Lightweight axe/hatchet?

[Bighorse]

I run an GB small forest and Silky saw combo in the SE AK rainforest. Trail building and stove filling being the primary objective. The axe works well for blazing trees and clearing certain vegetation. The saw is needed for clearing Alder choked approaches. A large Silky is excellent for some large obstructions too. I don't expect more than a season from a blade. Having two impliments for fuel procurement and camp prep is super. Break a saw blade and your still in the game.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

I stopped using an axe/hatchet in the field when my partner was clearing a sweeper tip one evening so we could reach a needed camp downstream (1996). He was tired and sloppy...he ended up nearly severing a large vessel in thigh. The situation scared me enough to learn the valuable lesson about field fatigue and sharp tools.

Second Rule of Survival...remove yourself and team from the threat....

If i take anything besides a sturdy pocket knife, it would be a bow saw. And I rarely need that unless i'm blazing a new route on a woody river.

and we also use the Kifaru tipis with wood stoves on fall hunts.

However, i recognize that each caliber of a trip requires modifications and tools that are unique to its demands. still...an hatchet would not make the list.

 

[hodgeman]

I'm with Larry and a few others on this one... "lightweight" and "hatchet" just seem like a sure recipe for a fairly serious injury. A good saw will keep a camp in firewood with much less chance of injury and less physical exertion.

A tool like a hatchet needs enough heft and enough handle to do the job without overexerting yourself. Trying to do an axe job with a hatchet will get you hurt.

 

[Take-a-knee]

I'm with Larry and a few others on this one... "lightweight" and "hatchet" just seem like a sure recipe for a fairly serious injury. A good saw will keep a camp in firewood with much less chance of injury and less physical exertion.

A tool like a hatchet needs enough heft and enough handle to do the job without overexerting yourself. Trying to do an axe job with a hatchet will get you hurt.

A sound argument can be made that the "3/4" hudson's bay or forest axe as many call them (22in to 26in handle length) is WAY more dangerous than any hatchet. Using the longer tool to clear or chop while standing can gash a knee or shin open with a glancing blow. The remedy is to use it on your knees. A small axe or "long-hatchet" is far superior for splitting, IMO, IF you keep your non-dextrous fingers out of harm's way. Lots of woodcraft vids showing the techniques.

An argument can surely be made that a stout medium knife/jab saw is lighter and safer, but batoning a heap of wood can be a big PITA. I'd still at least a small saw even with a small axe or hatchet to keep a stove fed in the cold.

 

[COlineman78]

I don't get this; accidents happen, but there are far more dangerous things in the back country than a friggin hatchet. I've cut my finger down to the bone when my knife slipped while working on an elk skull. That's not to say you don't need a reminder every once in a while that what you are doing is dangerous and you need to pay attention to what you are doing. I, like Larry's friend have admittedly gotten lackadaisical with a hatchet (luckily without incident, just looked down to notice leg in the wrong place) but have done the same even just hiking by getting to close to the edge or just doing unsafe things when tired, so I think it's less of a hatchet issue as the need to recognize that everything is more dangerous when miles away from civilization and you need to pay attention. However personally, I will continue to bring a hatchet and this thread is for those that feel the same and want to discuss which ones are better and for what reason. So please, it's been said that some don't think it's a good idea and let's leave it at that.

Okay, now back to backcountry hatchets... I have taken one trip so far with both the UST Sabrecut and Gerber Gator JR and both performed very well and it's going to take a few more trips for me to decide which I prefer. The thing I like most about the Gerber is that the integrated saw works quite well, almost as good as a Sierra Saw without the added weight. If you want a true hatchet however and don't mind throwing in a Sierra Saw or going without a saw, then the UST is the one for you. I did sharpen both of these before using them out of the box on my WorkSharp. I still have yet to try the Schrade Old Timer, which seems like it would be the best for pure splitting. Obviously the GB is widely considered the best and for the price it should be, but I am looking for something that will do the job in a little lighter and smaller package and of course cheaper doesn't hurt.

 

[Carolina joe]

Council tool velvicut Hudson bay, 2 1/2 # of useful weight to me. I tried going without an axe several times, I got really tired of breaking limbs between trees.

I have no idea as to why my pic is upside down, or how to rotate it

 

[307]

How about this?

http://www.fremontknives.com/farsonhatchet.php

 

[Carolina joe]

Just my opinion, I think the twigs in the picture with it are about the size stuff it's made for

 

[Hunt'nFish]

Over the years I've found my Fiskers hatchet to be very useful.
I paid $15 for it at Home Depot at that time. Qtr'd up many an elk since.
I keep it razor sharp and it can split an elk backbone lengthwise with ease.
Depending on weather forecast for a trip, it doesn't always make the weight cut, but I sure have a hard time leaving it behind.
Hunt'nFish

 

[husky390]

I'll bring my Fiskars 14" X7 that I bought from Home Depot if my Kifaru stove is going with.

 

[Cowboy611]

ive used a SOG Fasthawk for years now and love it! cheap and at only 2 LBS the long handle and hammer side make it super useful despite not having too hefty of a head. I dont really use the spike so i thing a Tomahawk with a hammer poll would be the top of my list on practical and lightweight. CKRT makes a chogan woods hawk ($65) with this feature and cold steel ($35) does too. if you want a hatchet Best Made Co now has a made in america Straight handle hatchet with a dayton pattern head. I love my fullsize Felling axe by them. AMazing quality on the head and handle and great customer service but i feel a hammer head is important in the woods since a axe poll is not hardened and therefore takes damage if you use it that way.
if you are willing to pack a little more weight and power the Les Stroud Bushman by Wetterlings looks super practical and all purpose too!