Very light weight hatchet or hawk

T

TLM

Joined
Jan 11, 2000
Messages
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I am trying to lighten my load and even the Roselli hatchet is a bit on the heavy side.

So what is the lightest weight hatchet you have found still useful in light weight camping when splitting is not the main use.

TLM
 
I love my Pocket Hatchet from GL Drew. It works pretty good for light chopping and even some kitchen work.

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the lightest that i personally own that i think still qualifies as a powerful chopper is the 14" fiskars.

i thinned the edge way down, to basically a very slightly convex full grind from the head attachment, and a small bevel at the edge. it cut pretty well new, it cuts great now.

it is light too, at a total weight of 1.25 pounds.

but if you are looking to go really light, you might stick with some sort of saw. you won't be able to split, but it doesn't sound like you are too concerned with splitting.
 
I don't have one (yet) but I've had my eye on CS Norse Hawk for quite some time. I know Magnussen uses one (he brought his along for his cold weather training this week). There's a thread on the axe subforum where he has a couple of really good posts about it. I'll try to find it for you.

EDIT: Here's the thread http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=610973 Look for Magnussen's posts.
 
I think my SwampRat Ratchet is a great backpacking hatchet. Fairly lightwieght and packable.
 
TLM said:
I am trying to lighten my load and even the Roselli hatchet is a bit on the heavy side.

So what is the lightest weight hatchet you have found still useful in light weight camping when splitting is not the main use.

TLM
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I usually carry a Lee Reeves double bit. It's 12" and 19oz.

Two even smaller and lighter are the GB mini which is 11oz and the the marbles #5 which weighs 15oz.

Both of these will not cut as big timber as the Reeves but they will cut stuff up to 4" or so. Check out these pics of them and the size stuff I'm cutting to get an idea of about the size I'm talking about.
 
desctersp1 said:
I'm just wondering - at what diameter of wood would a hatchet be employed rather than a saw
such as the one below or larger?

http://www.campingsurvival.com/saws.html
Click to expand...

i found that saw in particular to get tedious for anything larger than about 2.5-3". i would put my 14" Fiskars up against wood up to around 5-6" diameter pretty comfortably.
 
I have Fiskars hatchets, Wetterlings hatchets, and custom hawk from Equinox Coronado (CS Trailhawk heads) and they all work well. However, if I had to choose one based on price and performance it would be the Fiskars. I love hawks but they just aren't as efficient as a tool as a good hatchet.
 
As a direct result to magnussen's posts I bought a CS Norse hawk about 2 weeks ago. I am very happy with it so far, I will say that the edge will take quite a bit of work but after that it cuts very well. For 20 bucks and some elbow grease it seems to be a great value. Chris
 
For up to 3" or so, a 14oz machete works fine.

Even lighter would be a Bahco or similiar saw. While it can cut larger stuff, it is best at 4 1/2-5" or less.

If planning on doing very much cutting of wood 5" or larger, I would go to a bowsaw, as it is fairly light and very efficient.

Taking splitting out of the equation opens up lots of options for tools.
 
i also purchased a cs norse hawk and am going to start using it in stead of my 19" wetterlings on backpacking type trips
 
There are a lot of options here. You could use a cleaver, check ebay, there are bunch of short cleavers that might make good camp tools (sorry I'm a cleaver kick at the moment..), you could use a Timberline Pilot hatchet in 440C, or take a Skatchet or TOPS ATAX that converts into a hatchet. Of the two, I really like the ATAX, the Skachet is a cool design, but a pain in the ass to sharpen (its some kinda cast steel..).

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