Just watched a show on the History Channel (still watching) called axes. In it they say that the ax was the favorite multi purpose tool of the early settlers. Also showed the evolution of the tomahawk. Pretty interesting.
Just watched a show on the History Channel (still watching) called axes. In it they say that the ax was the favorite multi purpose tool of the early settlers. Also showed the evolution of the tomahawk. Pretty interesting.
I understood the machete to be a tool of southern climates. I think in the hard woods around here it would be of little use. A sharp hachet on the other hand. I have had one all my life. I have been considering buying a "woodsmans pal" Google it. Looks handy.
Here is a pic of colonial, they carried camp axes or poll axes or tomahawks, as that is what was used.
Notice the axe.
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
There is no greater solitude than that of the Tracker in the forest, unless perhaps it's that of the wolf in the wilderness.
Me using the term hardwood forest was not infer there were not tropical hardwoods but to describe the terrain. Maybe you would prefer non tropical, devoid of vines and thick vegetation. Is that better? See Beowulf’s pic? Notice then lack of thick vegetation? See how travel in easier then a tropical environment? See how a axe could be advantageous over a machete? Nords liked their axes for a reason, and it was not mystical.
Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he's too old
to fight... he'll just kill you.
G'day ...
My first post in these forums and my first point of order - through my own studies and research the above statement isn't really correct. What the Native Americans were to call the Tomahawk had been in European hands for over a thousand years in the form of Boarding Axes by sailors from pre Viking times right through to sailors of the 17th Century.
The common boarding hatchet or axe was a very popular and well favoured weapon of Pirates and the sailors of the British Royal Navy and their kin in Europe. It was from sailors that the common boarding axe was introduced to the Native Americans through trade and it was then that the Natives saw this tool useful in many different ways. If you watch Master and Commander there is a scene where a mast breaks and is dragging beyond the ship ... the ropes were cut using these very same devices; they were multi tools in their time.
This is a French Naval boarding axe ... or is it a Tomahawk?
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
The Natives called their adopted version of it ... a Tomahawk sure, but the boarding axe had been around and in common use long before it got into Native hands. Saxon warriors and Celts during Roman times wielded axes and hatchets whether on land or sea. Within the context of this discussion I would suggest that early settlers did indeed use the "Hatchet" because it came FROM the settlers themselves ... whether it was used on land as a general weapon of war ( by settlers during the Indian wars ) could be debated ( I think it more than likely ) but its wide usage at sea as a European weapon of war is well documented and proven beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Sorry for the long post but I'm a history buff ...
Best, TR.
P.S ... As to the question I'd actually choose neither and instead opt for the Kukri ... it's got the benefits of both machete and hatchet in one.
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
Last edited by Tikirocker; 11-21-2008 at 10:52 PM.
You can't make a machete from natural materials, but yet, with a tomahawk you can. So I say tomahawk. I have seen people make katana like swords from obsidian, but never a merchete. Give me a large flint nodule, a good hardwood sapling, rawhide and sinew, and some pinepitch and hide glue and a good tomahawk will be the outcome
KILL OR BE KILLED
Hey there Tikirocker - when you get a chance, drop by the introduction secton and give us a little history on yourself. Thanks.
BEO, I like your style. When you have a chance check out my Powder horn in making stuff, I would like to know what you think.
All this talk about "this vs that" reminds me of a line I heard once.
"when a man with a pistol face's a man with a winchester. the man with the winchester wins every time."
1. If it's in your kit and you don't know how to use it....It's useless.
2. If you can't reach your kit when you need it....Its useless.
Alaska Backcountry Adventure Tours
www.youralaskavacation.com
Tell them Kevin sent you!!
Perhaps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk_(axe)
I doubt many sailors boarded with stone tomahawks but I could be wrong.
The truth is, similar weapons/tools have found a place in most cultures for eons. The Japanese have used the Masakari-Ono for thousands of years. Similar and still quite different.
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
What would you pay for a finely crafted Masakari Ono? Wait! Don't answer. If you call right now.......
Last edited by Rick; 11-22-2008 at 06:25 PM.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
I am very attached to my long handle hatchet, 1/14lb head 20" handle, almost 'hawk styled"
but I seldom ever venture out with only one cutting instrument with me.
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maid art far more fair than she."
Class? You want class? I'll show you class. Bring your pale skinny white but over here. I got your class right here bucko.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
I don't care who you are.
Then, of course, there are the bears no one talks about because no one sees them. Yet, they are there. Oh, so near. Watching. Waiting. Like a thought on the wind. A passing breeze. What was that? Only a shadow? Perhaps.
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
even with the Winchester in the hands of Chuck Connors?
Bookmarks