Can an axe replace a saw and a knife?

[Wook]

At the moment I carry a largish folding saw and a 6 inch Bowie for cutting and splitting wood for making fires. To be honest it is a bit of a cumbersome system.

I've been wondering if something like a Gransfors Hand Hatchet could replace both. I rarely cut anything bigger than 2-3 inches in diameter, so I would think even a small axe would be able to handle it. The only thing I use the Bowie for is splitting wood. Most other things I use a small pocket knife for, so I think the Axe could replace the bowie and then some. Also I'm told that the Hand Hatchet is often used as a replacement for a knife, being small enough to be used for carving.

Good idea? Bad idea?

Opinions?

Thanks

 

[drewdunnrespect]

mate you have opened a massive can of worms fue to the fact that there are two camps in this arguument and they are

camp 1 the knife and saw brigade who think an axe isnt needed in britton and dont use one

camp two those that have a gransfore bruks small forest axe or any gransfore bruks axe or any axe and use it


now i am firmly in camp two and well happy but i have a saw and a knife as well so its up to you really

 

[tinderbox]

Bend a bit green wood 2" in diameter to stretch the fibres and a 4" scandi will rock through it. Add a baton it'll split it. If the wood is to big to snap lay it across the fire and it'll burn through. Axes are good, so are saws, but they're not needed for small fires.

 

[santaman2000]

The short answer is "No." It's hard to clean your fingernails with an axe and they're hard to swim with. However, you can get along fine with either "just an axe" or "just a knife" for short periods (a week or 2) I rarely carry an axe unless I intend to chop down a tree or simply want to play with said axe. I NEVER carry a saw unless I need a full gasoline powered chain saw.

 

[Woadhart]

I go with a mora and a small cheapo pruning saw. I saw up small diameter lengths and split with the mora and a baton. Total cost was less than £20 and I've never been in a situation where I couldn't make adequate firewood without the axe.

I'd recommend trying without the bowie and going for a smaller knife and the saw. Should be lighter overall than the axe and will take up no more pack space, plus you can get rid of your pocket knife and use the smaller blade for all your other cutting needs.

That being said, if you have the axe already then it can't hurt to try the setup as an experiment, what works for me might not be the best for you.

 

[Goosegog]

I'm a saw and Mora person myself, I only ever used an axe on one occasion and found that I can do a better (ahem) job with a saw and the batoned with the Mora. If I needed to chop a large tree up I'd burn then break. Or pop home for a chain saw.... but in the UK we mostly only do small stuff so a Knife and saw is great.
Think how often you'd really need to chop up a 4inch plus log.
I could even go without the folding saw in the UK.

 

[Everything Mac]

It's a case of horses for courses IMO.

A saw is great if you need to efficiently trim dead branches which can be a pain for an axe if it is hard wood. And the H+S brigade will tell you it is much safer than an axe! "AH a heavy sharp thing!!"


But lets face it an axe is THE tool for splitting wood, which does need to be done in the early stages of a fire.

I'd say if it was just a one nighter then a saw and knife is the way to go. But if you are spending a few nights out then an axe earns it's keep.
I'm away at the weekend and I think I'll take my hatchet with me.

If you are on a trek then the axe vs large knife argument comes into it.

As for the original question - well the answer is of course no. Otherwise the knife would never have been invented. There is a considerable amount of cross over but ultimately one cannot replace the other.

You can of course combine the two and use a billhook - a very good tool - if a bit large.

I appreciate that post didn't help much but it is 4:30 am.

Andy

 

[awarner]

I like both camps as such, in scouting where 98% of wood is now palletised an axe is largely redundant I mainly instruct with knives only. Axe still has its place but it's used far less now as the lads use a knife for splitting pallet strips after being cut to size with a saw.

Away from scouts is another matter but I will use whatever is at hand. I generally carry everything in a box in the car as it covers all bases for scouts and personal.

 

[Everything Mac]

Come to think of it I've split wood with a spade before

Needs must and all that.

Andy

 

[Retired Member southey]

Someimes I take a penknife, sometimes I take belt knife, folding saw, buck saw, axe, axe, axe, axe and an axe. Depends on what I want to play with or make. Why not go out for a couple of nights and swap your kit out each day, see what you like, after all why limit your self to one toy in this game of ours.

 

[Shewie]

You should use all the tools available to you, it's a good excuse to buy new shineys

Each tool makes one particular task slightly easier, why make life hard for yourself.

In my experience an axe will process firewood faster than anything else, how you gather that firewood might require a saw. A knife can sometimes be the tool I use the least on a trip, but you always need a knife in bushcraft, it's the law

 

[calgarychef]

I never carry an ax as a survival tool, but I do carry a folding saw. they are lighter and I can cut a lot of wood in a couple of hours with my little saw. I've done overnighters with nothing in my pocket but matches and a folding saw. Once it was about -10C and I made a nice lean to, with bough mattress and cut a nights firewood with the saw. I never missed the ax at all. That said if you're a "bushcrafter" who likes to mess about making stuff an ax is a good and fun tool to have. For survival I think it's different, I want something that's so light that I'll never leave it at home because it's too cumbersome.

 

[Perrari]

No I dont think it can entirely, but depends what you intend doing. If you are going out to sleep in your hammock or under a tarp make a small fire and do a bit of cooking then you could probably get away with just a knife (maybe 4-5" blade). If on the other hand you want the fire to keep you warm as well you will need a lot more wood so a saw or axe (possibly both) would make your life easier. If you intend building shelters, making seats etc then definately a saw & axe is needed.
Personally If I had to choose 2 of them I would opt for a knife and axe and leave the saw at home. But I normally carry all 3 of them.
I get the impression that you dont currently have an axe ?? Try and see if you can borrow a friends axe to see how you get on with it before taking the plunge and spending £60 on something that you may not use a lot.

 

[Teepee]

Im with the others; Why take one or two when you can take all three ?


Most of the time for UK use, I'll take a knife and saw- for weight reasons more than anything because I'll be carrying a long way.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

As rich said above really... Most often (when heading to camp) I take an axe, saw and knife. The weight penalty pays off as indeed, each tool suits a different task.

The saw for cutting rounds, axe for splitting, knife for carving or feathering. It really depends on how much you do of each. I could just push over some dead standing wood and build a simple star fire...

But where's the fun in that

 

[Retired Member southey]

Its not SURVIVAL if you have a tool, its camping.

I never carry an ax as a survival tool, but I do carry a folding saw. they are lighter and I can cut a lot of wood in a couple of hours with my little saw. I've done overnighters with nothing in my pocket but matches and a folding saw. Once it was about -10C and I made a nice lean to, with bough mattress and cut a nights firewood with the saw. I never missed the ax at all. That said if you're a "bushcrafter" who likes to mess about making stuff an ax is a good and fun tool to have. For survival I think it's different, I want something that's so light that I'll never leave it at home because it's too cumbersome.

 

[FGYT]

I used to for a couple of decades ( before i rediscovered SWAT mag was dead and Survival was renamed Bushcraft)
Carry and use a locking Swiss army knife with saw blade
and a Large Kukri
Oh and a pair of secateurs (but i Dont do many covert OPs now)
and on occasion a gerber folding saw

then i found out that its all wrong you need a 4" sharpened Crowbar and a Laplander saw and a Hatchet :werd:

So i tried em and didn't like it
So i redesigned the woodlore to what i like then found out i Prefer it scaled down to 3/4 size (basically a fixed blade SAK )
Super sized my saw to a Silky Big boy now i can do 12" logs/ trees

I dont really need the Kukri for bushcraft I dont chop up fire wood I find it in the right sizes and saw it to carry length if needed natures good thike that.



I do carry a GB carving Axe but only to make carving easier its also a great food prep blade.

some times i have my XL camp nessy and large DSP but hey dont get used much


All in all you can get buy with any combo and in a push any one item ( slicing onions with a Big boy is fun :yikes


Ao try em and see

im old school small blade big blade if you get down to it

ATB

Duncan

 

[ged]

... Opinions? ...

No shortage of those here.

Mine is that a 6" Bowie is too big (much too big) for most of the things I do most of the time but it could be handy for splitting wood or making feather sticks and kindling if you haven't got anything better.

A saw can also very handy, but not necessarily for firewood unless you're felling trees for it. If wood is ready to burn you don't usually need a saw to cut it because it will break easily -- which is how I test if it's ready to burn when I'm camping.

If you have to build something from wood and you want some strength and flexibility you want greener wood, and you might want to be a bit finnicky about the lengths of individual pieces, so a saw is handy then. I'm very rarely without a saw. There's one on my belt right now (Leatherman) but I've just bought a nice leather sheath for a folding saw. The sheath cost a lot more than the saw but I'm fond of the saw.

 

[Sappy]

The only time you need to split a decent amount of firewood is to fit in a stove, for an open fire at most you'll only need to split a couple of small pieces of wood which is easier with a knife.

For lighting fires in the pouring rain its far simpler to just look around for dry wood because there is always dry wood even after a few days of rain.

So my opinion is forgot all three and learn where to look for the dry stuff

 

[Big Stu 12]

I am in the camp of take what you think you might need, if you use it then fine, if not what you lost,

I normaly take a knife, a hand axe, and a folding saw, some times also have a machettee, just depends on what I am doing, I just cant see the point of putting a nice fine edge on your knife then mucking it up with giving it lots of unnesseary hard work , also something like a bowie , is a it over kill, and asking for trouble with the anti knife league,

My axe get used for splitting , carving, food prep, depending on the need at the time.

I think its good to be flexible and be able to use many tools for many things, what happens if you lose one or it breaks?