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.
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There's no tool that can do anything of course, but the leuku is a great all rounder.
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?
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.Gary said:
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
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
I'm actually looking forward to it. The "chopper" I use is a Seigle HOODLUM II , 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.
I have a bac-to-back days off , in a week or 2. And I'll try the BRK&T axe , versus the HoodlumII.
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
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
EdS
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
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.
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.
