Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting hatchets and entrenching tools

Another post regarding survival knives where as one poster said,"forget the survival knife, get a hatchet" made a light go off in my head. Now that seems to make sense. He recommended a Wetterling and since then I've looked at Timberlines and Gerber. Any recommendations on handle length? I don't want any thing to small. Also looking at entrenching tools, I've seen Glock and the 2 Gerbers. Any others? This equipment isn't just for hunting but general back packing as well. We used a Becker BK7 knife last year for digging out a fire pit on one trip and it did get the job done but sure did dull out the blade. Thanks in advance!

Guess I'm old/new school... trenching is one of those things I find it hard to believe anyone does anymore. There are other less damaging ways to divert water... gear choices and site selection being at the top of the list.

Just saying and no offense meant.

None taken, mostly digging fire pits, we typically camp in fairly open terrain, no rocks to speak of to build a ring, with golden grass typically as fall approaches that becomes some what of a fire hazard. Typically breezy to down right windy most of the time. Seems to make sense to dig a hole. And one other thing, I'm a good hunter and outdoors man but really just a newb to back pack type excursions. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

No offense intended from me either, but late summer/early fall in open grassy country isn't a place I'd be building fires. I'd opt for an efficient canister stove like a Jetboil (has a small windscreen and everything locks together for stability), and save the fires until things cool off and get wet.

I'm not an eco-freak that believes in fire pans and all that, but one spark from your fire can travel WAY outside of your immediate area and you've got huge problems. Just a thought.

For a handy digging tool take a look at the Cold Steel shovel. Some friends have dug fine winter camp crappers with one, so I know they're good for more than just throwing at zombies. Probably larger than you'd want for backpacking, but fine to have around a larger camp.

If you want to pack a digging tool, you can do a lot with a garden variety trowel. It's light and the better ones are quite strong. It's especially useful for digging cat holes...if you're not inclined to pack out your TP (here we go again )

Cold Steel makes a really nice shovel, you can sharpen the edge and use it to chop wood if need be.
http://www.coldsteel.com/spshovel.html

I have one of those Cold Steel shovels and it's a nifty piece. However, I can't imagine taking it backpacking. It's, well, heavy. And while it "can" chop if pressed into duty, it is no axe. It's probably best left to digging and zombies IMO. I don't dig fire pits so I'm not sure that the 99 cent Fiskars high speed low drag polymer garden trowel I carry will do the job for something like that. Works for cat holes though. Very tough for the weight.

Gerber campaxe and a garden trowel, with a good belt knife. Not many things that can't get done there.

The video of the shovel was pretty cool. I need a job where I get to just break chit for the day...

The Fiskars hatchet, IMO, looks exactly like the Gerber and I've seen them for noticably less at home & garden places.

You are correct sir.

The Gerber E-tool is fairly heavy, maybe even the same weight as a GI trifold from what I can recall picking one up once, but without the surplus "cheap."

I have a Glock E-tool and it is considerably lighter than the Gerber, but still heavy enough I rarely take it on trips (unless digging fire pits or similar) opting for a Fiskars 88 cent plastic trowel most of the time which is perfect for cat holes most of the time. One thing that would make the Glock a lot better (and worth taking more often) would be ditching the cut on the push stroke saw and replacing it with a cut on the pull stroke version. As is, it doesn't work that well and when combined with a borderline slick handle it seems like an accident waiting to happen.

This is why I like this forum so much, great ideas from people who actually use the stuff, not just tucked away in a bag someplace. That gardening trowel is an outstanding idea! Never would have thought of it on my own. Any other hatchet recommendations other than the Gerber and Fiskar? Just looking at all the different options out there.

The Cold Steel shovel isn't a chopper so much as a slasher, more akin to a heavy knife in function than an axe. A sturdy multi functional piece of equipment that feels good in the hand. Not worth it for the weight for backpacking though. Not to say I haven't carried one backpacking from time to time... ok, maybe a bit more than "time to time".

What size hatchet? Experimentation is still ongoing on that one. In general I favor whatever weight head you choose, re-hafted with a longer handle. Like an 8-10oz head on a 14" handle, or a one pound head on a 20" handle.

FWIW, I have never found an axe/hatchet of any real use,all i tend to carry now is a good "bushcraft" type knife and a folding saw like a silky or bahco laplander with these i can do pretty much everything i need,plus im less likely to have an "mishap".

If you do want a descent axe/hatchet, you could do alot worse than look at the gransfor bruk wildlife hatchet.

Dave

Gerber brush hook, both sides sharp. Does digging, trenching, cutting, whacking etc.....its the only thing we carry besides a fixed blade strong knife and a piranta with blades generally.... sometimes have a gut hook and small caper/skinner blade along... both fixed.

Fiskars owns Gerber, a Fiskars hatchet at Home Depot/Lowes is the SAME as the Gerber.

I have a Gransfor hunting axe (it's a small axe, more like a large hatchet). It's sharp enough, if you swing just right, you can make the air bleed (slight exaggeration ). The right tool for the job is nice, but a hatchet isn't the easiest tool to use if it's not the right tool for the job. And, it can be downright dangerous in situations where it isn't the right tool for the job. I recently needed an axe or a saw and was happy I had my axe on me, whereas my saw was in the truck (I was on foot). It would have been a b*tch to walk back to the truck and get my saw when I had the hatchet right there, so I was happy to have it. However, 9 times out of ten I'm carrying an axe when I don't need it, or when there is a more appropriate tool for the job (a saw, a knife, etc.). A small hatchet can be handy as a survival tool, if you need to make a shelter, but it's not much use for much else in my opinion.

The purpose of a hatchet is to split that wet Cascades wood so it will reliably burn. If you are feeding a woodstove (or camp fire I suppose), the hatchet is well worth it over batoning with a knife.

If I don't have my woodstove, I don't bring a hatchet. When I do bring a hatchet, the GB wildlife hatchet is what I'm using right now.

Fiskars and Gerber ARE NOT necessarily the SAME. I have one of each of the brush cutter machetes. The Gerber was made in Finland while the Fiskars was made in China. Their are some cosmetic differences (fit/finish) that put the Gerber over the Fiskars in this example too. That being said, the Fiskars is probably just as tough and does have a lifetime warranty too. The stickers are still on both as I am yet to use them.

Also, the Gerber line usually comes with a nylon case/scabbard of some sort while the Fiskars typically don't come with anything.

I have the Gerber ax's (again, Finland) in a couple lengths. Both are nice, well made, and have held up great. In the ax's there are the Gator versions that some how come with a knife or saw in the handle and are priced lower than the comparable Gerber version. I would expect China is involved there too.