View Full Version : Look upon HER
BIG-TARGET
12-11-2004, 01:03
Love HER (http://forums.outdoors-magazine.com/viewtopic.php?t=2135) !!!!!!
And hear your credit rating cry in dispair!!!!! :yikes:
:yikes: looks goood
looks like a good price too :naughty:
BIG-TARGET
12-11-2004, 01:39
Here's Sharpshooter doing a FIELD TEST (http://www.knifeforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=508931&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1) !!
I'll stick with my GB and my Leuku, especially if its proportioned like the North Star.
Paganwolf
12-11-2004, 10:40
you just cant beat a GB IMO, for quality you just aint going to get better.
I'll wait untill a few of the bark river's get into some hands and we've got some feedback before i jump on the "must buy one" train.
BIG-TARGET
12-11-2004, 22:57
I just ordered mine!!!! :o):
In honor of this blessed event!!!!
Let's SING!!!!!!!! (http://www.mwscomp.com/sounds/mp3/lumberjk.mp3 )
http://forums.outdoors-magazine.com/upload/images/Mike%20Stewart_lumber2.jpg
Sorry guys!!!!! I just couldn't resist it!!!!! :naughty:
would you like to borrow my CD of "monty python sings"?
Love HER (http://forums.outdoors-magazine.com/viewtopic.php?t=2135) !!!!!!
And hear your credit rating cry in dispair!!!!! :yikes:
It look, er ... a bit small!
BIG-TARGET
12-11-2004, 23:40
I already have Monty Python's The Meaning of Life( the Python Manifesto) :naughty:
:rolmao: I love python.
Is it just me or does the new BRKT hatchet look **tiny** ??
http://forums.outdoors-magazine.com/upload/images/Sharpshooter_axe%
Look! :yikes:
*edit* or 4th pic down in the field test.
BIG-TARGET
13-11-2004, 00:03
:rolmao: I love python.
Is it just me or does the new BRKT hatchet look **tiny** ??
they don't call it a mini-axe for nothing!!! :naughty:
Miniture mini axe? That thing looks like a wide knife with a long handle, i still want it though :roll: ;)
OldJimbo
13-11-2004, 08:40
They're extremely tiny. You start with a regular Vaughan hatchet and grind off a lot of steel. I'll eventually get this page on the grinding finished..
Vaughan grinding (http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/vaughangrind.html)
It chops better than a person would expect of 10oz total, but the strong point is splitting using a baton. Nothing I was able to haul along beat it. Like any optimized blade, though, that comes at a price - and the price is the thin handle. I haven't broken any, though.
Ok I'm lost - why would you want a mini mini hatchet?
Axe - big hefty head for chopping down trees, limbing splitting.
Lueku - Big knife for split and like chopping, can be used with a baton ect.
Knife - for cutting, carving, splitting and light chopping with a baton.
Saw........................... .........
Ok I'm lost - why would you want a mini mini hatchet?
Some people have the money to bhuy one and go for a big name.
I have to question an axe who's strength is in use with a baton. I haven't broken my F1 doing that and it's even smaller and lighter
I can see the point for making nice spoons though
I can see the point for making nice spoons though
I dunno - if I was going to carry an axe, mo matter how small, just to make spoons with, I think I'd rather just skip the axe and carry spoons! :rolmao:
TheViking
13-11-2004, 14:15
I dunno - if I was going to carry an axe, mo matter how small, just to make spoons with, I think I'd rather just skip the axe and carry spoons! :rolmao:
:rolmao: :rolmao:
Ok I'm lost - why would you want a mini mini hatchet?
Axe - big hefty head for chopping down trees, limbing splitting.
Lueku - Big knife for split and like chopping, can be used with a baton ect.
Knife - for cutting, carving, splitting and light chopping with a baton.
Saw........................... .........
I feel comfortable with either a leuku or small hatchet. I especially like the GB mini because the heel of the bit drops down, allowing you to choke up on the head and use the hatchet ulu style. Small hatchets can be used for splitting, chopping etc, just like a leuku and are effective for pounding as well. However, you can make a baton for pounding so it's just a question of being handy, not necessary. If you break the handle on the small hatchet, it's still quite useful. You can use it as an ulu and a splitting wedge. The handle is also easier to replace than the handle on a leuku. Because of the wedge style of the head, it's also a better splitter than a leuku but you can whittle a wooden wedge so that's not a big deal either. The heel of the bit of the GB mini is also quite pointy and can be used to make penetrating cuts.
I like the leuku as well because compared to a lot of "big knives" it is fairly light. This is the appeal of the small hatchet to me as well. I take it backpacking and hunting. It rides nicely in the game bag of my hunting vest as well as my backpack.
The big leuku gives you a lot of knife in a very light package. Because of the longer edge, the leuku is also better at things like clearing an area of saplings and brush. But when I have that specific task in mind, I usually grab a machete. Clearing a large area is not something I normally do while “bushcrafting.” I don't find the task of delimbing a small sapling that much easier with the leuku although it might be.
Like I said, I feel comfortable with either one. Neither one will weigh you down and both are capable of a range of cutting/chopping duties.
BTW, I've never had my GB mini "bounce" off wood.
I've been thinking of some more advantages of the leuku: 1) it can be used as a drawknife and 2) it's better for splitting long limbs to make things like a primitive bow.
TheViking
13-11-2004, 15:21
I've been thinking of some more advantages of the leuku: 1) it can be used as a drawknife and 2) it's better for splitting long limbs to make things like a primitive bow.
He said it! :D There's no tool that can do anything of course, but the leuku is a great all rounder.
It's also less daunting and public freindly than a leuku IMO :?:
OldJimbo
13-11-2004, 22:38
I have to question an axe who's strength is in use with a baton.
So did I at first. Around here one has enough of a problem with a real axe, in the wetter times. Many many times we've gone out in summer for a few hours and I've abandonned my light axe for a big one. One only has so much time to spend getting a fire going! Many times, too - I'm hauling a big axe to clear deadfall off trails. Too many times, though, we go for a walk, on a whim, and then I don't take along heavy tools. So the quest for something really light that would perform has always been of interest. Even the 20 oz hatchets sometimes got left behind, were carried in a pack etc.
It wasn't until I saw just what the little Vaughan would split, that I really became enthused with hatchet and baton. You can split chunks that would be a real challenge for a light axe. I really did haul out just about everything to try against it, and the best advice for anyone doing the same would be to to have a saw along to cut out their blade.. I'm still learning about just what works, but I have extensively reground a Norlund which now works almost as well. There's more to making a head for splitting than meets the eye.
The biggest disappointment with the Vaughan, or even the Norlund for that matter, is the amount of work to put one into good shape. Unless a person has an enormous amount of time to spend with hand tools - or some power tools and the experience - it's not an easy task. It would have been neat to see a $20 solution. I think then, that we'd see a lot more interest in such hatchets. While I have a weakness for collecting all sorts of weird and wonderful axe and hatchet stuff, I like inexpensive, because a person is more apt to get honing on such stuff, and learning. And there is lots to be learned (or perhaps re-learned because people a century ago sure knew axes and hatchets..). I had pretty high hopes for the Fiskars, once I'd actually used and properly honed it. Despite trying all sorts of stuff (even concaving the faces) it simply doesn't work as well as a set up Vaughan for splitting. The bevels are simply too obtuse for easy use with a baton, though it does chop well. It's just such a pity because they're great value and putting them into shape with hand tools is easy.
I'd sort of guess that Reid may come into some flack for suggesting that many hatchets give a bouncy feel when chopping. That's just due to a secondary bevel, and even some of my GBs came with that. Hand honing will really work wonders with a GB, but power tools are often needed for really heavy duty secondary bevels on others. A stock vaughan will really show what bouncy is all about.
Leukus are great - or leuku in my case. I gave away my project blades because my quickly handled original is the one I use all the time. I didn't want it getting jealous and hurting me... Here's a good problem, though.. If a person wants to split out a bowstave, the wood really matters. With a lot of poles the grain is spiralled so you can't just tap through from the top. It still works by opening a split from the side, but a knife with a broad tip is needed for that - like a leuku. I wonder how much else about the development of the leuku in the northern forests isn't evident?
Ok I'm lost - why would you want a mini mini hatchet?
Axe - big hefty head for chopping down trees, limbing splitting.
Lueku - Big knife for split and like chopping, can be used with a baton ect.
Knife - for cutting, carving, splitting and light chopping with a baton.
Saw........................... .........
I'm with Gary here. I just can't see the use of a mini hatchet like that when bushcrafting in the Scandinavian forests and mountainsides. The smallest hatchet / axe that I would consider carrying (and do so on a regular basis, as it seems to live in my backpack) is the GB Wildlife Hatchet, but the GB small forest axe or the Scandinavian axe is a lot more useful when on extended trips in the scandi bush.
rapidboy
14-11-2004, 21:10
I have a GB mini and to be honest it only gets used as a scraper when preparing skins to be tanned.
I find it very limited in it's use and would opt to carry a fixed blade knife and a folding saw rather than a mini axe.
I do use a GB small forest axe and find it very useful but for small cutting tasks a folding saw and a fixed blade knife are safer and more capable options.
rb
BIG-TARGET
15-11-2004, 00:17
I'm actually looking forward to it. The "chopper" I use is a Seigle HOODLUM II (http://www.survival.com/siegle_blades.htm) , which is a simplified version of Ron Hood's HOODLUM I.
I have a bac-to-back days off , in a week or 2. And I'll try the BRK&T axe , versus the HoodlumII. :wink:
TheViking
15-11-2004, 13:53
I'm actually looking forward to it. The "chopper" I use is a Seigle HOODLUM II (http://www.survival.com/siegle_blades.htm) , which is a simplified version of Ron Hood's HOODLUM I.
See that's a nice knife. Though i would prefer scandi grind.
I think that hatchet isn't big enough for some tasks. It's simply just too small and lightweight.
The knife seems to have a bit of kukri in it. I think I'd go just go for a small kukri
I keep wanting to try out the old granton steak knife out (the funny granton have been worn away)
I bet the little axe would be good for making boat for the finishing part
all I've got to say is...
buy a billhook.
OldJimbo
15-11-2004, 15:54
I can well see your point of view Gary, Gerd - and there's no questioning that heavy tools are better.
But.. the only time I ever got sick out in the bush, I was pretty lucky. I'd just finsihed a lot of work clearing some dead trees from a trail with a huge logging axe, so I had lots of wood. It's a good thing that I had lots of dry wood chips too, as I was sure not going anywhere in a hurry. It took a long time until I could get the strength to drag myself the mile or so back to the truck. It was pretty steep, but no great distance at all. Before that, I'd often walk into the bush and leave the heavy tools behind, thinking that i was not going very far. Since then I've been far more careful, but there's always the temptation to set down the pack or tools that I'm using to clear trail, and just go a little way to see if there's any more deadfall.. I wonder how many of us could say that we've never allowed ourselves to get separated from our tools.
With the hatchet, well it's the lightest tool that I could see getting by with - and yet always carrying on my person, not in a pack. If I'm out with big axes, well the hatchet is on me anyway. It's still a tiny tool though, and as such has such big disadvantages. It took me all summer using it every day to have enough confidence in it to count on it. The biggest problem with tools is that the tools are nothing by themselves. The smaller they are, the more practise is needed. And not everyone can get out to have that much practise. If practise times comes at the time a person is lying on their back feeling sick - well it's not a pretty picture.