i caught myself with an axe once was only a scratch but still taught me a lesson about messing with them. i find i use a hatchet sized axe quite a lot on camps for splitting wood and now i always kneel down on both knees, with a solid block and the wood to be cut at the far end of it. if it won't stand up i use a sissy stick and i generally just baton it through anyway, hardly ever swing it any more.
Camp accident
- Thread starter ateallthepies
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The phrases that got my spidey senses tingling were:
"Large group of non bushcraft persuasion"
"Beer"
"Without asking"
There was nothing you could have done.
Incidentally, I have a small GB hand hatchet, not the SFA and I find it a very versatile tool. I agree that having a big lumberjack axe is overkill, but for snedding, splitting small stuff and roughing out carving projects a knife just won't cut it.
"Large group of non bushcraft persuasion"
"Beer"
"Without asking"
There was nothing you could have done.
Incidentally, I have a small GB hand hatchet, not the SFA and I find it a very versatile tool. I agree that having a big lumberjack axe is overkill, but for snedding, splitting small stuff and roughing out carving projects a knife just won't cut it.
Whittler Kev
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Said it before and i'll say it again, small axes are SO much more dangerous than big axes.
I really do not understand why so many here go for smaller axes.
I really do not understand why so many here go for smaller axes.
Is it just a parent thing but my first thought was - how did he manage to borrow it without asking?
Big axes are for felling, not really suitable to carry about in/on a pack. Cant carve with a felling axe, yet you can fell a tree with a hatchet. The smaller axes are more versatile, they can do everything a big axe can do. they are only dangerous if your not careful, but then so are large axes ( which are really only safer when splitting)
Yet i've spent 30 odd years in various outdoors activities without owning a small axe, and have not had 1 single time where i'd wished i'd had one.
Small axes are extremely dangerous, the only way to use them properly is to kneeling down on the ground.
The problem is very few (as in this case) actually do that.
As i say i've travelled the world and always managed fine with a knife and a saw, if your making a log cabin and want to loose some weight then i can see a axe would be a good choice, a big axe though.
A small axe has absolutely no use what-so-ever in my eyes, apart from insecure blokes going out with a axe strapped to their pack because it makes them feel more manly.
If your cutting big wood use a big axe, if your cutting small wood use a saw or a knife, they're more efficient, safer and lighter.
So if you have never owned a small axe, and therefore never become familiar with the use of one, how then do you know weather they are any good or not? 
I use a small axe pretty much all the time when i'm out and about. Indeed, it sees far more use than my knives, why? Because its bloody good at what it does. A saw is more efficient? Only if you dont know how to use an axe properly. Saws are easier to use though. Safer? folk cut themselves on saws too, and a cut from a sharp saw will slice you to ribbons. Impossible to stitch up too unless its a nice clean cut, and chances of getting them with a saw are slim.
Kneeling down to use a small axe? Only if your swinging downwards for something like splitting, but a hatchet isnt really designed for splitting anything more than kindling and you wont be taking big swings to do that, a batton works well here.
I have big axes too, so i'm not limited by experience to one size or the other unlike yourself.
I use a small axe pretty much all the time when i'm out and about. Indeed, it sees far more use than my knives, why? Because its bloody good at what it does. A saw is more efficient? Only if you dont know how to use an axe properly.
Saws are easier to use though. Safer? folk cut themselves on saws too, and a cut from a sharp saw will slice you to ribbons. Impossible to stitch up too unless its a nice clean cut, and chances of getting them with a saw are slim. Kneeling down to use a small axe? Only if your swinging downwards for something like splitting, but a hatchet isnt really designed for splitting anything more than kindling and you wont be taking big swings to do that, a batton works well here.
I have big axes too, so i'm not limited by experience to one size or the other unlike yourself.
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What do you use for spitting logs because I find a small axe with a mallet or batton extremely effective? Of course this my well be me just making up for my incredibly tiny penis.
So if you have never owned a small axe, and therefore never become familiar with the use of one, how then do you know weather they are any good or not?
I've never stuck my hand in a fire, common sense and experience tells me it's not likely to be a good idea though
What do you use for spitting logs because I find a small axe with a mallet or batton extremely effective? Of course this my well be me just making up for my incredibly tiny penis.
I don't split logs
Hardly relevant to the question. A hatchet is a tool, putting your hand in a fire would make you a tool
So what exactly do you do with your big axe then? If a small axe is only there to make us feel all rugged and manly, what would the large axe be compensating for?
So what exactly do you do with your big axe then? If a small axe is only there to make us feel all rugged and manly, what would the large axe be compensating for?
My mate (Chopper) has healed well and will never touch an axe again he told me on our Wales camp a couple of weeks back!! No accidents this time, I would not let anyone use my sharps except for a saw to cut logs into rounds as I wasn't gonna do everything.
That incident makes me ultra concious when using axes and I still wince at the thought of it. I used my axe kneeling this time with a block and felt very safe.
Steve
That incident makes me ultra concious when using axes and I still wince at the thought of it. I used my axe kneeling this time with a block and felt very safe.
Steve
If you decide to take it up then I can thoroughly recommend a small axe and a mallet.
Lots of anti-axe stuff on here, no need for one etc etc. This is a knife forum, most people don't REALLY need to go outdoors and practise using knives, but they do and they enjoy it, same for axes I say. The circumstances that led to this accident are pretty clear. If your drunk don't bother, if you don't know what you're doing then learn first.
I sometimes use a chainsaw, that's chuffing lethal, I guess I am a dickhead for using that as well.
Absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of caution.
Is that his name...Chopper? lol There's some irony in there somewhere
Is that his name...Chopper? lol There's some irony in there somewhere
Hardly relevant to the question. A hatchet is a tool, putting your hand in a fire would make you a tool
So what exactly do you do with your big axe then? If a small axe is only there to make us feel all rugged and manly, what would the large axe be compensating for?
A big axe is useful for splitting bigger logs and cutting down trees.
When i was a lad we had a wood burning stove, we used a pretty big axe to split logs, does a good job.
For a small axe if your the artistic type then i could see a use for carving.
In this instance though your likely to be using short soft blows.
If your using a small axe for splitting logs though something is very very wrong in my eyes.
First off a strong swing with a small axe is asking for problems as unless your kneeling down any deflection will be aimed directly at your legs.
Add to that the fact that a small axe isn't really going to be much use splitting big logs and you have to wonder, why would you bother splitting smaller logs?
Around the house i could see that being blokes we'd buy one "just in case" but to take one out hiking with you just seems to be a fundamentally flawed idea.
1/ Your lugging all that weight around
2/ If you want smaller wood then just find a smaller branch
3/ Carving with an axe while out in the wilderness alone just seems a bit daft to me
4/ Although a romantic notion in this day and age a real fire is a vast waste of resources in all but the worst conditions, a stove will cook and heat water better and if you've planned well and nothing has gone wrong you should be warm enough without a fire (in the UK in all but the worst conditions).
Being a bloke any excuse no matter how small is usually enough for me to buy a tool, with a small axe though i really cannot see the point.
Lots of anti-axe stuff on here, no need for one etc etc. This is a knife forum, most people don't REALLY need to go outdoors and practise using knives, but they do and they enjoy it, same for axes I say. The circumstances that led to this accident are pretty clear. If your drunk don't bother, if you don't know what you're doing then learn first.
I sometimes use a chainsaw, that's chuffing lethal, I guess I am a dickhead for using that as well.
There is no "anti-anything" here.
An axe is an extremely useful tool, i've used many in the past many many times and they are fantastic at what they do.
These small axes in my opinion though are pointless and dangerous.
If your not carving or making a long term shelter then i really can't see the point in taking one with you except for some sort of down the pub bragging rights.
Ohhhhh and this is not a knife forum as far as i'm aware
But since you bought it up, it's rare i bother taking a fixed blade knife out with me unless i'm out the night.
It's just too much weight and space to give up when a folder will do.
With regards drinking.
I agree 100%, but again to me it does come across being a bit sad that folks have to go out in the middle on nowhere to have a drink.
Me personally if i want a drink i'll have a drink, be it at home or down the pub.
I also think it's extremely dangerous to be drunk out in the wilds, yet reading a very very very small minority of posts on here it seems some are unable to sleep outdoors without a skin full.
As with the small axes i does strike me as kinda pointless.
Why exhaust all that time and energy going out into the great outdoors, finding a beautiful spot, creating a great spot for sleeping, then getting drunk
But then i've just been fixing my radio controlled cars so many would see that as being pointless and me as a jerk being 43 and still playing with toy cars.
So it takes all sorts i guess.
Exactly, a big axe is for destroying ( felling, splitting ) things, a small axe for creating things. I'm a maker, so i create.
i have no need to split big logs, nor to fell large trees. Though i do fell the occasional tree for a project or two. But a small axe will produce firewood much faster and with far less effort than a saw
You dont swing a hatchet in a straight downward motion anyway. its generally swung across the body so that deflection wont do as you suggest. Its about technique, you dont use a hatchet as you would a larger axe. Just as you dont use a 3" bladed knife as you would a 8" knife.
I wouldn't carry an axe when hiking either, unless its an overnighter in winter, then firewood is needed.
Weight? less than a kilo? i'm 6'3 and 16 stone, it really isn't an issue.
Opinions vary i suppose, but both have a place, it depends on what the individual needs in an axe. In 16 years using them i have never cut myself with an axe, and only once with a knife. i've carried a hatchet for most of that time too.
i have no need to split big logs, nor to fell large trees. Though i do fell the occasional tree for a project or two. But a small axe will produce firewood much faster and with far less effort than a saw
You dont swing a hatchet in a straight downward motion anyway. its generally swung across the body so that deflection wont do as you suggest. Its about technique, you dont use a hatchet as you would a larger axe. Just as you dont use a 3" bladed knife as you would a 8" knife.
I wouldn't carry an axe when hiking either, unless its an overnighter in winter, then firewood is needed.
Weight? less than a kilo? i'm 6'3 and 16 stone, it really isn't an issue.
Opinions vary i suppose, but both have a place, it depends on what the individual needs in an axe. In 16 years using them i have never cut myself with an axe, and only once with a knife. i've carried a hatchet for most of that time too.
Exactly, a big axe is for destroying ( felling, splitting ) things, a small axe for creating things. I'm a maker, so i create.
i have no need to split big logs, nor to fell large trees. Though i do fell the occasional tree for a project or two. But a small axe will produce firewood much faster and with far less effort than a saw
You dont swing a hatchet in a straight downward motion anyway. its generally swung across the body so that deflection wont do as you suggest. Its about technique, you dont use a hatchet as you would a larger axe. Just as you dont use a 3" bladed knife as you would a 8" knife.
I wouldn't carry an axe when hiking either, unless its an overnighter in winter, then firewood is needed.
Weight? less than a kilo? i'm 6'3 and 16 stone, it really isn't an issue.
Opinions vary i suppose, but both have a place, it depends on what the individual needs in an axe. In 16 years using them i have never cut myself with an axe, and only once with a knife. i've carried a hatchet for most of that time too.
Not being the creative type as i say a small axe just seems pretty pointless for my uses.
I'd also hazard a guess that the vast majority of small axes are not used, or if they are they're not used correctly.
This seems to be supported by how many used small axes pop up for sale after the owner has had them for a few months.
Carving and around the house aside, is there really any use for a small axe?
If so could you please give me some examples, it would be helpful if these examples would include the type and size of wood as well.
Well, if you exclude the two main uses of a small axe, as you have done, then yes I suppose they are pretty useless
I have 2 small axes (well, 3 actually, but one was bought for me and barely sees any use as it is surplus to requirements). One is for carving, the other is for splitting. I don't need to split big bits of wood, since I mainly need wood for my lathe, and I only have a small lathe, so I'm rarely splitting anything over 4 inches in diameter.
Incidentally, if small axes are useless, why were so many Kent pattern axes made, of tomahawks so popular in trade in Canada? Small axes seem to have been very popular as real tools (as opposed to bushcrafty toys) for a few hundred years now.
I don't mind if you don't like small axes, but please don't judge everyone by your personal criteria. Like you said, it takes all sorts. If what you do works for you, great. If I do something different, and it works for me, that's also good. Let's not shout at each other over personal preferences.
Peace.
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