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#4628 - 03/04/02 08:51 PM Survival Hatchet
SonexN36SX Offline
newbie

Registered: 02/07/02
Posts: 43
Hi Guys,<br><br>I have seen these muti function survival hatchets around like http://www.majorsurplusnsurvival.com/cgi/webc.cgi/store/st_prod.html?p_prodid=305031&sid=8NxGfR0VkA4J0vA which look like they might be handy to carry in my car for emergencies where I need to break a window or pry open a door, etc. <br><br>Are these tools robust enough for this kind of work? There seem to be two types, ones with a wood handle and ones with a rubberized handle. Is one type any better than the other?<br><br>David Koelzer

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#4629 - 03/05/02 12:56 AM Re: Survival Hatchet
Anonymous
Unregistered


You're really asking the wrong question. Even the crappiest axe can be robust enough. The question you should be asking, "is it safe enough?" If you're looking for a safe axe I wouldn't use a hatchet at all. It's better to go for an axe about 5 to 6 inches longer in the shaft, and about 1/2 pound heavier in the head. If you use this axe 1 handed, holding it about 8 inches in from the end then it's safer in use than a hatchet.<br>If the axe is something you want to keep in your car, then a wooden shaft probably isn't such a good idea.<br>What exactly do you anticipate needing an axe for? Consider a pocket chainsaw, a wire saw, a folding saw, a bow saw, before considering an axe.

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#4630 - 03/05/02 01:47 AM Re: Survival Hatchet
Chris Kavanaugh Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/09/01
Posts: 3824
Major is selling 2@ $6. These are an old packing tool for opening and closing wooden shipping crates. The quality can be iffy ( most are made in mainland China.) Major's is a forged unit. At the price why not? play with one and stash the second.

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#4631 - 03/05/02 03:41 AM Re: Survival Hatchet
Anonymous
Unregistered


Well, I'm not a big hatchet fan, but one of my grandfathers was. He carried, in his car or on his belt when he was in the woods, a roofer's hatchet. The head is heavy enough to be a hammer (watch the upstroke), and the handle is a little longer than most of the lousy hatchet's I see around thesse days. <br><br>A good one, maybe with a spiffy-keen rot-free and non-conductive fiberglass handle, shouldn't run you much more than 25, 30 bucks at your local True Value or Home Depot. And in case of national loss of common sense, it's only a carpenter's tool, not an evil "survivalist thingy". :)<br><br>Heck, if a drywall hammer takes and holds a decent axe edge, it's even more common place.

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#4632 - 03/05/02 04:24 PM Re: Survival Hatchet
Anonymous
Unregistered


Just went there.... that is a fencing tool for setting up a wire fence.. if it fits your bill, and turns out to be rugged why not buy it? i can't tell if it is a cheap quality by the picture, but I bet it will break a car window. I rather doubt you would be able to pry open a door... the handle is too short, and i think you would need a 4' long crow bar to pry open a door.<br><br>So that bring to mind the purpose you really have more in mind is breaking a car window the way I see it, and a self powered center punch will do that in a far smaller package. Just in case you don't know that tool it looks a lot like a a ball point pen. To break a window you cock the device and place it on the glass to be broken, and release the mechanism ... A very hard pin point releases with some authority and the glass falls apart....<br><br>In the way of hatchets and ax's uses are many, from a weapon to doing the intended job which is to chop wood.<br>You may use a tool as an oridinary ax for prying by placing the blade in a crack and then pulling sideways on the handle. Don't under estimate a good hickory handle either.... I do not care for fiberglass handles. They tend to degrade from UV rays, and splinter. Most are not replaced easily, as the are epoxied to the head. Unfortunatly some traing in needed to be safe with any ax or hatchet. These seem to be ignored generally, and I would hate to tell you how many folks had had to have such a device removed from the shin bones I have seen.... ( I do historical re-enactments) Mac

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#4633 - 03/07/02 03:56 AM Re: Survival Hatchet
Anonymous
Unregistered


I like the wood handle best but the rubber handle is good to .

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#4634 - 03/25/02 10:40 PM Re: Survival Hatchet
SonexN36SX Offline
newbie

Registered: 02/07/02
Posts: 43
Hi Guys,<br><br>I went and purchased a pair of the survival hatchets to check them out (@ $6/pair it was not much of and investment) http://www.majorsurplusnsurvival.com/cgi/webc.cgi/store/st_prod.html?p_prodid=305031&sid=8NxGfR0VkA4J0vA <br><br>I received them last week and put them through their paces over the week end. The tool is a combination hatchet, hammer, pry bar & nail puller. I first off noticed the handle was offset on one of the hatchets. I thought this was to facilitate the prying function but I noticed the other hatchet's handle was not offset so I think it was just poor quality control or a return from someone that pried a little to hard. The other thing I noticed right away was the quality of the steel. After just a few whacks on a nail there were visible dents in the hammer head. It seems the factory made little effort to harden the steel. <br><br>Hammer: the hammer head's face is some what smaller than a normal claw hammer's so you need to be a little more accurate with your swings. The weight distribution is some what sub-optimal for a striking tool. While a normal hammer or axe will have a heavy head and a light handle, this tool's head is relatively small and the handle is fairly thick (because it is also a pry bar) so that the center of mass is not concentrated in the head where you would want it to get the striking power. <br><br>Pry bar/nail puller: On both of my tools the teeth of the pry bar were out of alignment so it was very difficult to get the teeth under a nail head or between two boards. With a little work from a 3# sledge and an anvil, I was able to pound the teeth back into alignment so that it would work better. While the pry bar worked fine on smaller nails but as I tried to pull larger spikes I could feel the pry bar's teeth beginning to bend so that the curve of the teeth flattened out making it that much harder to lever out a nail. Once a nail's head is worked up above the surface of the wood, there is a slot farther up the tool's shaft where you can snag a nail head and easily pull it out. <br><br>Hatchet: This was the worse disappointment. One of the tools arrived without much of an edge and the other one looked as though the edge had been intentionally rounded over with a file. It took a lot of work with a file to bring back something resembling an sharp edge. However, even then the edge angle was much more blunt than you would find on an axe. It was more like the edge of a splitting maul. I tried chopping some wood but it was hard going and not much more effective than smashing the wood with a large rock. Also it did not hold its edge for long. As a splitting tool it worked pretty good. Stand a log up on end, place the blade on top and hit the hammer side with a rock or another log and it splits it quite nicely. <br><br>This tool may be suited to breaking out a car window or prying open a wooden door. I doubt it is strong enough to pry open a car door. Over all this tool suffers from the same thing may multi-purpose tools suffer from: in trying to do everything, it does nothing well. It also suffers from poor quality steel, However, even if the steel was stronger and harder I don't think this tool is particularly useful in a survival situation. For about the same weight I could carry a quality hickory handle hatch and an 18" pry bar. Both tools (even of average quality) are much more capable for their appointed tasks.

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