a 4-5 inch fixed blade knife should allow you to do all the stuff you listed in the pros and cons.

Greetings, bigmothertrucker, from a fellow Canuck.

I note from your posts that diplomacy is not your strong suit.

They know more than you and I,

have the courtesy to guide the discussion forward instead of shutting it down.

I think you will find a great many quiet-spoken and thoughtful people here.

I honestly hope that you will take these suggestions to heart.

Submitted with all humility and respect,

.hatchet has less chance of breaking
Ive been put in a horrible situation where the only cutting utensil I had that COULD be used for battoning was a keyhole saw. I messed up the spine and the saw was slightly bent but it didn't break. That is the closest I have ever come to breaking a blade in real world use, in my life. This shouldnt be a point.


.kukri can dig. not like a E -tool, but it can dig.
a hatchet can dig... so can a stone, stick and hand, a shovel works even better... This isn't a point that matters.


.hatchet is heavier, but kukri chops almost as good for half the cost in weight.
a hatchet was designed to chop and use the weight of the head instead of energy and force from the person operating it. That is half the reason it is efficient at chopping.


.easier to replace hatchet handle if broken
Replacing broken handles on an axe/hatchet correctly is a pain in the ass, in the field without correct tools would be dangerous to use. Ive replaced heads but never in the field and I think I would pass until I got home. This shouldnt be a point.


.easier to resharpen the kukri
There is a lot more real estate on the kukri and I resharpen and keep a razor edge on my axes with ease and small downtime. This shouldnt be a point

.easier to carry the kukri
I strap my axe to my pack and forget it is there. This shouldn't be a point.


.safer to use the kukri
safer to use the axe. This shouldn't be a point.


.kukri can be lashed to a stick to have a longer reach for cutting through thorn bushes, over head stuff etc
Why would you do that? If I couldn't walk around a bunch of thorn bushes I would use some long saplings to lay on the ground and bend the thorns down to walk over them, Or I would create a POLEAXE by lashing my hatchet/axe to a stick.



.kukri can be used to stir up coals in a fire etc due to its length
A poker stick fashioned out of a wood to whatever length and thickness I wanted would be used before I EVER put my blades in fire. This shouldn't be a point.


.by using a wood club a kukri can be used to make splits safer than with a hatchet, an just as easy
? This shouldnt be a point


.kukri can cut weeds, grass, brush etc where a hatchet is totally unsuitable. it can still be used to cut respectible sized wood.
a hatchet is not made to cut grass...... Most folks who would need to cut through vegetation will without argument almost always use a machete



. kukri can stab and chop and smash where an axe can only chop and smash
I guess I could stab a monster in the head with the corner of my axe/hatchet blade, instead of chopping its head off....


. hatchet makes a better hammer, bar none
a hatchet is made to hammer soft malleable objects like tent stakes


. kukri usually costs more, sometimes considerably more.



.as he tells me, the kukri can hold two edges. super sharp at the bottom, straight part and a working,chopping edge on the round curved part. this aparently gives you a lot of flexibility with more detailed tasks. like strippin bark or making wood shavings for tinder. a kukri is also much easier to use for cutting ropes or cloth in this way

If your blade isn't sharp it is not doing what it is supposed to do... I have used my FELLING AXE to make tinder and it shaves nearly as efficient as a razor.