The Vital Ax.

[Sarge47]

One thing I find interesting is this. Many on here pride themselves about their knowledge of primitive skills in making and using gear and skills. An axe could, in all likelihood, be considered a primitive tool. It is also not a tool that would be used in every environment. Today knives are made stronger, also we have the invention of the chainsaw as mentioned elsewhere on this thread. I just find it interesting that, with all theadherence to primitive skills, that some of those same folks don't seem to includ an axe....

[Winter]

Can I see pictures of how you axe guys carry your axes deep into the bush?

[Sarge47]

Can I see pictures of how you axe guys carry your axes deep into the bush?

This is Illinois, I pack mine in the car....

[Sarge47]

Well...

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Also note how Creek Stewart and his guys carried theirs in "Fat Guys in the Woods:"

http://willowhavenoutdoor.com/featur...the-gear-list/

[randyt]

here's how I carry my hatchet. I have also carried a axe with a sheath put head down in my packbasket. I have also carried a axe in my right hand for miles on end.

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[DSJohnson]

Well...

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This is pretty much exactly how I carry mine. Collapsing/folding saw and sleeping pad on the off side. I also have a short (8') piece of rope in that bottom pocket just to be handy.

[Winter]

I was trying to differentiate between those who actually carry an axe in the bush and those who don't but still swear by it. LOL

One of my outdoor companions carries one on a pack mounted sheath.

He likes to point out how awesome his axe is compared to my large knife. I agree with him, HIS axe is awesome. Its most attractive feature is me not carrying it.

[TXyakr]

The axe has been used and carried by primitive humans for thousands of years. I have seen indigenous people used them as a last resort hunting weapon. As a teenager I used the back of one to knock domestic pigs unconscious before cutting their throats, safer than a bullet and more fun. Reason not to carry one is if you are traveling ultra light and fast and only making small fires or none and just a portable shelter such as tarp/tent.

[Winter]

The axe has been used and carried by primitive humans for thousands of years. I have seen indigenous people used them as a last resort hunting weapon. As a teenager I used the back of one to knock domestic pigs unconscious before cutting their throats, safer than a bullet and more fun. Reason not to carry one is if you are traveling ultra light and fast and only making small fires or none and just a portable shelter such as tarp/tent.

Same can be said for the large knife. To each his own. My gear and gear choices are not theoretical.

[chiggersngrits]

Please explain. I really do not understand why you would waste time and energy splitting wood for an outdoor fire. I can not remember ever splitting wood for camping purposes. If I need smaller pieces of wood, I collect smaller branches , trees etc... Most of the wood I would collect I cut twice as long as it needs to be and let the fire burn it in half.
Maybe its a "my neck of the woods thing" or maybe I am just lazy but I can not think of a reason to split wood other than maybe making kindling and I have never needed to do so.

[Rick]

The only time I've ever split wood for a fire is if the wood is wet. And trust me, I wasn't splitting cabin logs either. Small stuff to get to dry wood.

[Wise Old Owl]

Winter a good axe can be less than 2 pounds.

REI

HATCHET

[chiggersngrits]

The only time I've ever split wood for a fire is if the wood is wet. And trust me, I wasn't splitting cabin logs either. Small stuff to get to dry wood.

Good point. My wet wood technique is to use a lot more small stuff and keep extra wet logs on or near the fire to dry and use as needed.
Did not mean to hijack the axe thread, I enjoy looking at your axes and how you tote them.

[Winter]

The only time I've ever split wood for a fire is if the wood is wet. And trust me, I wasn't splitting cabin logs either. Small stuff to get to dry wood.

I have to do this quite a bit.

[finallyME]

Winter a good axe can be less than 2 pounds.

REI

HATCHET

The word "good" is very subjective. One person's "good" is not another person's. A light axe or hatchet isn't that good because you lose all the benefits of carrying one over a large knife.

[finallyME]

I have to do this quite a bit.

Knowing your location, I can see you doing this.

Very rarely do we get those conditions here in super dry Utah.

However, I have had to split wood to get a fire going. I always have to split wood when I go winter camping to a place with no trees and established campsites. That means I HAVE to bring wood in. Yes, I could bring in kindling, but sometimes you just forget, and all you have is big stuff. Now granted, the big stuff is usually already split 4 ways, so quarter logs. The two times I had to do this, I had an axe and my Cold Steel SRK. I didn't have a chopping block. The axe would split the quaters down 1 more time. But I needed the big knife to split it into small enough pieces.

Once while backpacking I needed to split the wood down small enough for kindling....but this was out of pure, unadulterated, laziness.

[Jimmy Whisper]

Depending on where I'm headed I may just have a knife. If I think I am going to end up processing any significant amount of wood, at the minimum I take the handle off my hawk and throw the head in my pack. I can whittle a tomahawk handle in no time and I'm back in business. As far as Axes go, I love my boy's axe for almost everything and it's packable.

[Wildthang]

I like a good old fashion hatchet with a full sized head, and the fact that it makes a great hammer. When building a tarp shelter where there isn't any tree limbs to use for a ridge pole, or tie off to, I like to drive my support steaks into the ground to keep the wind from blowing the shelter away. If there isn't any rocks around then the hatchet is really good to have around!

[Midwest Preacher]

I use a "Boy's Axe" all the time while out camping. It weighs in at 1.25 pounds with a 24" handle and I don't seem to notice its weight. I do carry a larger knife, about 8" blade length and a smaller knife with a 4" blade. I am very careful of using it as my brother-n-law lopped his toe off when he was a kid. (Need I say more?) I don't split wood for a camp fire, but then again, if I have to make a back wall for my fire, I want a tool that allows me to do that job as quickly as I can. BTW, I like using a 'too' also (too and froe)!!!! You made a funny.

[Grizzlyette Adams]

Page 151, chapter 8, "Complete Book of Camping," by Leonard Miracle with Maurice Decker. (Outdoor Life, 1961)

"If you were all alone in the woods with only one tool, what tool would you select?To this question the wise woodsman would answer an ax-for the ax is the basic wilderness tool.

"With only an ax a skillful woodsman can build a sturdy shelter--a permanent cabin if need be. The steel head of the ax will spark a flint to light a fire. An ax will cut materials to build traps for fish and game. A man with an ax can build a raft, a dugout, or a canoe. The cutting edge of an ax can be used to butcher a moose that weighs half a ton or to clean a one pound fish.

Hunting small game is another fine and dandy use for an axe/tomahawk.

Throwing a 'hawk (or a knife) accurately is not hard to learn, and is a ton of fun to practice and play with. I learned how with this book: Knife and Tomahawk Throwing by Harry K. McEvoy. Got it from http://www.crazycrow.com/throwing-knives (the $4.95 one).

(No, I have never killed anything with it yet, but I know for certain that I could put rabbit meat on the table with it.)