Vaughan 1/2 lbs. Sportsman Sub-Zero Hatchet: Available (for now)

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DoubleBevel1111

Joined
Oct 9, 2023
Messages
4
After a several year hiatus, Vaughan, of Bushnell, IL, has made a run of these .5 lbs. pocket hatchets. They are among smallest useable axes made today. Some of you have likely read about reworking these little hatchets. If you are interested in one of these hatchets, you might want to pick one up from Vaughan's website ASAP. Charlie Vaughan, the owner, has informed me that the demand for these hatchets has not been strong enough to support another run. After wanting one for many years, I ordered one. Well, I ordered two..don't tell my wife. I'd be willing to bet that most folks who are interested have no idea that they are available again, so I thought that I spread the word and maybe inspire those of you who are into these tools to check them out while you still can.
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Thanks for this post.

I am fairly new to hatchets, been getting by with a CRKT for the last couple years. But the prospect of a 1/2 lb hatchet to take camping with me instead sounded too good to pass up so I ordered one.

You mention reworking them in your post. Can you give a short list of mods that I can search for? Or perhaps links to some posts.

Thanks again for this sir, excited to get one!
 
Here are a few pages. There were others in the past with more detail and photos of the rework, but it looks like some forum posts discussing this hatchet are no more.




See if you can find info on the Bark River modification...that's probably the road map for making these even better.

Enjoy your little hatchet!
 
DoubleBevel1111 said:
Here are a few pages. There were others in the past with more detail and photos of the rework, but it looks like some forum posts discussing this hatchet are no more.

See if you can find info on the Bark River modification...that's probably the road map for making these even better.

Enjoy your little hatchet!
Click to expand...

Thanks for these man, will definitely do some more research but this is a great start. Can't wait to try it out!
 

I saw that these had returned back in April when ordering a handle for a 50's Craftsman rebranded example I had score on Ebay, I didn't know it was just one last production run.
That's a real shame because I've bought 3 new from V&B, gave one to my buddy who absolutely loved it.
They were great gifts and overall I just absolutely love them myself.
I may have to order another one.
 
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fullswing said:
Thanks for this post.

I am fairly new to hatchets, been getting by with a CRKT for the last couple years. But the prospect of a 1/2 lb hatchet to take camping with me instead sounded too good to pass up so I ordered one.

You mention reworking them in your post. Can you give a short list of mods that I can search for? Or perhaps links to some posts.

Thanks again for this sir, excited to get one!
Click to expand...
Go check out the thread I linked in my last post.
There's really not a lot too it though, just remove the handle and thin/ rework it some because there's a lot of wood to work with, and strip the blue off the head smooth it out and thin / sharpen the bit before rehanging the handle.

That's my process or recommendation anyway, you can just thin / sharpen the bit and call it good but there's way more potential in them.

Yes it would be nice not to need to put this work into them, but they're dirt cheap and well worth it.
I don't know how many people would want to pay a premium for a refined example, hell I don't think the ones that were reworked and sold by Bark River sold all that well.
 
I don't think that most people knew that these were available again. Vaughan products have disappeared from the Home Depot and Walmart stores by me. I do hope that Vaughan keeps them around. They are super unique and pretty affordable. Maybe we can help keep them around.
 
Well I just went ahead and ordered myself another one, I couldn't help myself.
This one I think I'll have to spend a bunch of extra time on making the head very smooth and perfect, the others I did were users but this one just may have to be more of a collector piece if they're not going to stay in production.

While on their site I also saw a beautiful special edition #999 rip claw that I will probably have to order here soon.
I couldn't do it this time, but maybe next week I'll snag one.
 
DoubleBevel1111 said:
After a several year hiatus, Vaughan, of Bushnell, IL, has made a run of these .5 lbs. pocket hatchets. They are among smallest useable axes made today. Some of you have likely read about reworking these little hatchets. If you are interested in one of these hatchets, you might want to pick one up from Vaughan's website ASAP. Charlie Vaughan, the owner, has informed me that the demand for these hatchets has not been strong enough to support another run. After wanting one for many years, I ordered one. Well, I ordered two..don't tell my wife. I'd be willing to bet that most folks who are interested have no idea that they are available again, so I thought that I spread the word and maybe inspire those of you who are into these tools to check them out while you still can.
33301%20ZS1-2%20Lg.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I grabbed another.
 
fullswing said:
Much smaller than I expected and exactly what I was looking for to add to my kit. I can't believe these things aren't more popular.
Click to expand...

Thanks, when I read the description on a site that said they were perfect for throwing in a jacket pocket I kinda wondered how useful that would be but at almost a foot long, that‘s plenty to whack up some kindling and not worry about it taking up a lot of space.
 
Jsega51 said:
Thanks, when I read the description on a site that said they were perfect for throwing in a jacket pocket I kinda wondered how useful that would be but at almost a foot long, that‘s plenty to whack up some kindling and not worry about it taking up a lot of space.
Click to expand...
They carry well in a pocket, especially a vest pocket.
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And if you've got a nice cruiser or traditional wool hunting coat with generous pockets they carry extremely well too.
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Square_peg said:
What do you use the 8oz for? Couldn't the oyster hatchet do that same job?
Click to expand...
I'm sure it could do the same small chopping tasks, but I just don't see myself ever needing to use the small hammer poll it has.
I can't think of the last time I needed a small hammer when using one of my little hatchets.
 
It chops better than the 8oz with the added weight. If someone is looking for light packable multi-tool this fits the bill. I sometimes bring it along when I'm setting maple spiles. I can thin/flatten/clean a patch of bark before I drill then use the poll for setting the spile. For backpacking it would be nice to grind in a nail notch.
 
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