Hi,
Being somewhat new to the concept of bushcraft I realized early on that I needed an axe with me on my trips. I already had a no name axe with a total weight of 1 kg with about a 35 cm shaft. I used my axe a lot, doing all my wood work with it. Then I got a bigger axe since I started to think that my axe was a bit too small and hoped to get the wood work done faster. A Hults bruks 1.25 kg head with about a 60 cm shaft. I love this axe, used it a lot. Even though it's a bit on the heavy side I prefer this one to the other since it feels much safer to handle. I don't have to use a lot of force, I can let the axe do the work for me.
Then my boyfriend bought me a Bahco Laplander. First I didn't even bring it with me since I could not see any use for it but taking my kid to the woods on my bike I felt like cycling through town with a big axe was not such a great idea so I took the little folding saw with me instead. After using it for about 20 minutes I was really impressed. I feel like I have to put in much less effort when sawing compared to working with the axe for the same amount of wood or end result.
So I started to think about if I really need the axe. I stopped taking the axe with me which in some ways was liberating since I didn't use it enough to motivate the added weight of bringing it with me. The last three times I've been out I've taken them both with me, always starting with the axe because I think it's going to do the job but always end up switching to the saw since I find it doing a much better job. I would love my saw to be a little big longer though.
After reading a lot of threads on the matter I wonder what the axe is for that I am not doing on my trips today. I have no problem gathering wood and prepping it for my fire even though I'm staying a couple of days. This is one argument of having the axe is that when you need to do a lot of work the axe is better.
Splitting wood is something I rarely do. When I do it's almost smaller logs, a diameter of less then 10 cm that I usually baton with my knife and this is something I do when the conditions are damp, otherwise I just collect the right sized branches to start my fire. I can't seem to find the need of splitting wood. I usually look for the right sized wood and when I need wood larger than I can baton with my knife the fire is already built up to such a state that it will be able to swallow the full size of the log.
The other argument I've seen for having an axe is where you live. And the argument seems to go that the further north the greater need of an axe. This is something I don't understand. Does that mean that I who live in Sweden should be in great need of an axe. I understand that in many places a machete would be preferred over an axe but is there a difference in need of an axe between a french bushcrafter and a swedish bushcrafter? And why would that be?
I am not trying to argue whether or not you should take an axe or not I'm just questioning my need for it. And since I'm a newbie on this I feel like my lack of experience can make me see this in a wrong way. It seems like everyone caries an axe so I feel like I must me missing something. It must be something i don't understand or something that I have not yet done on my trips that would create the need of an axe. Or is there people out there not using an axe?
Being somewhat new to the concept of bushcraft I realized early on that I needed an axe with me on my trips. I already had a no name axe with a total weight of 1 kg with about a 35 cm shaft. I used my axe a lot, doing all my wood work with it. Then I got a bigger axe since I started to think that my axe was a bit too small and hoped to get the wood work done faster. A Hults bruks 1.25 kg head with about a 60 cm shaft. I love this axe, used it a lot. Even though it's a bit on the heavy side I prefer this one to the other since it feels much safer to handle. I don't have to use a lot of force, I can let the axe do the work for me.
Then my boyfriend bought me a Bahco Laplander. First I didn't even bring it with me since I could not see any use for it but taking my kid to the woods on my bike I felt like cycling through town with a big axe was not such a great idea so I took the little folding saw with me instead. After using it for about 20 minutes I was really impressed. I feel like I have to put in much less effort when sawing compared to working with the axe for the same amount of wood or end result.
So I started to think about if I really need the axe. I stopped taking the axe with me which in some ways was liberating since I didn't use it enough to motivate the added weight of bringing it with me. The last three times I've been out I've taken them both with me, always starting with the axe because I think it's going to do the job but always end up switching to the saw since I find it doing a much better job. I would love my saw to be a little big longer though.
After reading a lot of threads on the matter I wonder what the axe is for that I am not doing on my trips today. I have no problem gathering wood and prepping it for my fire even though I'm staying a couple of days. This is one argument of having the axe is that when you need to do a lot of work the axe is better.
Splitting wood is something I rarely do. When I do it's almost smaller logs, a diameter of less then 10 cm that I usually baton with my knife and this is something I do when the conditions are damp, otherwise I just collect the right sized branches to start my fire. I can't seem to find the need of splitting wood. I usually look for the right sized wood and when I need wood larger than I can baton with my knife the fire is already built up to such a state that it will be able to swallow the full size of the log.
The other argument I've seen for having an axe is where you live. And the argument seems to go that the further north the greater need of an axe. This is something I don't understand. Does that mean that I who live in Sweden should be in great need of an axe. I understand that in many places a machete would be preferred over an axe but is there a difference in need of an axe between a french bushcrafter and a swedish bushcrafter? And why would that be?
I am not trying to argue whether or not you should take an axe or not I'm just questioning my need for it. And since I'm a newbie on this I feel like my lack of experience can make me see this in a wrong way. It seems like everyone caries an axe so I feel like I must me missing something. It must be something i don't understand or something that I have not yet done on my trips that would create the need of an axe. Or is there people out there not using an axe?