What about Billhooks ?

[Gary Elson]

Hello All

I have now read with some interest articles on Knives Axes Kukris and numerous other cutting tools and notice there are no comments on the Billhooks

I was a hedgelayer for a good few years and used several different styles of billhooks for very similar activities to buschraft type jobs

to avoid any confusion a billhook is typically used with one hand and has an inward curving blade similar to a kukri - not to be confused with a slashhook which has a handle about 36 inches long

So does any body have any comments or am I missing some vital piece of information ???

regards

Gary

 

[Pippin]

So does any body have any comments or am I missing some vital piece of information ???

The information you lack is how to use the "Search" function

(It came up with 9 pages of threads mentioning billhooks when I tried it just now...)

 

[w00dsmoke]

The information you lack is how to use the "Search" function

(It came up with 9 pages of threads mentioning billhooks when I tried it just now...)

Steady on pip this guys a newbie and hey it's good to keep up discussion on things.

Well Gary, billhooks are either loved by their owners or they are treated as a useful novelty. Most folk either use axes or billhooks or any combination to suit their whims/needs. If you are thinking about buying one be careful as there are lots of rubbish out there. A handforged Newton hook by those in Dunsford in Devon is ideal and one of the best.

 

[spamel]

I reckon it was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek, but it does bring to mind the old flash video that has been on the net for years about posting on forums!

As to the subject at hand, I don't own a billhook, although I did use them whilst I was in the forces. Saying that, they were usually very blunt, but they still hacked through wood quicker than the other tools available. I think the broad shovel end would also be good for use as a shovel to dig a small fire pit, although I bet nobody uses theirs for that!

 

[Pippin]

Steady on pip this guys a newbie and hey it's good to keep up discussion on things.

Newbie to the forum, but I reckon that he's got a lot to teach us all about billhooks - he notes that he was a hedge-layer for many years so he'll have forgotten more about billhooks than I'll ever know

 

[EdS]

rarely us my SFA generally use a Newton billhook. Not only for bushcraft but als owood collecting for home.

Billhook and saw best combination and same weight as an axe

 

[w00dsmoke]

rarely us my SFA generally use a Newton billhook. Not only for bushcraft but als owood collecting for home.

Billhook and saw best combination and same weight as an axe

I'd agree, I've layed hedges, cleared and wove willow and hazel for years and it was always a Newton Dunsford that I use. A good tip is to glue that tool mat drawer liner around your handle and that way it wont slip as easy when it's pissing down. Dunsford hooks always have ash varnished handles-why on earth they varnsih them i'll never know! Also if you can make a sheath out of an old pair of boots then you are laughing. I think the billhook is quite underated maybe because MR Mears rarely uses one if ever

 

[Dave Budd]

Mostly when I'm doing bushcrafty type things these days I'm working and guess what I use? Yep a billhook. It's there and it works. Obviously I use one that I made

I would suggest buying a handmade one (from somebody like me, for example ) or get an old one that is refurbished or refurbishable. The modern hooks are not heat treated the same (they are tougher rather than sharper) and they are not forged to the same geometry. Billhooks made pre 1960's (at a guess) all had a tapering cross section as well as down their length. Modern ones do not taper in the cross section and apart form teh better ones (such as Morris's of Dunsford)they don't often have a distal taper either. so the new ones are not as efficient or weigted the same as an older one (though some get so worn that they are hard to use). Also the shape of the billhook will make it more or less versatile. For example I wouldn't use a Yorkshire billhook (double edged!), I would prefer a Newtown or one of the less hooked varieties personally but a bit of a hook is often useful.

As for why the hooks are varnished and not oiled. That is becuase the current manager of Morris's prefers the faster, shinyer (selling point for the masses) finish of varnish to the slower, messier, more practical oiled finish. He is known locally as 'the boy' by those who remember when his father ran the joint. His dad handed over the reigns a few years ago and was getting on for 80 when he did so! Sadly the sin has not kept on the family traditionof the small runs and specialist tools, nor the same methods of manufacture. So get an old Morris rather than new if you can, but even the new ones are some of the best modern hooks you can buy.

(I live about 5 miles from the factory )

 

[Wayland]

Welcome aboard Gary

I've seen billhooks used to great effect but never mastered one myself.

I agree they are underrated by the Bushcraft "in crowd" but I guess that would change if Ray Mears started using one....

 

[KAE1]

I've raised this one myself. My memories of a billhook are blunt blades and sore wrists but I probably lacked the technique and didn't care enough for the blade - I was only a lad and it was my kindling cutting chores. I find the kukri far more effective than what I remember from the billhook but I am tempted to by the little 9inch Dunsford - its either that or a Martindale # 2 Golok.

 

[mr dazzler]

I use a billhook for trimming and pruning logs. Tidy up the hedge, prune the ash sometimes. I like the clean smooth finish instead of a raggedy saw cut on a branch. It is just beautiful to run down an cut ash sapling in cut-1/4 turn-cut etc moves and see the thin side branches just pop off in a line, I still need to practice doing upper cut's, is a beaked hook better for that? I love that old saxon calendar theres pictures of serpes on that in the orchards and stuff I expect they laid hedges even back then?. I like the fact that a hook has a long edge (on mine about13 or 14 inches) as opposed to a 3 or 4 inch axe edge, you can get in a good front to back slice as you make the downward cut. My first hook was from macine mart it was a waste of time/money/energy/steel/transport costs from china or wherever etc looked and felt like it was made from an old skip. My good hook is a cheapo one it cost about 15 pence in Normandy You can get superb axes and stuff there). It looks to be hand forged, or possibly expertly modified by hand from a factory item. It has the taper from top to edge you refer to Dave, I dont know about distal taper though-not sure what that is It had the remains of a twisted leather handle grip (no wood just huge thick strand of leather wound round and round), I removed it and replaced with an ash version, I left roughing gouge tool mark's off the pole lathe and used danish oil. It has a very shallow S edge shape, only about 1/2 inch convex near the handle, and about 1/2 inch concave towards the tip. The only problem is that at some stage the tool was dropped onto a stone or concrete floor and the last half inch or so was slightly broken off. No cracks though

 

[Mike Ameling]

I have a number of billhooks, in several regional patterns. And I've even made a few small Fascine Knives - old name for a billhook. But I've never used them much. I keep grabbing my Corn Knife to use for all those chores/tasks. The Corn Knife is just the farmer's version of a machete - but with a straight cutting edge, and the blade tapers in width from the end down to the handle. But I grew up with the Corn Knife instead of a machete or billhook. I always intend to use the hook, but grab the corn knife to "get the job done". I've chopped through trees up to 6 or 8 inches thick (whewww), trimmed lots of branches, cleared acres of brush, and chopped more weeds than in a hippies' dream garden. I still tend to grab it even when I know the axe would be better. Hey, it's even sliced up the occasional apple or watermellon (after a quick cleaning, of course).

So it goes when you really LUV a tool! But I promise to "play" around with my hooks a bit more.

Mikey - who doesn't quite sleep with his corn knife under the pillow - out in the Hinterlands

 

[Gary Elson]

Hi Guys

Are yes - that old search facility - forgot about that - sorry!

Thanks for your comments and its good to see people are using their 'hooks
I have several different styles etc but my favorite is a single edged version made by Elwell (don't think they are in existance any more) which I inhereted from a guy who used to be a forestor at Coombe Abbey in warwickshire

Its interesting to note your comments on tools being 'fashionable' - I think there may be some truth in that if Mr Mears used one regularly then the popularity may increase.

Pip - thanks for the complement about forgetting stuff - I did try all sorts of shapes and sizes and came to the conclusion that whichever tool holds a good edge (most modern hooks need a lot of initial sharpening) and is comfortable is the right tool bearing in mind you use the hook all day sometimes - I also like a tool thats balances just in front of the handle rather than one thats weighted to far down the blade - I also found that most handles are too narrow - but again that may be a personal thing

thanks for the interest

Gary

 

[mrostov]

In WWII in the Pacific Theater, on larger US aircraft, like bombers and maritime patrol planes, one of the issued survival tools in the aircraft was a combination billhook/machete. They still sell it today as the 'Woodsman's Pal' but the ones the American aircrews used typically had aluminum handles. The military version had a canvas sheath with a large pouch on the front that contained a 'hockey puck' shaped carborundum hone and some survival supplies. The canvas sheath had belt loops and WWI through Vietnam style 'hook' hangers for attaching the sheath to a US military issue canvas web pistol belt.

Here's a couple of the current versions still being made.
http://www.woodmanspal.com/

 

[twisted firestarter]

I can't help thinking bill hooks are a bit out-dated for hazel copicing which is what I have used them for. You need to cut hazel as close to the ground as possible or the new shoots will not be straight. I find a good pair of loppers (Bahco) are better because they make a clean cut just above ground level. They are also better for selective stick cutting because you can get into the middle of the hazel stool, with a billhook you have to cut everything in the way.

Having said all that I really love my old Billhook and use it for pointing larger sticks and removing side shoots

 

[Wayland]

Snip>
http://www.woodmanspal.com/

<Snip

I do like the look of that wee beastie.

 

[Toddy]

I use a billhook too. No idea what name it is but it's such a practical piece of equipment. I find I use it in preference to an axe, even rough carved a bowl blank using it a few months back.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Minotaur]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

I too use a billhook over an axe, not sure what type, but it does the job.

The only thing I would say is you really need a chopping block to get the most out of them, or am I wrong?

 

[Jack]

Folks - you will not find a finer tool than the billhook. I have long said that the billhook is the superior tool within the woodlands for bushcraft. I have never really understood the relevance of an axe - the axe is designed for felling and for splitting - how often is it really used for that in the bushcraft world.

Plus the axe is an extremely dangerous tool in the right hands, let alone the wrong ones!

Best wishes.

Jack.

 

[EdS]

the voice of reason that converted me to the billhook