Hatchets and tomahawks

[luangtom]

any thoughts?
Cold Steel Vietnam Tomahawk 2-3/4 Blade 13-1/2 Overall Length Hickory

I keep one nearby.....

 

[Delos]

Hatchets?

Havent seen a thread about these and I am in the market for one of the two. Does anyone have any advice and or pictures of ones you own? I am not into throwing or any other sporting event. Mainly use of it will be around the house, clearing brush, etc.

A heavy bowie knife is nice but the width of the hatchet head is needed for splitting or hammering. And a 12 oz hatchet is minimum really.

Unfortunately the last time I took a hatchet into the woods one of our friends was an ex reservation indian who was also an ex army ranger. When I started chipping away at some firewood he made a few expletives and proceeded to prop up old 8 inch logs against other logs and throw large rocks down to easily break them. He broke some smaller stuff with hands and threw some white gas on it from cook stove. Pushed the ends of some longer logs together for a star fire. Disgustingly fast.

So I went back to the medium heavy bowie knife. Then down to a heavy blade huning knife. I have often wished I bought a gurka like in one of the pictures in this thread. But you cannot filet a fish with a gurka. Nice for cutting walking sticks?

But around the property a small chain saw and bow saw is really quick. If I could only have two it would be limb loppers and bow saw.

 

[Delos]

Havent seen a thread about these and I am in the market for one of the two. Does anyone have any advice and or pictures of ones you own? I am not into throwing or any other sporting event. Mainly use of it will be around the house, clearing brush, etc.

Buy one of these if serious about brush. One of the tools smoke jumpers use to cut fire breaks.

Council Fire Rake

 

[quneur]

I bought a little hatchet I found at Goodwill. Hatchet one end and meat tenderizer the other. Found it kinda cool looking.

 

[LittleCooner]

I have been using machetes for over 40 years now and prefer them over hatchets for even light chopping. I have used almost ever design over the years and two years ago, I purchased a Bear Grillis "panga" machete make by Gerber. It is one of, if not the best machete i have ever used. Has sufficient weight to help cut brush or light chopping and the rubberized grip is like holding a set of Pachmayer Decelerator e grips. I will never be without this one.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

When my 3 sons wanted to use my tomahawk, I let them use it for one afternoon. Well they decided they had to have one or two each, that was going to run about $300 at the time and they had no funds. So, we took a broken hatchet and cut the handel off, and installed a "California Framer" 18" handel. It is a pound heaver than a tomahawk, and had a unique but usable ballance. The handles are strait and have a belly in the middle with a swell at the butt. We used a bench sander and removed the swell and refinished the raw wood. It is heavy! But from 50' they could hit and stick the man shaped target in the head 8 or 9 times out of 10. I always bought very cheap hatchets for this project, and started with dressing the edge with a file and cleaning the nail pulling notch up until it was useful. We made 8 to 10 of them and a few are still around the house. Last year when visiting my oldest in Texas, there were 3 hanging on the toolrack (2 that I did not make the mods on but looked as good or better). They are not dangerous weapons you know, they are just hatchets. Ivan

 

[Rule3]

It took 25 posts???

 

[GatorFarmer]

There was a recall notice posted at Walmart. Some of the Gerber Pangas were breaking.

The Cold Steel Vietnam Tomahawk - unless it has been improved - came out of a hatchet factory in Taiwan.

Carbon steel Tramonita machetes out of Brazil - I like the foot long - are useful tools. You can sharpen them with a brick. I used mine to hack up plenty of hardwood.

 

[Rule3]

All right, who edited the title??

 

[A10]

For a utility hatchet I picked up an SOG Natchez double bit. It was around 60 bucks and seems fairly durable. The head is stainless and hard coated, but it's 420 steel so I don't know for sure how it will hold up over time. I like the design though.....

 

[Texas Star]

Buck and Gerber/Fiskars make excellent hatchets at reasonable cost.

I have a 12" machete made by Corneta in, I beleive, El Salvador. But the Tramonita brand mentioned above by Gator Farmer also has a good rep.

The British Martindale brand is sold here, and they have some nice machetes. But those with wooden handles will probably have to have the handles reshaped with files and sandpaper. You can then shape the handle to your hand, though. Their famous logo is a crocodile.

 

[Qball]

Not many pictures?
My hatchet, handforged.
Can't remember by who

 

[keith44spl]

.

Dang, it's a small world.......

My MIL sleeps with one jest like it under her pillow too!

And she keep her bug out broom right handy as well!


.

 

[Qball]

.

Dang, it's a small world.......

My MIL sleeps with one jest like it under her pillow too!

And she keep her bug out broom right handy as well!


.

Now, that is cool

I think that it is a copy of a viking hatchet

 

[snubbyfan]

Found an old mound of rust, cleaned it off and found a hammer/hatchet head under all that corrosion. I got a handle for it and now it's my wife's favorite camping tool.

 

[badguybuster]

Actually not hard. What I do is add a 2" piece of H-13 to the front edge and draw it out. Makes a great cutting edge

 

[nitestalker700]

Search estwing axes and hatchets They have a new modle out. Very nice

 

[Rintimtin]

I have several axes, of different sizes, and a machete (great for light brush clearing, etc.) but as for hatchet-sized tools for hatchet-sized work, I don't think you'll find anything superior to the Gransfors-Bruks "Small Forest Axe". It's slightly larger than a "boy scout" hatchet, with a little longer (and a little safer handle). It's not a tree-felling or firewood-bucking tool, but just right for camp chores that are beyond the capability of a machete. The factory-furnished sheath is inadequate --- I made one of Kydex. It ain't pretty, but it's effective...

jkc, I'd like to see some photos of that Small Forest Axe and the sheath you made. Sounds pretty cool.

 

[wbraswell]

Nice tools. Some of these look like they would be illegal in several states. The black ones especially, and that sweet looking one that Qball has, looks like a beheading instrument.

 

[sceva]

Beaver Bill sets up at some of the OGCA Shows. At the January show I bought my daughter a Spike Hawk that he made and she really likes it.

Hand Forged and heat treated.

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