Maybe size does'nt matter after all!

M

marsupial

Joined
Apr 25, 2001
Messages
705
Once again I got you guys to look!I received my Pauls hatchet today and immediately put er to the test,and I must say I was pleasantly surprised in every way.The PH is a small tool make no mistake but dont let its size fool you it is very aggressive in its ability.First off my PH came shaving sharp with a symmetrical edge which I feel gave it better penetration cuts.I set out to really test its chopping ability first.I did this by chopping some old dead standing dogwood(very hard)which was around 1.5 inches in diameter.This was cut into 3 smaller pieces,still shaved.I then cut an assortment of briars and small free hanging limbs which cut surprisingly well,I assume because of the edge profile.The final test was cutting a 3 inch live standing maple for a wet weather bridge for our ATV trail.This took only aroun 2-3 minutes to fell it completely.The recovery due to the light weight made for faster quicker chops.After felling the tree around 3 feet of stump was left.I hammered the PH thru the stump and pried it sideways until it split it in half(I wouldnt try this with any of my other knivesxcept my SJ)I swear it still shaved(YOU oughta see my arm).Upon returning home I then used the PH for a fruit salad for supper,the most notable fruit being the delicate kiwi.I choked up on the blade and peeled several without damage to the fruit,it also sliced well.After all these minor tasks there is very slight hazing of the crinkle coat and the knife stll shaves.This would also in my opinion be a great bug out bag blade,or a pilots survival vest blade because of its size,or in my case a great compromise in weight for a backpacker.Its lighter than my SH and still does the same job although not quiet as well but good enough for regular work.This will be a non trade goin in my backpack piece of equipment.It also compliments my SJ.Only drawback which was easily fixed was when chopping my hand wanted to slide forward toward the head,but this was easily fixed by applying the marsup loop which allowed me to really tighten up and choke back on the handle for max reach and power chops.I almost forgot ,..it also made a pretty good hammer as I whittled stakes and drove them into the ground.The weight of the head was perfect for this.This is a must minimalists tool to have!
 
Marsupial,
Thanks for the review. This makes me want one even more, I think I'll have to call Terri tomorrow :D:D
 
If I keep reading these great reports, I'm going to have to get mine out of the safe and beat it...:D
 
I found a small, dug-up stump and dragged it home to test my blades on. This stump was unidentified hardwood, knotted, very, very dense, tiny growth rings close together, old and bone-dry, covered in a thick layer of gritty dirt which was also worked into many crevices.

Then I hacked the stump into a pile of wood chips. I used primarily my Steel Heart and Paul's Hatchet (because everybody wants to know which is the better chopper).

I better answer that question right away: The Steel Heart chops better. I will eventually try to do a more careful evaluation, and tell you all as precisely as I can specifically how much more effectively the Steel Heart performed than the Paul's Hatchet. For now, let me just assure all of you that it is clear that the Steel Heart chops better.

That said, I was extremely impressed and pleased with the performance of Paul's Hatchet. It may not beat the Steel Heart, but it is definitely no slouch. Given a little more time, it can handle most any chopping task that a Steel Heart could. And, like marsupial noted, the lesser effectiveness per chop is somewhat made up for by faster chopping, due to less fatigue with a smaller, lighter tool.

For those of you who haven't personally held a Paul's Hatchet, you need to be aware that it is quite small. Really, it is a different size class than the Steel Heart. To make this clear: I could easily carry Paul's Hatchet in my front pocket, if I had a kydex sheath which just covered the axe head. (I plan on getting one made, or making one.)

So, when you think of a Paul's Hatchet, you should not merely think of it in terms of how it compares to the Steel Heart, but think of what it can do for the size it is. Paul's Hatchet is the smallest, lightest tool I know of that can handle serious chopping. It's the smallest tool I know of that can fully and confidently handle those needs for true survival use. This will be my first choice when I want to take ultralight, minimalist, no-compromise survival cutlery into the wild.

Add to that the secondary ability to choke up with excellent comfort and control to use this blade as a slicing, shaving, skinning, etc., kind of tool. The thing is just plain awesome.

I'm also wondering whether this might be a good legal carry in areas with absurd laws. The edge is only about three inches, and it certainly couldn't fall within even the vaguest and most bizarre definitions of "dirk or dagger". Further, Paul's Hatchet is capable of causing much more extreme damage than any other three inch blade I know of. Also, it may not cause that "knife reaction" in meek people, since it has a utility tool look to it. I need to investigate the relevant laws further. (Meanwhile, I'd love to hear your comments on this, everybody.)

A few other random comments: Something about the geometry seems to make it more resistant to scratching the coating than the other Busse blades. (That doesn't really matter to me; but it's still interesting.) It is even more indestructible of a design than the Steel Heart and Battle Mistress. Yes, the edge is symmetrical. It seems like it would be a superb throwing axe. It's a good hammer.

By the way, Paul's Hatchet still shaved after finishing up with the stump. It was not as sharp as new, and just barely still shaving, but shaving, nonetheless, and certainly sharp. The edge was rolled in one tiny place. (It's probably time for me to learn how to sharpen decently.) You have to examine the edge very carefully to see it. The way it retained sharpness, after hundreds of full-force impacts into dry hardwood covered with dirt and pebbles, amazed me. It just seems to go against reason, against, experience, against expected reality, to see a razor edge remain a razor edge after this kind of use. But then, I suppose you all have had the reality-warping "INFI experience" yourselves.

Mike
 
Evolute :

The Steel Heart chops better.
Click to expand...

You might want to look at chopping some wood that is wider than the face of the hatchet. This is where axes will excell over knives. Nice commentary, I was interested in the raw relative chopping ability.

-Cliff
 
Cliff, I don't want to niggle, but I'm confused. Do you mean to say that a hatchet or axe will chop better than a knife when BOTH are faced with wood wider than their respective blades, or that the hatchet/axe will surpass the knife if the wood is wider than the hatchet, but still smaller in width than the knife blade?

I would think the former?
 
In general, as you move on to bigger wood with a knife, the penetration keeps dropping. However with an axe, on wood larger than the width of its face, you always get the same penetration, regardless if the wood is 4" wide or 40". Thus the bigger the wood, the more advantage a hatchet will have in penetration over a blade and thus the wider the cut you can work with, and thus the fewer the number of hits necessary. The following page goes over this effect in some detail :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/blade_testing.html#chopping


-Cliff
 
Wow.... I don't know which scares me worse: that I was able to understand it, or that someone else was smart enough to put it in writing.;)

That was helpful indeed, Cliff - thanks!
 
Cliff:

The stump was around 5 inches in diameter, so it was a larger diameter than the hatchet edge, but the stump was indeed small enough to disallow nearly the entire hatchet surface from making contact with the wood in any single stroke. Good point.

It may also be the case that different types of wood will affect relative chopping performance. Paul's Hatchet has a very different geometry than the Steel Heart: the hatchet has a symmetrical grind, thicker edge, the blade is thicker behind the edge, and it comes to full thickness within about an inch back from the edge.

I'll be doing tests on wider wood, and different kinds of wood, when I can. I'll report back notable findings when I may.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
Different types of wood does in general favor different geometries, I will be interested to read what you have to say with further work. I would also be curious about the hatchet vs the blade on much lighter work such as small brush. This is normally where a knife really excells over a hatchet. The head also allows for a choked up grip, how does it in general handle lighter cutting chores.

-Cliff
 
Thanks for your impressions Evolute. I've been wondering about the SH vs. PH issue for a while. I agree with you on the size, BTW, the PH is really quite small, but, as you have shown, still has quite impressive chopping power.
 
A small addendum:

Above, I said:

"I could easily carry Paul's Hatchet in my front pocket, if I had a kydex sheath which just covered the axe head. (I plan on getting one made, or making one.)"

It turns out that I can carry Pauls' Hatchet in my front pocket with the standard sheath it comes with. It just hadn't occurred to me to try. Still, I want a smaller sheath that covers the minimum necessary for safety, and has no attachment system, just for pocket carry.
 
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