Uses for an Axe/Hatchet

JGON

JGON

Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
975
Hi all,

I am fairly new to the hatchet/axe world, but I am completely blown away by how useful these tools are. It all started with knives for me, but hatchets and axes are my new infatuation.

What do you use your axe/hatchet for in addition to the obvious? Teach us your techniques.

My new Wildlife hatchet is so much more versatile than I ever thought it would be.

It can carve. It can make kindling. It can freaking chop onions better than any other woodscraft knives I have. It can split, chop, and slice.

I think a lot of folks have a misconception that an axe or a hatchet is just for chopping, limbing, and felling trees. They are so much more than that.

Help me educate the masses, as well as myself, on how useful these tools are.

I ask again, what do you use your axe/hatchet for in addition to the obvious? Teach us your techniques.

Help us get better at using these tools.

JGON
 
Besides using it for the obvious, any of my gransfors have multiple uses. they pound tarp stakes into the ground, build shelters, clear trails, the versatility goes on and on. You have covered most of the major uses of axes and hatchets, right now i am having a difficult time coming up with other chores and roles that they carry out and play in my life. Good job!( i am sure someone with more knowledge than me will come along and add some uses that we forgot.)
 
I have to give this one a bump. I'm curious myself about how versitile a hatchet/hawk can be. A chopper is the next tool my kit needs. I yet debate an axe type tool or a Junglas. I look forward to your thoughts.

God bless,
Adam
 
I can expand on my thoughts jumpmonkey, because in my original post I was very vague...

I own both a Junglas and a Hatchet, and while I love both, the hatchet is for me the more useful tool.

DSC00803.jpg


The reason why is the distribution of weight. The concentration of weight at the head makes it a better at processing wood than a Junglas. The Junglas does great, but compared to an axe it's just not the best at this task.

Then I recently discovered how effortless making kindling and other carving tasks is with this hatchet. When you choke up on the hatchet for carving, placing your hand up and around the poll, your hand placement is directly above not only the balance point of the hatchet, but directly above your work as well. This makes it an incredible carver. It's effortless. What would take an hour to carve with a bushcraft knife takes less than half that time with an axe.

DSC00806.jpg


I need to do a video of this to demonstrate sometime, but this little wildlife hatchet actually excels at food prep as well! Again, if I choke up on the hatchet, I can place the blade directly over a cutting surface, have plenty of finger clearance, and chop onions, celery, carrots, steak, or whatever else I may need to cut from a food prep standpoint. I am a restaurant professional, and I was surprised at how well it performed.

The Junglas would struggle doing most of what I mentioned above, except for the chopping. It could do it, sure, but the hatchet excels at almost all of it.

I still love my Junglas, and I am in no way bashing anyone that takes a large chopper in the bush, because I know as well as anyone else that it's fun as hell to play with a big knife in the bush... but if you are looking for the most useful, practical tool that offers a lot of utility and is efficient at what it does, a good hatchet, axe, or tomahawk is going to do a phenomenal job for you.

I honestly feel that my Victorinox Swisstool and my Gransfors Bruks Wildlife Hatchet can accomplish just about anything that I would need done in the woods.

JGON
 
JGON,

Thanks for the info man, I appreciate it. I do wish you would stop posting pic's of your stripped/patinad Junglas though. It's like you're doing it just to taunt me now. How do you feel about the size (OAL) and weight of the hatchet? How long do you think the handle needs to be before you get proper leverage to do your thing?

Thanks a bunch, Hope I'm not hijacking your thread, if so note that I am and this post will do a vanishing act.

God bless,
Adam
 
jumpmonkey said:
JGON,

Thanks for the info man, I appreciate it. I do wish you would stop posting pic's of your stripped/patinad Junglas though. It's like you're doing it just to taunt me now. How do you feel about the size (OAL) and weight of the hatchet? How long do you think the handle needs to be before you get proper leverage to do your thing?

Thanks a bunch, Hope I'm not hijacking your thread, if so note that I am and this post will do a vanishing act.

God bless,
Adam
Click to expand...

No man I like this type of discussion!

The Wildlife Hatchet is about as small as I'd go. I'd like to get the Small Forest Axe too, cuz that one will give more chopping power for the bigger stuff.

It's a great all around tool though, and for backpacking it's great. If you are planning on doing a ton of wood processing, building shelter, making larger fires, you might want the Small Forest axe.
 
I love my SFA, beats the Wildlife Hatchet any day. It gives a little more, even though it is not much bigger. Unfortunately, I let my brother use my SFA to de limb a tree we had just cut down. We had pulled it down with a tractor after cutting it 3/4's of the way with a chainsaw. The chain had not been removed from around it and as I handed it to him I made sure to tell him about that chain. Well, after he handed it back to me, I inspected the head to evaluate any damage. The top 1/4 of the edge was rolled and chipped, ruined. The damage went back about a 1/2 an inch. He denied it, of course. After several hours of sharpening and grinding, it was back to sharp. Even though it is functional, the axe is not the same. It is tainted. So, here I am a week later and now I have to spend $140.00 on a new one. Still waiting for an apology from my bro.
 
There's reason why Nessmuk combination had Axe, fixed blade and a slipjoint. I wish my axe would be something more traditional but its very good Fiskars Handy 600, bit modded with paracord till I can afford to buy Granfors or Wetterlings. I've tried some hatches but I find that I want smallest possible that I can use two hands. So most hatchets are out of question. I guess its just matter or preferance.
 
I agree with everything you've said although I wouldn't knock the smaller hatchets. For what you truly need in a survival situation my GB mini is stellar. Plus it's light enough to always pack it. Also, it fits in your pocket.:D

I think most people who look to a "survival knife" are missing out. I think the experience these people have had with hatchets are heavy and dull ones. A nice light hatchet that is razor sharp will not only out chop a knife of similar weight but will also be better at small stuff. It seems counter intuitive but I've found that my mini is hands down better at small tasks than a large knife. The only up side to a large chopper IMO is the ability to clear vegetation like vines or tall grasses. I don't need that capability really so it's a hatchet or a hawk for me.
 
If I may ask, is there a big difference in functionality between a hatchet and a hawk? I know there tends to be a big difference in blade thickness. Any thoughts? I'm trying to decide if I want to pick up a cheap hawk or if I should save up for a Wetterlings.

God bless,
Adam
 
I would save up for a Wetterlings. Unless you plan on scalping and killing indians. The handle is set up and designed for chopping and being used for that more so than a hawk. The same goes for the blade.
 
i have a Normark skinning axe (think eskimo ulu with a long handle) that i use to process small game as well as the occassional deer. i can actually use any of my axes for this, but5 the Normark works great!
 
I don't normally come to this part of the forums, but I was reading through Leonard Lee's book on sharpening. If you've not seen the difference between a true working felling/bucking axe and what you get from a hardware store, take a look in his section on shape. That felling axe can't be more than 1/4" thick 1" away from the bevel. Much finer than most people think. The axe is a much under appreciated tool. Finding good ones is getting harder and harder.
 
me2 said:
I don't normally come to this part of the forums, but I was reading through Leonard Lee's book on sharpening. If you've not seen the difference between a true working felling/bucking axe and what you get from a hardware store, take a look in his section on shape. That felling axe can't be more than 1/4" thick 1" away from the bevel. Much finer than most people think. The axe is a much under appreciated tool. Finding good ones is getting harder and harder.
Click to expand...

I just read that section of Leonard Lee's book also. A good felling axe is so thin...

I love my Wildlife Hatchet, and since I've gotten it, I haven't reached for my buschraft barkie once. It's amazing. I'd love a larger one also for more wood processing, but my Wildlife fills the role my knives used to.
 
jumpmonkey said:
If I may ask, is there a big difference in functionality between a hatchet and a hawk? I know there tends to be a big difference in blade thickness. Any thoughts? I'm trying to decide if I want to pick up a cheap hawk or if I should save up for a Wetterlings.

God bless,
Adam
Click to expand...
Actually the bits on both my trail hawk and gb are similar as far as how thin the edge is and edge profile. For small every day camping chores a hawk will do fine. Where a hawk really excels iss the ability to take the head off and or easy haft replacement.
 
I bought a tiny Fort Meigs belt axe from Dixie Gunworks, sanded it, done some file work on it and cut the handle to 10.5 inches so it would be easy to cary. I made a leather cover for it as well.
A few days ago I was fortunate enough to use it for what I bought it for, field dressing a nice white tail! It made short work of opening the H bone and chest cavity I don't know how I ever mannaged with out one in the past! I don't think I would have even needed a knife.

This little head is very narrow, around 0.5 inch with around a 2 inch face and a narrow flat pole. Nice little axe.
 
JGON said:
I can expand on my thoughts jumpmonkey, because in my original post I was very vague...

I own both a Junglas and a Hatchet, and while I love both, the hatchet is for me the more useful tool.

DSC00803.jpg


The reason why is the distribution of weight. The concentration of weight at the head makes it a better at processing wood than a Junglas. The Junglas does great, but compared to an axe it's just not the best at this task.

Then I recently discovered how effortless making kindling and other carving tasks is with this hatchet. When you choke up on the hatchet for carving, placing your hand up and around the poll, your hand placement is directly above not only the balance point of the hatchet, but directly above your work as well. This makes it an incredible carver. It's effortless. What would take an hour to carve with a bushcraft knife takes less than half that time with an axe.

DSC00806.jpg


I need to do a video of this to demonstrate sometime, but this little wildlife hatchet actually excels at food prep as well! Again, if I choke up on the hatchet, I can place the blade directly over a cutting surface, have plenty of finger clearance, and chop onions, celery, carrots, steak, or whatever else I may need to cut from a food prep standpoint. I am a restaurant professional, and I was surprised at how well it performed.

The Junglas would struggle doing most of what I mentioned above, except for the chopping. It could do it, sure, but the hatchet excels at almost all of it.

I still love my Junglas, and I am in no way bashing anyone that takes a large chopper in the bush, because I know as well as anyone else that it's fun as hell to play with a big knife in the bush... but if you are looking for the most useful, practical tool that offers a lot of utility and is efficient at what it does, a good hatchet, axe, or tomahawk is going to do a phenomenal job for you.

I honestly feel that my Victorinox Swisstool and my Gransfors Bruks Wildlife Hatchet can accomplish just about anything that I would need done in the woods.

JGON
Click to expand...

Excellent post,thanks JGON. Yeah, I started with survival knives but have moved onto to axes and hatchets more recently, and I gotta say I love them. The biggest thing is that someone should buy a well made axe with the proper sharpness for their first axe\hatchet. This would include Fiskars, Council Tool, Estwing, Gransfors Bruks, and Wetterlings. If one buys a crappy hardware store model made overseas then they will not like using an axe or hatchet.

My personal favorite bush axe right now is a US made Council Tool 26" Hudson Bay axe with a 1.75lb head. Weighs only 43 ounces yet splits like a full size axe and chops like a Wetterlings. I carry it on my day pack when off trail winter hiking and with it I know I will always survive as long as I have it. It comes in real handy when you come across a frozen resin wood (fatwood) stump or to chop up poles for shelter or fire. I've found that I can chop through wood with it faster than I can saw them and of course splitting is possible whereas with a saw it's much more work and slower.
 
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