Axe or Knife....choose your weapon

[MTNRGR]

OK.
.
I deleted the original post......it was causing to much, what or ifs.....


Survival situation of any kind and you can only take one cutting tool and the knife in your pocket doesn't count unless that is all you are taking,.....................what and why are you taking it?

[mcwoodduck]

Tough one.
Only one?  I guess I would have to pick a tomahawk that can drop the handle and use it as a knife while still being able to use the hatchet as a Hatchet to do evrything else that you can think of. 

[FPH]

Knife....I can make a spear, skin with it, drill holes with it,  A knife is more versatile.

[Ranger99]

i have both axes and knives,
but no weapons.
i always have a knife with me,
so i guess i'd grab up an axe
to compliment my knife.
but if the world is ending, it won't
matter what i grab.

[wolverine_1]

I guess I'd take the ax since I have read that mtn. men would save their ax before anything else because they could make everything else they needed with it.

[MTNRGR]

Yeah Roger that, I would grab any number of other things if the world was ending, I just wanted to get others take on the one they would choose and why.

[Victor3]

Fixed blade knife/saw...

[Bigeasy]

In a survival situation, I would have to go with a good double headed axe.  In most peoples hands, it would be a better self defense / combat weapon, and would be a lot more versatile for other uses.  A sharp axe can double as a knife for most uses, but its a lot harder for a knife to double as an axe - Collecting fire wood, building a shelter, driving a nail, forcing open a door, etc...
 
Larry

[blind ear]

Carpenters hachet. heavy enough to do real work and small/light enough to carry. ear

[mannyrock]

  Know where the name "Saxon" came from?  It referred to a people in Northern Germany who carried a knife/weapon/sword/small axe called a "Seax."    They were straight bladed knives,  with a heavy thick blade, single edge, a wooden or bone handle, no cross guard.  They were generally 9 inches to 15 inches long.  They were carried in a sheath, horizontally on the back of the belt.     They were used for everything, much like machettees are today, but were much bettter for stabbing .   
 
    After the fall of the Roman Empire, this weapon spread throughout Western Europe, including Britain, as the German tribes expanded southward and westward.  The Saxon people kicked the Celts out of what is now known as England, and ruled it for almost 1,000 years.  They became known as the Anglo Saxons. 
 
   Long and short of it is, you don't have to choose.  You can carry a Seax.   There are many available today made of stainless steel and high carbon steel, from knife companies.  (Kinda likc a bowie knife with no guard and a more sword-like point, with a false edge on top.)  Hey, it worked for them!
 
Mannyrock

[briarpatch]

I have often wondered if a good machete would take the place of both a knife and axe.
They will process wood, cut down a tree, slice a tomato, good weapon or skin a goat.

[Ranger99]

the farther south you go, the more
machetes are used on a daily basis.
they are used for axe, knife, skinner,
firepoker, drawknife, pothook, etc.

[MTNRGR]

And why I advoid the south ......!!!!!

[mechanic]

I have an old Western brand bowie from my Dad's collection, about a 9" or so blade and very heavy.  Though cumbersome for skinning it would do...and it will fell a small tree as well as an axe...that would be my choice.
Ben

[blind ear]

The main problem with a machete is that the heavy balance part that you use to chop is thin and wears narrow relatively fast. Notice some of the blades on shows about South American natives. Most of the machetes have a crescent in the same area from wear and sharpening. Their main method of sharpening is by rubbing another machete blade.
-
seax:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_axe
-
ear

[Dee]

Tough one.
Only one?  I guess I would have to pick a tomahawk that can drop the handle and use it as a knife while still being able to use the hatchet as a Hatchet to do evrything else that you can think of.

I agree, and is what I usually carry. It actually can do it all.

[Empty Quiver]

I would rather tackle a home building project, home heating project, or zombie fighting project with an axe. A knife is a very poor substitute for an axe whereas an axe is an unhandy substitute for a knife. After a few weeks I'm afraid a knife would start showing its weak side.

[Victor3]

In a survival situation, I would have to go with a good double headed axe.  In most peoples hands, it would be a better self defense / combat weapon,

 Maybe for some, but it would have to be awful light for me to make use of a double-edge axe for S/D. I'd rather just have the handle. There's nothing like a nice piece of hickory. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyjrUAimzZg

[Empty Quiver]

I'll see your Pale rider and raise you Lincoln the vampire hunter! Oh I do wish I weren't so illiterate with a computer.

[mannyrock]

 
  Or cheat.   Carry a roofer's hatchet (hammer on one side, good hefty axe blade on the other), and duct tape to the handle a small leather sheath carrying one of those skinning, caping tools that consists of a broad sharp blade with two holes through the middle of the blade for your fingers to go through. (I think they are called a Montana knife?)
 
  P.S.-Nobody has mentioned a demolition axe.  I saw one in a hardware once.  They are incredibly vicious, medevil looking things, with an axe blade on one side, and a hefty spike on the other.  I think firemen may use them.

[tacklebury]

I like a fencing hatchet, similar to the roofers or might be same thing with a different moniker.  It's heavy enough to do some real damage.  I used a dremel tool to smooth the inside edge where the fingers ride when you choke up just below the head and cleaned up the nail pulling notch and sharpened it some.  Goes through breastbone and pelvic bones like nothing and holds the edge quite well.  Having hammer on the rear and nail puller for scavenging and construction makes for quite a versatile item.    I also use the dremel and carved a groove along the top of the hammer head that fits a decent size nail nicely and lets you start it without holding a nail.  Should have taken a pic of the top.
 

 

[wolverine_1]

Tackelberry, sure would like to see a picture of that groove.  "I also use the dremel and carved a groove along the top of the hammer head that fits a decent size nail nicely and lets you start it without holding a nail.  Should have taken a pic of the top."

[blind ear]

fencing hatchet is what I was calling a carpenter's hatchet. ear
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=carpenter%27s+hatchet&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acarpenter%27s+hatchet
-
Roofing hatchet/hammer
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=roofers%20hacthet

[Ranger99]

b.e. beat me to it.
and the long-handled version
of that is a rigger's hatchet.
(or at least around here- may
be one of those deals like billdukie)

[mannyrock]

 
   Yes, that's what I meant by a roofer's hatchet.
 
   But to make it a survival tool, you need to do one final set of modifications. You will note that the top and bottom profile of the blade is square.  This is so that a roofer can chop off a shingle square, or a carpenter can chop square.  But, if you use it to cut wood, then that 90 degree angle of the blade gets caught down into the wood when you sink the axe into it, and you can't then "rock" the blade out.  You will note that lumber axes have a rounded profile on the top and bottom of the blade, for this very reason.
 
  So, I would round the profile of the top and bottom profile edge of the blade, to round it like a woodcutters axe.  Not too much, but some. 
 
   Regards, Mannyrock

[Oldshooter]

Tackelberry, sure would like to see a picture of that groove.  "I also use the dremel and carved a groove along the top of the hammer head that fits a decent size nail nicely and lets you start it without holding a nail.  Should have taken a pic of the top."

I've seen one of those before neat tool.
 
I like the Seax thing, thats a weapon pard! If not, prolly the light tomahawk.

[mannyrock]

   Probably the closest weapon to the Seax in use today is the Ghurka knife.   It is basically a Seax, but with the blade constructed with a downward angle in it, for the clear purpose of making it a more effective chopping tool.     The Ghurka is definitely an all-purpose tool, used for cutting, chopping, butchering, and as a weapon. 
 
   It may not be as good for scavenging among rubble as a roofer's hatchet though. 
 
        I guess my final vote is for a roofers hatche (with modified rounded edges), with a small leather scabbard duct-taped to the handle, with a snap over closed end, carrying an ultra light, five-inch folding knife, with a stainless steel blade, synthetic handle, and and upswept point with a false edge on top.  Itr would weigh next to nothing and would not affect the use of the hatchet.
 
   
 
 

[mannyrock]

WeaponryThe kukri is effective as both a chopping and a slashing weapon. In combat, it is used in two different styles: stabbing with the point, slashing or chopping with the edge. Because the blade bends towards the opponent, the user need not angle the wrist, which makes the kukri more comfortable as a stabbing weapon than other straight-bladed knives. Its heavy blade enables the user to inflict deep wounds and to cut through muscle and bone.[edit] UtilityA well-used kukriWhile most famed from use in the military, the kukri is most commonly used as a multipurpose tool, and is a very common agricultural and household implement in Nepal. Its use has varied from building, clearing, chopping firewood, and digging to cutting meat and vegetables, skinning animals, and opening tins.

[SHOOTALL]

There is now a knife/machete much like the picture above but a bit larger and a bit thicker both ways. One thing to think about in a crisis is both knife and axe /hatchet are hard and both easy to chip or break also hard to sharpen. The machete is not so hard and resist breaking , bending first and less prone to chipping . They are made to withstand hitting rocks etc. while cutting vegetation . A bent one can be straighten . I'll take a machete with a offset blade like above. Besides when the ammo runs out it makes a good weapon , the poor man/peasant sword .

[Empty Quiver]

Might be well to consider what the pioneers chose. They had been there and done that for a couple generations. Nothing wrong with a machete but it was not invented any time recently.


In this part of the country deciduous forest, and open prairie are your choices, a machete isn't really needed for either. Depending on where you are though it might make much sense.


Building a cabin would be a stone cold bitch with anything less than an axe. A grass hut does not lend itself to central air or forced air furnace, and I would consider life without either as uncivilized.