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Hatchet or Saw?

Black_Fly

Black_Fly

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Heart of the Shawnee Nation
My trip this month was my first without a hatchet or small axe. I brought a saw, which I typically take on daytrips for clearing down trees. I didn’t portage, and even if I had, there was little chance of down timber on the trails since this is a well traveled area. I missed the hatchet. Together with a bushcrafting knife, I can quickly process fuel for my twig stove. Much harder without the hatchet. I used all of he floor litter I could find, and was scrambling to find fuel for a meal. With a hatchet, I could have processed bigger stuff fast - chop it to length, use the bc knife to split. Pounding tent stakes with a rock is also a pain, damaging to gear.

I didn’t use the saw at all, just wasted baggage. Too much wind for a campfire, and I rarely make one anyway. Next trip, the hatchet goes.
 
I like to drop into untraveled areas by float plane so I prefer a chainsaw. There might not be a campsite and the portages are only used by moose and caribou. I also like a 24 inch pruner. I skip the hatchet to stay light weight. LOL
 
BWCA66 said:
Machete?
Click to expand...
I like my Fiskars brush clearing axe, half axe/half machete. My boys think it’s a great toy and they build some pretty cool forts with it and beating back the bush is a good thing where we trip so I don’t loose any sleep over their maliciousness.

Out of the saw and hatchet, if I was just feeding a twig stove I’d say hatchet. I use the back side of mine like a hammer to break 1” diameter branches into little nubs of wood that fit the twig stove nicely. Much less work than sawing.
 
Rubbaboo said:
I like my Fiskars brush clearing axe, half axe/half machete. My boys think it’s a great toy and they build some pretty cool forts with it and beating back the bush is a good thing where we trip so I don’t loose any sleep over their maliciousness.

Out of the saw and hatchet, if I was just feeding a twig stove I’d say hatchet. I use the back side of mine like a hammer to break 1” diameter branches into little nubs of wood that fit the twig stove nicely. Much less work than sawing.
Click to expand...
Might be faster than chop and split. Never splintered it that way before.
 
I've sometimes used a hatchet for twig stove processing when I'm rain bound and know I'll be in camp for a couple dreary days with nothing to do.

Otherwise, for regular cooking fires, I normally just cut small dead branches to length (if needed) and use my knife to baton through bigger pieces (if needed).

I can normally make due with sticks that are breakable by hand.

Alan
 
I've never taken an axe or hatchet on canoe trips. Never use one at home on my 11 acres, either, even though I have one. On canoe trips I bring one of my folding Silky saws and one of my Condor Duku Parangs (machetes), along with a fixed blade knife. They take care of any brush clearing, small log cutting, and log splitting that I need for canoe campfires and the non-wilderness portages I've traveled.

Here on my tractor are my 10.5" and 15.5" Duku Parangs, my 10" Silky ULTRA Accel and 15" Silky BIGBOY 2000 saws, plus a Bark River neck knife.

Cutting tools on tractor.jpg

A machete, parang or golok is much more effective at clearing brush, stripping small branches off a trunk, and tap splitting small logs into kindling than my boys axe, which I do own, is pictured in the post below, but never used at home or on trips.

Length considerations for a canoe axe: function and safety

You might be right Glenn! The place I bought it from had a variety of handle lengths with the same head, and they all had the same number attached to them, with just a variation on the handle.
www.canoetripping.net
 
For years a "dragged" an axe on canoe trips along with a few different folding bow saws, I did use both but not very much. I continued to bring them when I started solo tripping but so rarely made fires that it seemed like dead weight for no reason.

In recent years I've changed to a small Bahco folding saw and Felco Loppers. The Bahco is sufficient for cutting small branches up to 2 - 3" diameter, the loppers are great for cutting dead branches (on the tree or cutting those branches into smaller pieces but the primary use is for clearing camp spaces and especially for getting through alder infested small creeks or accessing the shore behind a wide barricade of alders.

Mostly were I travel, the bulk of available wood is either dead alders or smallish black spruce, I rarely need to cut any big stuff. Neither of these tools are any good for clearing large dead fall on portages, I leave that for the trail guys with their chainsaws. I no longer bring any type of axe.
 
My camp was on an outcropping of rock, mostly cedars. The area burned in 2006. Forest litter was enough for 3 or 4 boils, then very scarce. I did plan on doing the baton thing, but the only decent wood was some split birch logs left by the fire pit. They could have been done with the bc knife, but ten times faster with the hatchet. Had I stayed another day (which would have been safer), I would have started batoning those logs. It was the sparsest fuel camp I’ve had since changing from liquid fuel. To make matters worse, my pocket rocket died in mid boil after only 2 cooks on that can. That’s a whole ‘nother story.
 
I can't think of any time I've used a hatchet in the woods for several years. It helps that I'm often under fire restrictions or just don't want to bother. I always have an ultralight saw and a stout knife if I intend to have a fire. My fires are always small and short lived. I like it that way.

Now, glamping.... that's when the hatchet comes out. Sometimes even a splitting maul.
 
I carry a small axe and have a hard time going without it. I’d miss it for limbing small dead trees and pounding stakes. I always have it easily accessible for times when a tree might be across the trail or stream, or I find that perfect pole I want to take home. It’s also good security to have it easily accessible to use as a weapon. If I have the least bit of concern for my safety it will be in my tent by my side when I retire for the night.
 
I never bring an axe or hatchet on a solo canoe trip. I have a small saw I bring when Chick comes along - she likes to be in charge of all fire related activities and the wood MUST be cut to exact, matching lengths.
 
Black_Fly said:
With a hatchet, I could have processed bigger stuff fast - chop it to length, use the bc knife to split. Pounding tent stakes with a rock is also a pain, damaging to gear.
Click to expand...

lowangle al said:
I carry a small axe and have a hard time going without it.
Click to expand...

I always bring my ax, whether it’s car camping, remote base camp or even when I was portaging. When toting a wood stove it’s pretty much necessary, with a twig stove not so much but like Al says, not a bad thing to have within reach when needed.

DSC00032.jpegDSC00666_Original.jpegCopy (2) of DSC01453_Original.jpeg
 
Saw. I don't use an axe often enough to be proficient with one, and one should feel comfortable with that tool before taking it into the backcountry.
 
I usually bring both - small hatchet (which is usually used more for pounding tent pegs) and a folding saw. If I could only have one it would be the saw. We like to cook on the fire and sit around the fire, so we spend a fair amount of time gathering and cutting wood.

fire.jpg
The small stuff you can break with your hands, the bigger stuff gets cut to length with the saw. Sometimes we'll split it, but that's usually more bother than it's worth. It's a lot of work, but it is nice to be able to cook on the fire.

cooking.jpg

Not exactly wilderness where I go. We are on established sites, but wood is still pretty easy to find.
 
Both: folding saw and a 14" hatchet. I'd be hard pressed to choose between the two, but could get by with either.

I've not yet found the need for an axe, but my trips have all been along well established routes. Maybe I would bring an axe if I were doing trail or site maintenance, but I'd much sooner drag my canoe over a downed tree than spend a long time chopping through one.
 
After two close encounters with hatchets, I have permanent injuries to my left hand. My grip is weak, and I can't hold a coffee mug with my wrist in a neutral position. I can't hyperextend my left thumb. It gets in the way when I try to type on a laptop keyboard. I would have trouble hitchhiking in the UK.

Physical therapy came about 50 years too late. The PTs told me that if you have a hand injury, you should get to PT within 48 hours.

No hatchets in the woods for me. Maybe an axe, with both hands on the handle out of harm's way. But a saw is much safer for cutting, it just won't split wood very well.
 
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