Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting hatchets and entrenching tools

I have both the Fiskars hatchet as well as the brush cutters. Both are absolutely wonderful tools that I have yet to find a need for a different brand. The hatchet is tough, takes a nice edge, and can cut down trees very easily. The brush cutter is just as nice and I've used my Lansky on it to get it shaving sharp (just to see if I could). The thing is unreal when cutting through vegetation, and it'll cut down most trees up to a few inches thick easily. The only thing that hurts it for chopping trees is the blade is a bit thing.

One suggestion if you would get either the Gerber or Fiskars products: Either stipple the frames with a soldering iron, or do it the easy way and add black hockey tape to the handle. They can be slippy, and it DOES NOT feel good smacking your shin with either. Don't ask me how I know.

Add a Corona folding saw to that and a guy could live like a king.

How well does the Corona saw work for removing antlers? The Sierra saw is a PITA for that.

My partner carries a Stanley folding saw (about $10). It uses standard reciprocating saw blades so you can switch to different type and length of blades.

Rock Chuck, sorry for replying to this a little late, but I just caught it. I've never tried removing antlers with my corona saw, as I've used it mostly for cutting various sizes of wood. I might have to test it out on a piece of antler to answer that question. The aggressiveness of the teeth may make removing antlers difficult. The Stanley folding saw seems like a good way to go for that.

Cutting the anlers isn't the problem. It's cutting through the skull. It's tough stuff and the angle is a pain to cut without getting too shallow. You're cutting a lot of soft tissue, too, that clogs up the teeth. I was wondering how that curved blade works vs a straight blade.

I'm partial to a climbing axe for a trenching tool, or as an axe. It's beauty is that it makes a good trekking pole, if long enough, and can also be use to hold up a tarp as well. E

Here's an interesting concept along those lines, although poorly executed in my opinion:
http://www.topsknives.com/product_info.php?cPath=7&products_id=217

I love this part. The guy's as cynical as I am.
"Please Do Not Attempt to Board a Commercial Airplane... With the HAWKIN' STICK...IT WON'T FIT IN THE OVERHEAD COMPARTMENT"

If I was going that far, I buy a halberd instead and declare game over. Wouldn't be my first choice for entrenching, but the zombies wouldn't have a chance.

I've played with this idea myself over the years, but have never put together a prototype. Heck, I've already got some materials I've squirreled away as I came across them. I think the basic idea is sound. However, there are a couple of things you'd want to do differently than tops did it. To my way of thinking, the tops thing is just a useless gimmick the way they put it together.

I would never consider backpacking with a hatchet or a entrenching tool - too heavy. I do carry a short shovel and hatchet when camping off the 4 wheeler.

For solid waste I either kick in a trench with my boot heel or lift a big rock.

It has been a very long time since I shot a buck and didn't carry out the entire head and cape or at least carry the head to base camp.