Where are the Bill Hooks?

SamuraiDave

SamuraiDave

Joined
Apr 6, 2001
Messages
2,632
A few weeks ago I got to use my Austrian made Sickle while cleaning up a friend's backyard.

I got to wondering why I haven't seen any bill hooks here in the states.
I haven't even seen many here on Bladeforums.

I have khukris. I have axes. I have all kinds of knives.
However, I don't have a decent bill hook.

For clearing out brush I can see where a bill would behave differently than a Machete, or an Axe, or a Khukri.
From my online searches I am finding that they are popular in Europe, and a couple made in Japan.

But why not here in the States?
I'd like to buy one, but I am beginning to think that I would need to contact a smith to make one.

Just thinking about things I wouldn't mind adding to my collection.
 
These were all bought in the USA (though the smallest is a vintage one from that auction site).

IMG_3723b_1_4_1.jpg


These were acquired fairly recently and have not yet been put to work.
From right to left, a Truper from Mexico, with 51" total length.
The next two are made in Germany by SHW.
The smallest is an old "Severquick" made by the Staniforth company in England.

IMG_3725b_1_1_1.jpg


The Truper is double-edged with a blade thickness of 1/8".
The long double-edged SHW has a blade thickness of 1/4" tapering to 1/8".
The other SHW has a blade thickness a little over 1/8".
The single-edge of the Staniforth has a single bevel, and the blade is quite substantial with a thickness of 1/4" tapering to 3/16". The tang is peened at the end of the handle.
 
If you do a search for:
shw cabbage knife 53640
you'll find my source in Kentucky for these SHW billhooks.
 
Awesome!
Thank you!

That should get my collection started here shortly.

I've also been looking at Imcasa's line of Coa machetes and Cazanga machetes. Sure you have to put a handle on them, but that just adds character!
Imcasa also sells a Bill Hook Machete, but for some reason I think I would like to add my own handle to some of the ones that dont come with it.
Martindale also has a few machetes that I am looking into...
Then there is also Bellotto out of Brazil. They have some interesting renditions of the bill hook.

I'm just surprised that there is not a larger following and a larger selection of European bill hooks readily available on the American market.
 
Google 'brush hook' or 'bush hook' and you should gets some hits for tools here in the U.S.

Frankly, I'm not that impressed with them. They caught my eye because they look like they would be awesome on blackberry brambles. They work, but so do you. It's too big and heavy of tool. And the hook is meaningless. Give me a razor sharp machete and I'll work circles around a brush hook wielder.
 
Brush hooks were used for years by convict road crews in North Carolina. There should be a lot of them out there that are old and used.
 
Maybe we don't have a lot of one-hand billhooks in this country because we've always preferred fences or walls, which don't need plashing, to hedges, which do.
 
Billhooks are fantastic tools and far underrepresented here in the 'states. I find them to be closest in description for those unfamiliar with a proper one to be much like a hybrid of a machete, hatchet, and cleaver. They are used differently than conventional versions of any of those three tools but with similar elements. Hertford pattern billhooks served as the primary inspiration for my Baryonyx machete design, and I borrowed a lot from the dynamics of the billhook when designing it.

As far as brush hooks go, or brush axes as I more commonly see them referred to, they are very good tools for completely leveling an entire thicket of brambles, especially in stony areas where a scythe with a bush blade would be inappropriate. I'm very experienced with machetes and can tell you that when it comes to eradicating a large patch of raspberry bushes or other thorny plants they will fall flat on their face compared to a properly wielded brush axe. I swing mine one-handed by the end of the handle and let the weight of the head work like a pendulum--it does pretty much all of the work for me. It's very rare that I actually have use for my brush axe, but when I do it's absolutely the best tool for the job. They are definitely not billhooks, though, just like a "cuma" pattern machete is not a billhook, nor is a sickle or scythe. They all feature forward-curving blades, but their other characteristics and ideal uses are very different.
 
Square_peg said:
Give me a razor sharp machete and I'll work circles around a brush hook wielder.
Click to expand...

FortyTwoBlades said:
I'm very experienced with machetes and can tell you that when it comes to eradicating a large patch of raspberry bushes or other thorny plants they will fall flat on their face compared to a properly wielded brush axe.
Click to expand...

Sounds like we have a challenge. You're in Maine, I'm in Washington. So let's say we meet at a bramble in Minnesota and go head to head!
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LOL :D Like I said I just find that when used with the right technique a brush axe will outpace a machete for the specific task of totally leveling a large patch of brambles. For simple trimming or taking out a smaller patch a machete will be about as fast. The big advantage of the hook is the pendulum-like low swing that results in an upward cut close to the base of the stems. The mass makes it plough straight through even when meeting the resistance of the woody stem. Normally tip velocity is the name of the game for light targets, but the upward stroke pulls upwards against the growth of the plants which pulls them taught and allows the cut to be completed by the drawing slash of the hook.
 
I'll give the brush axe another try. It's been a few years but the last time I worked both tools I preferred the machete on our Himalayan blackberries.

It wasn't that the brush axe wouldn't do a good job of cutting them at the base, it's just that it left long vines that you couldn't walk thru. And trying to cut blackberry vines up high off the ground doesn't work well with a brush axe. They just bend and get wrapped up on the blade.

With the machete you can chop the vines up into smaller pieces that allow you to walk over them without getting tangled up in them. Part of our differing experiences could be the difference between cutting NE raspberries vs. NW blackberries. Apples vs. oranges if you will.
 
It's possible! It sounds like you're describing some sort of creeping variety? And I agree that brush axes do an awful job cutting stuff high off the ground. The brush axe to my mind is purely for cutting stems close to the ground, sort of like long-handled bent-blade cane knives, grass whips, and scythes. It's sort of like a grass whip for woody stemmed plants, so to speak. I use it with a similar low, one-handed pendulous stroke.
 
Blackberries in the Northwest can be about 8' high (sometimes tangled in branches of trees) which then curve back down to the ground like octopus tentacles, making a thicket that prevents access to the base without first cutting and pulling away the tentacles/canes.

What I've found to be very effective is a 2-grip european scythe with a short bush blade to reach in and cut the tentacles (as high as necessary), to gain access to the base and slice them off. The scythe handle is long enough to prevent scratching oneself, and the blade/snath juncture makes a good "hook" to pull the tangles of canes out of the way periodically.
 
Ah, that DOES explain it. Very different from the ones in our neck of the woods. Our blackberries are just shrub-like thickets more like raspberry bushes. In fact, they so strongly resemble each other that without fully ripe berries on them you can't tell the difference at a distance.
 
a true "billhook" was available at one time from kellems----from martini of finland--excellent/outstanding cutter---can cut grass like a sickle--brush like a brush axe--tree/limbs like an axe---fire sticks like a knife-- i think you could field dress elk/deer with it. if you find someone to make one let me know i would like a custom
one.
 
Steve Tall said:
Blackberries in the Northwest can be about 8' high (sometimes tangled in branches of trees) which then curve back down to the ground like octopus tentacles, making a thicket that prevents access to the base without first cutting and pulling away the tentacles/canes.
Click to expand...

Here's a sampling from my rounds today.

Blackberries1.jpg

Blackberries2.jpg

Blackberries3.JPG


They are not brush axe friendly. I like a 22" machete, leather gloves and a canvas jacket. A gas-powered weedeater with a brush blade works OK, too. But honestly, you can go just as fast with a sharp machete.

You'd rather roll around in razor wire than one of our brambles.
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