What is the best camping hatchet?

[TheDeltaForce]

:shock: Holy crap, that Maryland knife maker needs to charge more! Less than a benjamin for that gorgeous Damascus steel and inlaid handle knife? You might want to post a link; he might get some business from knife afficianos around here at ZS. I agree that Casey knife is over the top beautiful, but at least his price is comensurate with his work. The one above it is simply a bargain at $90. You'd pay more than that for some SOGs.

Yeah, hard to believe. There are some similar on Ebay, but they are just crap steel from Pakistan, etc. This guy and his brothers are local to my area, and come to the gun shows. (Harrisburg, York). Ok, just found his business card from the last show.

COMPANY: Thunder Ridge Knife
Contact: Billy Meekins
PH: 443-484-2113
Bel Air, Maryland

Curiously, they do not have a website!!!!

The steel is fantastic....sharp, holds an edge, etc. Yeah, I knew a little about custom knives and when I saw it was $90.00, I jumped on it. It came with a custom made leather belt holder as well.....and when I say custom leather, I'm talking good-smelling well made leather, not some crap. Apparently each person in the business has their job.....one person makes the damascus blades, another does the file work on the bolsters, another does the inlays, another does the handles, and yet another does the leather. I have some ebay-made crap, and this ISN'T it.

- The Delta Force

[landser]

I think you have already done it, but I'd still like to mention that one must define what they want and axe for before getting one. I bushcraft a lot, so I got the Wetterlings... I woulda' got a Gransfors but I'm not cool enough for that , so I got the dirty cousin Wetterlings. I am bushcrafting more and more and using my axe more and more. It's pretty dang important to me for what I do but it is not as importnat to others and what they do.

That said, before I got into bushcrafting, I used to carry a tomahawk and always wondered why I carry a dang tomahawk as I never used it. I then carried a Spetz, and still do occasionally, and used the Hell out of that thing. I now carry a hunter's axe and am slowly getting the hang of what to use it for and love it.

Whatever axe you choose, keep that sucker sharp like your knife. Hair popping sharp. It works awesome that way.

^^^^ i agree wetterlings is the way to go

[ForgeCorvus]

Delta, thats just too pretty to use
Mind you, at that price you wouldn't beat yourself up (much) if you lost it............Except maybe as 'table-stakes', you might get more chips then its value (its stupidly under priced though)

BTW when I said "Whats your knife?", I was asking about your primary user on camps.....Not the sharps-p0rn you posted

[Paladin1]

If you're going to go full bushcraft on us (like some of us have) then "the trio" is hard to beat:
1) 4" fixed blade knife
2) small axe
3) saw

Brands and styles are up to you and your budget, but with those 3 above I can do a lot of stuff.

The first step is to admit it:

I too have gone "full bush"

Found a classic PLUMB axehead for $20 and rehafted it to my liking +Trail Blazer take down bucksaw. Combined with your favorite fixed blade and there's not much you can't do.

[joekaveh]

Are you referring to this one? I see it says it is 12.5" long, and weighs 1.4 lbs. This may just be "the one"!!! I too love the Estwing stuff I have looked at. The 1-piece design means indestructible to me.



- The Delta Force

I too have had this one for years. It outlasted my Ludell Small Axe. It has just been very dependable.

I also have one of those, only positive things to say about it.

[N8urecure]

Let us know how you like your purchase, Delta. When I started reading this thread I was going to offer my 2 cents, but it looks like I came too late. A little while back I was between the Estwing and the Kershaw camp axe. I like Kershaw knives, so I figured I would like their 'camp axe' too. Mine came dull, and it seems like it took too much work to sharpen. Maybe it's me, but I still can't seem to get and keep a really good edge on it. Maybe that sharpener you got will help. Also the handle is VERY grippy. It is hard to describe, but it is almost like tiny little hard plastic spikes. If I use it without gloves for more than a few minutes I get blisters. I also wish now that the shaft was a little longer. If I had it to do over, I would go for the Estwing or a Wetterlings. Of course YMMV, so I'd be curious to hear.

[AeroNautiCal]

I was going to buy a Gerber, but kept seeing excellent reports on the GB Mini Hatchet... and eventually went for that instead!

Well worth the price, so much so that I then opted for it's bigger brother, the Wildlife Hatchet, also a joy to use, along with a Bacho Laplander saw and a Mora fixed blade knife.

All my cutting, sawing and chopping needs are well taken care of by the Mini, Laplander and Clipper (and Swiss Champ).

[jjs72]

I use a good axe stone form Gransfors Bruks, they are 45.00 roughly. Little on the pricey side, will keep any axe sharp. rough sharpen on one side, and the other finer grit. I use it to sharpen all my axes, and hatchets. Some shaving sharp. Myself, i got couple GB's, some Estwings, and some old school axes that i refitted with handles sharpened with a belt grinder.

[jehicks87]

on our field exercises we use the old style military aircrew survival hatchets, the same ones Woodsman's Pal makes. FANTASTIC tool. Love it to death. On my youtube channel I'll be comparing the woodsman's pal to a swedish military ax and estwing ax when I get the chance. I expect the Woodsman's Pal to come out on top, but we'll see.

[KentsOkay]

on our field exercises we use the old style military aircrew survival hatchets, the same ones Woodsman's Pal makes. FANTASTIC tool. Love it to death. On my youtube channel I'll be comparing the woodsman's pal to a swedish military ax and estwing ax when I get the chance. I expect the Woodsman's Pal to come out on top, but we'll see.

I am interested in seeing that.

[jehicks87]

on our field exercises we use the old style military aircrew survival hatchets, the same ones Woodsman's Pal makes. FANTASTIC tool. Love it to death. On my youtube channel I'll be comparing the woodsman's pal to a swedish military ax and estwing ax when I get the chance. I expect the Woodsman's Pal to come out on top, but we'll see.

I am interested in seeing that.

cool. I'll send you a link when I put it up. I have to go to colorado for some training until mid-april, but I'll do it shortly afterwards.

[ForgeCorvus]

Don't send it mate, post it

I'm sure we all would want to have a peep......... And then discuss it

[jehicks87]

Don't send it mate, post it

I'm sure we all would want to have a peep......... And then discuss it

Ok, will do. I just didn't want to go pimping my channel on here.

[ninja-elbow]

Don't send it mate, post it

I'm sure we all would want to have a peep......... And then discuss it

Ok, will do. I just didn't want to go pimping my channel on here.

If it was your 1st or 2nd post - issues. You've got over 100 posts and some decent dialogue, we're pretty sure you're not here to spam us

[jehicks87]

Hmmm... you SURE about that...?

OMG Lindsey LoHAn is at it AGAIN!!! You won't BELIEVE thIs VidEO!!! www. lame spammer .com (disclaimer: I pulled that address out of my ass. I'm sure it's not a real site, but I put spaces in it just to be safe)

[man in black]

i don't know about the best but i can certaily tell you the worst i have ever owned.

I got two of these from major surplus and survival and sweet baby jesus are they god awful. cheap soft chinese steel does not a good tool make. it can't hold an edge the neck area will bend if you try and use the prybar and the grip slips right off and cthulu help you if you try and cut hardwood like rock maple with it because you are just going to break it.

[TheDeltaForce]

UPDATE: I just recieved the Kershaw Camp Ax and also the sharpner I ordered.

FIRST IMPRESSION:
I think I'm going to like the little Kershaw. It actually came SHARP, and I like the grip angle and feel. It's also LIGHT, which is what I wanted to pack lightly in my 2-day hiking pack. The Estwing is a great ax no doubt, but this Kershaw fits my bill and is substantially lighter than those Estwings. Seems easy to swing, and I like the lanyard loop to put around my wrist as a safety to keep it from flying away somehow. Should chop through the small stuff with no problem, and anything else the Fiskar folding saw will handle.

The DIA Sharpener is also very, very nice. Comes with easy instructions, and is a bit larger than I expected, which is good.

Thanks for everyone's input!!

- The Delta Force

[ninja-elbow]

Sweet, now get some dirt on it!... and report back here with some pics. From my memory (which is going btw ) I think you ae the only one around here with a Kershaw axe.

[jehicks87]

on our field exercises we use the old style military aircrew survival hatchets, the same ones Woodsman's Pal makes. FANTASTIC tool. Love it to death. On my youtube channel I'll be comparing the woodsman's pal to a swedish military ax and estwing ax when I get the chance. I expect the Woodsman's Pal to come out on top, but we'll see.

I am interested in seeing that.

cool. I'll send you a link when I put it up. I have to go to colorado for some training until mid-april, but I'll do it shortly afterwards.

Still waiting for a good weekend... I'm probably just going to roll this one up into my MBO. I'm sorry it's taken so long, guys.

[KentsOkay]

It's alright, thanks for keepignus posted!

[Marxist]

A Husqvarna Hatchet. Amazing quality, and much cheaper than a Wetterlings or Gransfors Bruks.

[modina]

A Husqvarna Hatchet. Amazing quality, and much cheaper than a Wetterlings or Gransfors Bruks.

watch out with these. I have handled a few in stores and they were all shit. One had a very loose handle and all of them had uneven grinds. I believe the husky axes are geared more for pounding wedges when using a chainsaw. The saws are top notch though, husky all the way for me.