Hatchet...how useful is it really?

A

Agent Iron

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Feb 5, 2005
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I am wondering for all around chores, or a survival situation, how valuable is a small hatchet? I have a nice little Fisker that is quite sharp and of decent quality. I personally have little use for it? Am I missing something here, undervaluing this tool?

My experience is that it is great for hacking roots if I am trying to uproot a stump. It can knock off small limbs, but it seem inferrior at collecting smaller sticks. It is feeble at splitting wood. It can act as a hammer using the backside, but that is about it. To me, it is no replacement for a real axe or maul. It does not seem to do as well as my Kukri except as a hammer. It seems that a good size knife would be superior to the hatchet at wood collecting, fuzz stick making, splitting wood for the fire.... In general a much better tool for fire starting and light construction compared to the hatchet. I would also venture to say that a good quality camp knife will hold an edge much longer then a softer steel'd hatchet.

At home with a multitude of tools at my command, the hatchet never gets used. If I go camping, the hatchet stays home. As far as a Bug Out situation, I don't see the need to hog around the extra weight of a hatchet if I already have a quality good size knife and a Bowie/Kukri/Machete.

What am I missing?
Thanks
AI
What am I missing?
 
Well, how small is it?

I don't have much use for the REALLY small axes - rather have a big knife.

If you're up in the 18" range then I don't agree any more and find the axes very useful - maybe you just aren't working with large enough wood for it to matter, and in lots of places this is totally possible.

Up here it's worth having a smallish to medium sized axe in winter. But if I lived in Arizona there is no way I'd bother with one.

And I have to say I've never seen the need for those tiny little 12" axes, even if they are cute.
 
Hatchets are wonderful tools. If skilled in their use, one can skin a kill, prep dinner meat/veggies, make shavings and kindling for fire starting, cut shelter poles, smash bones to get at the marrow, make traps, notch logs, etc etc etc.

no, a hatchet is not an full size ax, nor should it be used like one. But if used like i described above, you cant go wrong.
 
Each person must make the determination of if and how to use a hatchet. For some, its pointless. For others, it does everything. I happen to like an 8" (handle) Fiskars, as its a better chopper than any fixed blade of similar size. Size has to be part of the equation, because the axe obviously wins in chopping power. My Fiskars hatchet lives in the PSK that lives in the trunk of my vehicle. And just today I gave one to my 79 year old father. So I like a small Fiskars hatchet as part of the arsenal, especially at $30 or so.
 
sounds like i have the same hatchet as you.

i mostly use my 19" wetterlings, as i don't mind the extra pound for the greatly increased chopping power, and at home weight is no concern anyways.

but today i did have my hatchet on me, and i used it quite a bit. we took down a small maple somewhat recently (about 7-8" diam at the cut) and i decided to drag it down into the yard and buck it up today. i put my fiskars hatchet in my cargo pocket (i cut the handle off the sheath, but still want a more streamlined sheath) and headed for the woods.

i used the hatchet to quickly chop off all of the branches attached along the trunk, often in just one swipe (chop from underneath, where the wood isn't as strong). after that, i used the hatchet to cut off the top of the tree (about 3" diam at the cut). i then used it again to cut the trunk in half so that i could drag it (about 5-6" at the cut). my wetterlings axe would have done the cutting much better, but for limbing the smaller, lighter chopper worked great. it also worked decently at cross cutting, it just took a little more finesse and some more power on my part.

i also use the hatchet for shaping wood (something i have never been able to make a big knife do well) for different projects.

i could have done all of the above tasks with a large blade, but i haven't found that a large blade weighing even twice as much chops as well on anything larger than around 2-3". large blades can be batonned through wood to split it up a little more easily than a hatchet can, but a hatchet has its own advantages there.

it really boils down to what you are comfortable with. if you know you can use a large knife and be comfortable with it, then great. if you know you can use a hatchet and be comfortable with it, also great. just make sure you have your comfort tool with you ;)

i feel about equally prepared with either a large blade or a hatchet, but i much prefer working with the hatchet. for me, it just makes more sense.
 
the hatchets are nice.... during th ewarmer months I use a large knife or a machete.... during the cooler months I use a hatchet .. it's just easier for me to process more wood quickly. than with a large knife.. If I'm going far off the beaten path in the colder time of the years I'll opt for a larger axe...
 
My GB mini cuts really well, it along with a decent fixed blade is still lighter then a lot of chopping knives, and more versatile imho.
 
I guess it's like any other tool, much is dependent on the skill of the user and the task at hand. I could do fine with a hatchet or a knife even though I may have to change tactics or materials.
 
a hatchet, in my opinion, takes more skill to use than a knife. i have used one for a long time and consider it very useful, as i have developed a decent amount of skill. i end up using a GB SFA for alot of things that most people would just use a knife for. it just boils down to preferance really.
 
It depends on your whole kit and what type of camping your doing. If I ma only carying a folder or one of my 5 inch blade knives I will often put my Estwing 14a into my back pocket. The small hatchet will work great for chopping kindling, limbing branches for shelters and much else. However I don't split large wood when camping that is a job for an axe. The hatchet is also a great aid in skinning. And of course it gives a good hammer for pounding in stakes etc. Personaly I think one is often well worth the weight.
 
The thing about tools is that they all have a purpose, when it comes to leaving any of them out there will be gaps. It starts to get comical when one gets applied in the place of many, but that is the nature of the outdoors use, we can't carry everything. Hatchets are an awesome woodworking tool. I use them mostly for green woodworking, making chairs, and stuff of that sort. Where you need to hold the workpiece with one hand while cutting with the other. This kind of work is much more powerful when done with a stump for a table, something not always available in the field.
 
I have made bows using a hatchet to do most of the work. For me, this is a lot quicker than trying to do the whole job with a knife.

If fire is essential, particularly in wet areas, a hatchet or axe is likely to make a big difference to the speed at which you can produce suitable firewood.

I don't always carry a hatchet when hiking or hunting. But if I were headed on a car trip, or on an expedition well away from civilization, I would have a hatchet fairly high on my list of essential items.... preferably one with a slightly longer handle than normal.

I'm fairly sure that a hatchet is one essential tool that is always carried in light aircraft... around New Zealand anyway. A good hatchet will cut through aluminium sheet or car panel steel (a heck of a lot better than a pocketknife will).

I love my khukuris, but I think if I had to choose just one chopper for firewood and emergencies I'd pick the hatchet.
 
Agent Iron said:
I am wondering for all around chores, or a survival situation, how valuable is a small hatchet? I have a nice little Fisker that is quite sharp and of decent quality. I personally have little use for it? Am I missing something here, undervaluing this tool?
Click to expand...

It's kind of like Misanthropist said -- how small are you talking? I personally have no use for the tiny little hatchets people seem to favor. A big one is worth the weight. Same thing with kukri and machetes, anything less than 18" for either I won't bother with. Physics is physics, choppers do better with more weight and more speed. A heavier blade with more length simply does better.

However, these tools are always a compromise. The compromise is performance versus portability. For a basically few days' camp or survival situation, you shouldn't need to process large pieces of wood, so you don't need a full size axe. Sure, you want to fell and buck large trees? a full size axe trumps the hatchet every time. Even limbing is easier with a 3/4 axe than a hatchet.

But going for a 20 mile hike? I wouldn't carry the beast.
If I'm spending a week or more in the woods, all of a sudden a 3/4 axe like a Hudson Bay axe makes sense.

As for utility, the northern woodsmen of yesterday considered their hatchet more important than their knife (though not by much). They could fell trees, carve wood for all kinds of projects from traps to shelters, process and butcher game, etc with it. IMO it is one of the most versatile tools out there.

Again, im my opinion, one should have a chopper, even on an overnighter. It makes things easier and especially so if your playful jaunt turns into a survival situation. I'd say pick the appropriate tool, though. Someone in a purely tropical or desert environment will probably be served better by a machete than a hatchet. On the other hand, in northern forests, the hatchet trumps the machete.
I live in an area that has both tropical elements and heavy woods, so i carry a kukri. it does much better on soft vegetation than a hatchet does, and much better on wood, especialyl hardwood, than a machete. Again, a compromise. If I was back up north, I'd probably carry a hatchet in favor of the kukri.

Recommendations?
For machetes I prefer the 18-22" Ontario ro Tramontina machetes.

For hatchets, the Snow & NEally Penobscot Bay kindling Axe (18") or Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe (19") would be my choice. If you want a little more power, an S&N Hudson Bay (24") or GB Scandinavian Forest Axe would be my pick.

For kukri, I prefer the Ang Khola line from Himalayan Imports, 18-20" being the ideal length, IMO.

What it really comes down to is what do you know how to use, what are you willing to learn, and what does your environment dictate?
 
powernoodle said:
Each person must make the determination of if and how to use a hatchet. For some, its pointless. For others, it does everything. I happen to like an 8" (handle) Fiskars, as its a better chopper than any fixed blade of similar size. Size has to be part of the equation, because the axe obviously wins in chopping power. My Fiskars hatchet lives in the PSK that lives in the trunk of my vehicle. And just today I gave one to my 79 year old father. So I like a small Fiskars hatchet as part of the arsenal, especially at $30 or so.
Click to expand...

I second the above. If it works for you fine, if not, then don`t use it.
Finding out what works for you are some of the fun.
That said I use a hunters axe from Wetterlings when in the woods. Above the threeline I just carry a small knife.

Tor
 
I'm very wary of threads like this because they so easily get pulled out of shape. When I pay attention to the exact question; “I am wondering for all around chores, or a survival situation, how valuable is a small hatchet? “ My responses are quite straight forward:

1] We are considering a wide band range.

2] Accordingly a smaller ax / hatchet is necessarily inferior to a full size ax.

3] The exception is amidst vegetation in which a machete type tool is superior.

4] As people are want to take things to extremes I'll exclude all possible axes that are either so huge that they are exhausting to swing – [because some more-power 'tard comes up with one that weighs 20lbs] or ones that are too small to be any good for much [bit like a hammer that can only drive panel pins]. Dumping those outliers keeps me reasonable.

Conclusion: Small ax or hatchet is less valuable than a large ax, but better than alternatives when considering the wide range band.

Where I think it gets murky is when that wide range band gets confused with the narrow band. Testimonies of “what I use camping” doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the wide range of “all round chores” or what is optimal in a “survival situation”. I can certainly spend a great amount of time out the sticks doing narrow band stuff without an ax and miss nothing. That I can easily get pitch wood from a tree stump with a #2, or make shelters very quickly with an Outrider and a pair of secateurs sheds no light at all on the axes superiority in the wide band. Sadly, that all too often gets confused even further with images of successful wood splitting in a garden with overbuilt knives.

In the wide band the ax will always win against a tool of similar weight. It is all in the shape.
 
If you don't use it then it's not useful to you ;):thumbup:

At home in my woods I hardly ever use a hatchet. I'd much rather use a khukuri, or a cross cut saw:thumbup:

Backpacking I use my hatchet to cut firewood a lot.

For me, a hatchet of the same weight chops better than a big knife or khukuri of the same weight.

Also a hatchet or khukuri of the same weight as my hatchet actually is quite a bit heavier to carry due to the weight of the sheaths. The hatchet just has a light head cover so most of the weight of carry is in the tool itself.

But if it is not personally useful for you then you aren't missing anything:D There's a lot of people who spend many days backpacking in the wild with nothing but a SAK and seem to get on fine.
 
I use a hatchet for nothing except gathering and preparing firewood when camping in one spot or motorcycle camping. If backpacking or hiking where I'd have to lug it around, I am not going to bring it.

I think a large chopping knife would be better for shelter building, since you could harvest small boughs with it better and faster for roofing or insulation.

Maybe I ought to break down and get a chopper . . .
 
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