hatchet handles. By the same token, because the tomahawk handle is tapered, it can be longer for the same weight. And as others have mentioned, the speed will help make up for lack of mass.
 
Possum, good advice. Otherwise try an 18th century Fort Meigs belt tomahawk. Designed for disjointing game.
 
After all this debate about the light hatchets and tomahawks I went and ordered the smallest 13" Wetterlings hatchet from SMKW. It arrived and I like it. :)

It is actually 12.5" with a 2.75" edge and around a 1.5 lb total. It is evidently heavier than the Gransfors Bruks Mini but this is the smallest hatchet I would consider using. I have medium/large hands and find that anything shorter and too much lighter would be more of a toy rather than a useful tool for me.

I compared this hatchet with my Fort Turner Buck tomahawk (the largest model), which is listed as 1.75 lb total. Strangely, the FT feels considerably lighter. I don't have small scales, but the FT has definitely a lighter/thinner head!
This means that the medium and small FT hawks would be even lighter.

If weight would be my only concern, I would definitely pick the FT for a light kindling tool. It has a nice thin 4" edge and on the 18" handle it can produce a nice hit.
The Wetterlings model SAW13H is more compact, and the heavier head nicely compensates for the shorter handle. It also has a nice poll, which is abswent from the FT Buck.

An additional pleasant surprise was the shape and the finish of the Wetterlings handle.
This is neither like the one pictured on-line, nor like the older shape shown e.g. on Ragnar's web-site, but resembles a cross between the shape of the GB Mini handle and that of the older model GB Wildlife hatchets. (The SAW13H is actually called the Wildlife hatchet by Wetterlings, but is smaller than the GB Wildlife hatchet.)
The hickory handle finish also rersembles that of the GB hatchets/axes rather than the typical hard warnish I have seen previously on the Wetterlings. The head was also much better shaped and finished than what I've seen so far. The head profile is nicely shaped for both chopping and splitting, and for splitting purposes it is better suited IMHO than the GB Wildlife's profile.

I don't know if this is a new and/or typical handle shape and finish, or I just got lucky.
If this is a new trend, GB has a serious competition in the looks department too!
 
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