Khukri vs Tomahawk

T

TFin04

Joined
Aug 21, 2005
Messages
1,494
Just looking for some opinions here.

I currently carry a small hatchet in the woods for splitting small logs, making shelters, and hammering stakes in the ground. I still carry a smaller 3" knife for smaller cutting tasks.

I have been thinking about trying a Khukri as my chopper/splitting blade.

Assuming that the Khukri and tomahawk weigh the exact same and both carry in a left side belt sheath, what would you guys use? Here are a few things I'm thinking of:

Tomahawk:

Pros:
Real hammer on the back of it
Excellent at cutting down small saplings and cleaning up branches to make shelter

Cons:
Does not work well for splitting larger wood. Since the head is so small and you really cant baton the blade any deeper than the head, it often times gets stuck in wood.

Khukri:

Pros:
Should be good at cutting small saplings
Good at batoning through larger wood

Cons:
No hammer face, though I suppose I could still make it work.
 
i would try a hawk first, since you can get a good hawk for pretty cheap. if you dont like it, then you are only out $20 and you can then try an HI khukuri.
 
For me I like the Khuk :thumbup: But the fun part is to get both & test them out & post a review w/ lots of pics for the rest of us :D
 
I would go with the hawk mainly because I don't like khukris. If you get a sturdy hawk you might be able to baton the handle.
 
12 HI AK khuk.

keep on trying to find something better.

have not been able to, as of yet.

Good luck.
 
i still haven't tried a real tomahawk yet so i will speak from a hatchet standpoint...alot of the info is still relevant.

in my personal opinion the HI khuks that i have seen and used (and the one i own) have fairly thick edges. i think that if they were thinned out some they would chop and cut alot better.

i think that a hatchet is more efficient in terms of cutting, because all of the weight is right behind the edge, concentrating the force more. a kukri has the weight spread more throughout the whole body of the knife, so it doesn't pack quite as much punch.

a hatchet can be hard to aim depending on conditions, but i've never had issues with it really.

as to splitting wood up...if you can cut it up with your blade you shouldn't have any trouble splitting it with the same. a hatchet or tomahawk isn't designed to fell great white oaks or anything, i would say they basically peak out at around 4 inches mostly. even that can be arduous sometimes. a kukri, in my experience, is much the same. if you use your blade to cut off and shape a wedge before splitting your wood it will take a minute or two to rough shape it and then you can baton the blade in and pound the wedge into the crack to split the wood if the blade doesn't do it.

i think that it really boils down to personal preference. i look forward to trying a tomahawk but i really love my little fiskars 14". it handles like i imagine a tomahawk handles, is small light and chops great for the size and weight. with the handle cut off the sheath it tucks away almost anywhere (even a cargo pocket one day) and is ridiculously handy.

anyways, hope this helps...
 
Depending on needs and money:
1) Estwing hatchet. very good profile for a hatchet, cheap, light weight and edge is soft enough that it sharpens with ease. By being soft it requires less warm up time in sub zero weather. The much daunted GB's are dificult to sharpen in the field and unless there is enough warming, that hard edge will shatter when impacting frozen wood.

2) The Fisker brand is about the same, except it does a better job of spliting wood, but not as good at cutting due to the profile differences.

3) I have about 15 diferent sized Khukuries from Himalayan Imports. The edges can't be reprofiled because of the way they are heat treated. The reason that they are as tough as they are is due in part to the soft core. These blades are no tempered, they are case hardened. With anything approaching normal use one of these knives will out last you. A considerable amount of criticism for inefficient cutting ability isn't the fault of the knife, but rather the user's techinque in cutting. If fire wood is your principle tool function, with maybe a side use, stick to the hatchets. By the way, you can use a Khukuri quite nicely to pound and remove tent stakes.

4) Stay away from 'hawks. They were designed as weapons; as such they work nicely, some better than others, but still weapons, through the years I've made a few based on origionals as well as having tried some of the new interpretations and they are not balenced well for work applications. the profiles of the heads are too shoer in edge length to weight ratio. They are designed to penetrate bodies that breath rather than have growth rings.
Some are designed for target tossing. You can make the things work, but why bother.
Dan
 
I already have the hawk, just looking for some other options and an excuse to buy another blade.

Does anybody make a small Khukri? Something in the 7" blade range?
 
TFin04 said:
I already have the hawk, just looking for some other options and an excuse to buy another blade.

Does anybody make a small Khukri? Something in the 7" blade range?
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Himalayan Imports probably has one, but if they dont, check kukri house ( i think that is the spelling they use) kukri house has a bigger selection but the quality, even though it is still good, just cant measure up to HI.
 
I'll vote kukri, but I also like the big kukris. In my experience, with proper technique, they out chop a hatchet of the same weight and length. I don't know why, everything says it shouldn't but it does. As for hammering, if you're willing to use a baton to split wood, then use a baton to drive your tent stakes.

TFin04 said:
I already have the hawk, just looking for some other options and an excuse to buy another blade.

Does anybody make a small Khukri? Something in the 7" blade range?
Click to expand...

A 12" HI kukri will have about 7-8 inches of blade. They measure overall length, not blade length. Be aware that with a kukri that small, you won't see a lot of the advantages of a kukri over any other large knife.
 
Cpl Punishment said:
A 12" HI kukri will have about 7-8 inches of blade. They measure overall length, not blade length. Be aware that with a kukri that small, you won't see a lot of the advantages of a kukri over any other large knife.
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The blade profile alone should give me a bit more chopping power than a standard 7" or 8" knife. I just need something to chop through 3" saplings and split 4-5" wood for a fire.

I found a few smaller Khukri's. Pretty good prices for the smaller ones, I'll be ordering one for sure.
 
a proper hatchet is about as hard to find as an honest used car dealer. nearly all the modern 'technical' hatchets are suboptimal, and that's being very nice. pure junk is the colloquial nomenclature.

hatchets come in two flavors, too durn small and half axes. a half axe is about 20" total length and has about 700-800 gm head, and is 'half an axe'.. you CAN use it two handed, and it's an axe sufficient to keep you alive in snowy woods you hadn't intended to homestead in.

then there's all the so called 'camping hatchets'.. which are cute if you've got a girlfriend along, she can use it and hopefully avoid hurting herself.

thats not a giant virtue.

there are those few folks who can fell the mighty spruce with a tiny hatchet, but it's the result of a lifetimes building skill, not the tool.

MOST people can't use a hatchet at all, and can't tell the difference between a good one and a piece of junk iron. The skill level that'll allow you to use a 14" 1lb hatchet effectively only takes about 20 years to accumulate, so if you start when you're 5 you can get it early but if you start when you're 25 you'll be 45 when you get it.

A *Big* hatchet is a tool that requires about 1/5 the skill to do the job.

so my answer to camp hatchet or kukhri is neither. get a half axe.

it'll weigh more than either one, it's worth the weight sometimes, and it doesn't demand The Compleat Outdoorsman swinging it to do a useful job of work. If i am carrying a tiny hatchet it's to cut a tiny christmas tree, a rare event. I own a couple, kelly & sater banko.. they'll both shave, and the sater banko is scary sharp..

neither one is a woods hatchet. they'd both do for a day trip but you don't NEED them for one. A bowsaw makes more sense to cut firewood. A half axe for cutting trees.. and a big blade of some sort for cutting branches.. kukhri is just fine for that.
 
You asked about a tomahawk vs. khukuri.

The abrupt transition from blade to cheek (the part that holds the handle) means trying to split with a hawk is like trying to split with a pipe - no go. The Ft. Meigs is the exception - if it is a hawk rather than a hatchet/hand axe.

You can hammer with the spine of a khukuri. I have some with clear evidence of such use -- on metal tent stakes I think.

A khuk is easy to baton and better at bramble clearing.


Now if the choce was hatchet vs. khuk, different analysis. Most find the hatchet chops wood some better.
 
I won't lie to you, the khuk has a longer learning curve, but after a few tries you'll really like it.

For the moment I only have 2 (because I'm POOR), but I really like them. Both from HI.
 
Gerberblades said:
Get a Busse NMFBM!
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While I appreciate the enthusiasm of brand fans, :rolleyes:

Try this:

Thoughts on Heavy Mistresses

If one reads about the old-style Bowies of the 1830's, one discovers that many of these knives had a very large chassis. It was commonn for Bowies to have ten to twelve inches of blade forged out of 3/8' thick steel. That would make the FBM-LE, the FMFBM's and the FFBM very similar in heft to these frontier knives. We have to ask ourselves, why do most people consider these knives too heavy nowadays? Maybe our ancestors considered the heavy Bowies as "more bang for the buck" for frontier chores and wanted the extra weight to make faster work of their daily routines. I think also that people back in those days had no cars, no telephones no power tools.They had to work harder and more physically than we do. That made them stronger, so they considered these large blades as "normal". The human race is getting wimpy. Remeber how tough those old-timers were?Using these big Busse Mistresses might give you a more real idea of how frontiersmen worked and allow you to feel the heft of an historic weapon. Lend me $1,600 'cause I wanna buy a couple of historic toys!
Click to expand...

Get an HI Gelbu Special!
Click to expand...
 
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