Very light weight hatchet or tomahawk

T

TLM

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Jan 11, 2000
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I asked this question on the Axe forum but apparently people there had very little experience with backpacking because I did not get any "experienced" answers.

So how practical would a sub 1 lbs (does 1/2 lbs one exist?) tomahawk be as a backpacking hatchet.

There are no local products available so I ask for experiences before ordering one. At present I mostly use small hatchets (Fiskars and others) but in the 1.5-2 lbs range.

TLM
 
TLM said:
I asked this question on the Axe forum but apparently people there had very little experience with backpacking because I did not get any "experienced" answers.

So how practical would a sub 1 lbs (does 1/2 lbs one exist?) tomahawk be as a backpacking hatchet.

There are no local products available so I ask for experiences before ordering one. At present I mostly use small hatchets (Fiskars and others) but in the 1.5-2 lbs range.

TLM
Click to expand...

This might help: http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=144

There are sub 16oz hatchets out there, like the GB Mini - you don't have to resort to a tomahawk. I have a Bark River Mini-Axe which is Vaughan Sub-Zero that's been reprofiled by Bark River Knife & Tool. At just 10 oz. I'm very impressed by what it will do and it's replaced my heavier Valiantco golok in my backpack. Will a 16oz+ hatchet chop better? Absolutely - but then you've got to carry those extra ounces on the trail.

For reviews of the Mini-Axe:

BRK&T Mini-Axe Test #1 (http://forums.outdoors-magazine.com/viewtopic.php?p=32921#32921)

BRK&T Test #2 (http://forums.outdoors-magazine.com/viewtopic.php?p=36295#36295)

If you do prefer a tomahawk, Ragweedforge has an excellent selection of smaller 'hawks:

http://www.ragweedforge.com/ThrowingCatalog.html
 
I second akennedy73's suggestion of the Ragweed Forge tomahawks.
As far as I know, the tiny Allan hawks are the smallest contemporary production hawks available on the market.

The Allan Foundry Camp Axe is about 1/2 pound with the handle. Let me quote Ragnar's description:

"A-23F; This one is called the "Camp Axe" for some reason. It's even smaller than the Hunter's Belt Axe. The head weighs just over 5 ounces, and has about 2 ¼ " of cutting edge. With the 14" handle it weighs a bit over 8 ounces. It borders on being too light to actually do work, but it is cute. On the other hand it would chop kindling much better than an 8 ounce knife."

The Hunter's Belt Axe is about 10 oz with the handle.

Both are available in the 6150 carbon steel, heat treated by Ragnar.:thumbup:

I don't have these tiny hawks, only the "backbreaking" Octagon hawk (14 oz head, more than 1 lb with the handle).
I have the 6150 version and am very happy with it. Hollowdweller has the 6150 steel Fort Meigs Nessmuk and he likes it. I think this steel and Ragnar's heat treating would be more than adequate for your intended use.

As for how practical would be they for you, only you can answer that.
Do you like very light hatchets? Do you prefer shorter but wider handles (like on the GB Mini) over thinner and longer ones (like on the Allan hawks)?

I hope this was more helpful than my previous post on the Axe Forum.;)
 
Read these and other books on axes and safety.

1) the Axe Book (Goes by other titles)
by Dudley Cook (He put an axe thru his foot!)
http://www.amazon.com/Ax-Book-Lore-...ef=sr_1_1/102-0144449-8080174?ie=UTF8&s=books

2) Northern Bushcraft (Goes by other titles) by
Kochanski

The essential use of an axe is chopping (dah);
when you scale it down to a hatchet,
the hatchet is vulnerable and your body
is vulnerable.

As you scale the axe down to a hatchet,
the hatchet becomes more vulnerable in two ways.
1)The handle becomes smaller and weaker
2)The blade edge becomes smaller
With the small blade, it is easy to miss the target,
and then the HANDLE will impact the target (small limb?) and
the handle will break.

This actually happened to me. Nobody was hurt.

If you must have a hatchet, get a strong handled one,
with at least a 3 inch blade. Some small axes and hatches
have a disproportionately larger blade and handle, good.

Danger issue. Actually all axes are dangerous.

Any axe with less than a 36 inch handle can hit your foot.
Even these can hit the foot of a long legged individual.
As you shorten the handle, the place that the axe will hit,
moves up the leg.

Some guys use a hatchet as splitting wedge (or chisel), using
a baton to hit the back of the hatchet. This is a safer method,
than swinging the hatchet.

I bought a large light knife and I baton it, and rarely chop with it,
rather than use a hatchet.
Unfortunately, most large knives are way over-engineered, in the
handle-tang area, so they are very heavy.

What do you want to do, while backpacking?
Chop? Chisel? Slice? Examine what you really need to do
and if there are work-arounds. For example, you can limb small
tree with a strong stick; you can burn a large log in half,
rather than cut it.

I own a 25 inch Whetterling and larger axes; I do not even use
stong hatchets anymore.

Bottom line: as you scale down an axe,
it becomes more dangerous,
and finally, useless and dangerous.

frank
 
There is nothing like a decent axe when you really need to chop wood or drive pegs into the ground. But of course when you are backpacking there is a need to cut down on weight.

I don't do much backpacking of the hiking variety, but I often carry a pack when I am hunting or trapping.

I don't know how heavy it was, but I got a tiny hatchet from an old friend of my grandmothers. The head would have weighed less than half a pound. I fitted a new handle, and dang that little axe could cut stuff. I gave that to my daughter when she left home.

I use a small tomahawk sometimes when trapping. This is very light as well. It would be relatively hopeless for chopping decent firewood, but for cutting small pegs and driving small nails it is brilliant. One advantage of this tomahawk is that it has a tapered cylindrical eye.... a handle can be quickly fitted or removed.....so if I broke one in the bush, I could replace it a heck of a lot easier than I could replace the handle of a conventional hatchet or axe.

One thing I do use a lot is a one-pound hatchet head fitted with a relatively short, sturdy handle. This is much better than the tomahawk for heavier jobs, and it really hits things with a 'whack'. I have a fairly fine edge on it...and it is good for things like roughing out bows and cutting trap pegs etc. It will also handle moderately-sized branches for firewood. The handle on this one only extends nine and a quarter inches below the head. But I find when I am making a bow or sharpening pegs I often will hold any axe quite close to the head anyway; and if I am sitting, the longer handle can be a nuisance.

Like someone mentioned earlier, short-handled axes are dangerous if you don't carefully plan how you are going to use them. If you strive to always keep the handle lower than the head throughout the chopping manouever you are less likely to hurt yourself. Crouching near the ground and chopping on a block or against the ground, a hatchet is fairly safe. I have used them for many, many years and have only cut myself once as far as I recall.... and boy was I being stupid when I did that. I had a heck of a sharp long-handled hatchet and I was trying to shape a very small piece of wood that I was holding between my fingers. (Trying to make a wooden wedge for another axe handle I think).

It should not need to be mentioned that you should keep your spare hand well away from the chopping action.

And of course a hatchet or tomahawk needs a decent sheath of some sort to protect you and your belongings from the blade.

In a lot of places it isn't necessary to have an axe for firewood because there are enough small branches that you can easily break by hand, or by swinging them sharply against a rock.

If I had to choose just one small steel tool to take hiking, I would be mightily tempted to pick my short hatchet.
 
When continuing whit the things FNC said. The question is; do you need a small axe/hatchet? And where are you ganne use is for?

A good a 6-7 inch field knife can split wood and chop a small tree down. A smaller field knife can split logs if you use a baton. Taking larger trees down will be difficult whit any knife butt it’s the same story whit a small hatchet. A hatchet is only handy if you are doing a lot of wood whittling.

TLM: What do you think is the benefit from the hatchet? What can’t be done whit a saw and knife?

Btw I see you are from Finland. Can you translate something for me? http://www.lapinpuukko.fi/tuotteet-index.html I bought two Leukupuukko 3 (or 4) several years ago when travelling in Finland, butt I really cant find any English info on the site.
 
My needs are fairly simple, firewood in very small scale. No need to clear trails, practically no need to drive pegs. When one attacks an old pine stump with a knife the idea of having SOMETHING even a little more suited to task comes fast.

When walking in totally trailless environment light weight helps a lot.

TLM

Can you translate something for me? http://www.lapinpuukko.fi/tuotteet-index.html I bought two Leukupuukko 3 (or 4) several years ago when travelling in Finland, butt I really cant find any English info on the site.
Click to expand...

No problem, which part do you want in english?
 
It should not need to be mentioned that you should keep your spare hand well away from the chopping action.

Quote Coote :

Coote ? I don,t have a spare hand or even a second hand . I have another hand and I would like it right where it is . L:O:L

Looks like you have the answers you need . Even though they are not as light as some you have been offered H:B: forge has a couple that are lighter than most .
 
TLM said:
My needs are fairly simple, firewood in very small scale. No need to clear trails, practically no need to drive pegs. When one attacks an old pine stump with a knife the idea of having SOMETHING even a little more suited to task comes fast.

When walking in totally trailless environment light weight helps a lot.

TLM
Click to expand...

You might want to consider a Bahco Laplander Saw - it's just 6oz (175grams)

http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=118
 
TLM said:
No problem, which part do you want in english?
Click to expand...

If you would like to do that it would be great! I’m interested in the general specs of the knife like the steel, hardness RC, how its made and how to maintenance. I also appreciate some company info whit there company statement. A small summary is enough. Thanks already!

I have two Leukupuukko 4 130 mm, really nice for wood-work and general outdoor tasks but they rust very quickly. I also have a J. Marttiini Lynx 129 that one is extremely good for small game hunting and fishing.

About the hatchet; Fiskars are great and very light weight.
 
You might want to consider a Bahco Laplander Saw - it's just 6oz (175grams)
Click to expand...

I have one and I like it. Getting firewood from a stump with a saw is not quite my favorite exercise though, after that one does usually not need a fire, one gets warm enough without one! :D

TLM

Yup, I think I'll get myself a really light weight hatchet. A tomahawk would be nice, not too many around here!
 
TLM, you made a good choice.
For chopping a stump, I think a lightweight short hatchet would be more efficient than a true tomahawk of the same weight. A light tomahawk would have a thin blade which would stick deep into the wood, especially if swung on a longer handle.
Tomahawks are nice to chop up twigs and small branches, or to split them, but they would make pathetic stump choppers. Unless in despair, you would not want to use a knife for that purpose either, right?

Also, a tiny hatchet could be used to baton on, but the weaker eye area of a small tomahawk would probably deform during this type of batoning, even if it had a hammer poll.
A sturdy tomahawk would be closer to 1 1/2 - 2 lbs rather than the sub-pounder category you specified.

I admit, the "cool" factor of a hatchet is nowhere near that of a hawk, but a hatchet of the same weight would be more compact and would have a more versatile blade profile than the thin bladed hawks with their abrupt transition at the eye.

A member over the Outdoor Forum on the KnifeForums a few days ago posted an old catalog picture of the Colclesser "tomahawk" praised by Horace Kephart. It resembles the GB Mini rather than a "typical" tomahawk.
 
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