Why an axe and a fixed blade knife?

[Tagaeri]

In my previous life as a survival instructor and expedition leader (jungle) I swore by a Cold Steal kukri (could do almost any job) and a Gerber Gator folding knife (small enough to have on you all the time). However, getting back into bushcraft now and I notice that it's pretty universal to use an axe and a fixed blade knife. I know it's each to their own, but I'm a little surprised by this, as a kukri (or similar) seems to be able to do everything an axe can, plus more (e.g. clearing brush, digging, preparing game), and for anything else there's the folding knife. So is it just convention/fashion or am I just missing something?

Also, what about a billhook? They're popular with forest schools and I use one a lot when working in the woods/coppicing; does anyone use them for bushcraft?

Of course the best answer is experience, and I now have an axe, billhook, fixed blade, folder, and I'm getting a new kukri, so I'll take them all with me camping and see which tool(s) I reach for the most, but I'm interested in other's thoughts...

 

[david1]

I would say bushcraft now has a life of its own and a uniform to suit. working people dont carry little axes remember alot of bushcraft has been honed into something that can be sold on as lifestyle, but in reality nobody survives by it they go camping in the woods .

now I will be burned at a stake

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

I would say bushcraft now has a life of its own and a uniform to suit. working people dont carry little axes remember alot of bushcraft has been honed into something that can be sold on as lifestyle, but in reality nobody survives by it they go camping in the woods .

now I will be burned at a stake

Ah but how will i light the fire to burn you

I think thats a very fair statement though.

I would say to the OP though that for me an axe is primarily a felling and splitting tool so id rather carry both an axe and a knife if i need to process wood. A kukri wouldnt have the balls to process a good quantity of wood

 

[santaman2000]

So the OP's question is "Why?"

My best answer is "Why not?"

 

[Jimmy Bojangles]

For me it's all about weight, so I'm currently using a tomahawk (thank you Mr Budd) having the majority of the weight in the last 2" of a 20" shaft makes it punch well above its weight in chopping terms. All in it weighs a touch over 500g which is 100g or so lighter than my old MOD knife which it's replaced. Along with that I take a Mora which has taken all kinds of abuse over the last few years and still performs wonderfully and is not much over 150g including the sheath.

for a one tool option though I've always fancied trying a kukri, is it the kukri machete you use or a full weight kukri?

 

[Toddy]

Folding saw and a knife these days....and a pair of lightweight pruners

Depends on what kind of bushcraft you're intending I reckon.

At a settled camp a bowsaw and a froe is easier all round for making billets for the fire.

Hedging and so on, the billhook takes a lot of beating.

Each to their own

M

 

[HillBill]

Don't forget also that an axe is much less threatening to joe public than a machete or kukri. They are perceived very differently i think.

I carry a small axe these days, though i have tried all the other large blade types of knife and they just don't cut as well as an axe... billhooks are all well and good if you are coppicing/hedge laying etc, bit they tend to be bigger and heavier than the axe i carry.

 

[rik_uk3]

I posted on this last night but the post has gone???

Laplander, bowsaw and Mora will fit the bill for me but not all I suppose. The Laplander will cope with three inch wood easily enough, the bowsaw will cope with thicker wood easier than an axe I'd guess so I see no reason for an axe in the UK unless you want to really get into woodcraft and do a bit of carving et al. As David said, an axe fits into the bushcraft 'uniform' easy enough. The bottom line is if you want to carry and axe and wack ten bells out of a tree then go for it...use what you like.

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

The bottom line is if you want to carry and axe and wack ten bells out of a tree then go for it...use what you like.

I agree a bow saw is a far more efficient tool for sectioning a large tree and its my preference once felled. Splitting those big rounds though takes a froe or axe / maul though. If all you are doing is chopping up small stuff then smaller tools are fine but when the wood is big the tools are big

 

[rik_uk3]

I'm an old fashioned boy scout, find the wood and cut it, end feed the wood 'Star' style and it will burn. Your don't 'need' the axe' most of the time

 

[HillBill]

A star fire lay makes a good cooking fire

I'm an old fashioned boy scout, find the wood and cut it, end feed the wood 'Star' style and it will burn.

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

I'm an old fashioned boy scout, find the wood and cut it, end feed the wood 'Star' style and it will burn.

Very true and ok for cooking but not much cop for warmth.

 

[HillBill]

Indeed, the heat is expelled upwards for the most part., not outwards so much

Very true and ok for cooking but not much cop for warmth.

 

[Tracker NTS-054]

expedition leader (jungle) I swore by a Cold Steal kukri (/QUOTE]

This may be narrow minded of me, but I always considered kukris and machetes tools best suited for tropical- temperate use and axes for temperate- tundra use? But even so I think whatever you train with, and are happy with and confident using is the tool for you

 

[Corso]

This may be narrow minded of me, but I always considered kukris and machetes tools best suited for tropical- temperate use and axes for temperate- tundra use?

thought the same

 

[FGYT]

In my previous life as a survival instructor and expedition leader (jungle) I swore by a Cold Steal kukri (could do almost any job) and a Gerber Gator folding knife (small enough to have on you all the time). However, getting back into bushcraft now and I notice that it's pretty universal to use an axe and a fixed blade knife. I know it's each to their own, but I'm a little surprised by this, as a kukri (or similar) seems to be able to do everything an axe can, plus more (e.g. clearing brush, digging, preparing game), and for anything else there's the folding knife. So is it just convention/fashion or am I just missing something?

Also, what about a billhook? They're popular with forest schools and I use one a lot when working in the woods/coppicing; does anyone use them for bushcraft?

Of course the best answer is experience, and I now have an axe, billhook, fixed blade, folder, and I'm getting a new kukri, so I'll take them all with me camping and see which tool(s) I reach for the most, but I'm interested in other's thoughts...

A kukri wouldnt have the balls to process a good quantity of wood

I'm an old fashioned boy scout, find the wood and cut it, end feed the wood 'Star' style and it will burn. Your don't 'need' the axe' most of the time

Well I used a Kukri and a Locking SAK for years before I found out I was doing it wrong (also carried a Gerber Folding saw exchangA simier to silky in the tooth design blade and a pair of secateurs )

and then Bushcraft had been invented to show us the true path of the 4" fixed zero scandi grind thick blade the Small hatchet axe and the laplander saw

Tried them mmmmmmmmmmm Na dont like the knife never use an axe for fire wood ...Ever when camping why wood is supplied in all the sizes you want it grows on trees and if its to long and to big to snap I may saw of long bits to carry and burn em in half and end feed

My camp Nessy has been my respectable Kukri and tho i came up with the DSP as a much better all round ( For ME) "Bushcraft" knife i prefer the 3/4 size which is similar to the SAK blade

now dam it im gettin my Kukri back as the best ( For me ) all round (means its compromised but reasonable at lots of tasks ) GP camp /out door Big blade

 

[FGYT]

This may be narrow minded of me, but I always considered kukris and machetes tools best suited for tropical- temperate use and axes for temperate- tundra use? But even so I think whatever you train with, and are happy with and confident using is the tool for you

yes narrow minded but a Kukri and a Machette are 2 different tools and do different jobs in different areas of the world

they are the Nepalise cutting tool of the people used in all areas by all

 

[santaman2000]

yes narrow minded but a Kukri and a Machette are 2 different tools and do different jobs in different areas of the world

they are the Nepalise cutting tool of the people used in all areas by all

That was my thought. And the Himalayas aren't exactly "tropical or temperate."

 

[Haggis]

For many years I made a living for myself and family by trapping furs in winter and making white oak baskets in warmer weather. In the bush I used a boy scout axe head on an 18" helve, a fixed blade knife, and a two-bladed trapper pattern pocket knife. I cut down trees, I split the logs, and did everything related to the trees with those few tools. During trapping season I also used snares, during basket season I used a froe and a drawknife in my shop. There isn't much that can't be done with the old Nessmuk trio.

"Yankee ingenuity, that's the thing that makes it. It not only makes the thing, it makes the thing that makes it."

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I'm a relative newbie to this bushcraft thing of which we all speak. Today I went out into the woods with a knife, an axe head, a fro, and a folding saw. I had the axe head and the fro because I had a couple of wood carving projects planned, namely putting a handle on the axe head... I didn't get around to that, so they both turned into dead weight. But I did use a friends axe when I was sharpening a stick to make a pot support. I used an axe earlier in the week in the garden to sharpen a stick to use as a tree support stake. With the stake, I tried to be lazy and carve it with peasant knife I had on me in the garden, but after about 15 mins, I said sod it, got the axe, and did the whole thing and a second one in under a minute. I'm sure I could have done it with a large Kukri, or a Machette, or a bill hook. But, I think for what I was doing, in the way I was doing it, the axe was the right tool for the job.

I have in the past taken a machette into the woods with me as a pour girls billhook, my conclusion: it's pants. I left it at home today. I used the folding saw a lot, felling a couple of dead standing trunks which then went into the fire, chopping it into the right lengths etc... If I only had to take two tools into the woods with me, then it would be the saw and the knife. But if I could take 3, the axe is next into the pack.

If I was going to the tropics, I would probably leave the axe at home and use a Kukri or similar. They are designed for the job of cutting bamboo, which is a whole different beast to the Hazel, Chestnut and Oak of your typical English Wood.

J