Camp hatchet/axe
 

This:
Woodsmans Pal

or something like this:

Gerber Gator Axe

I'd go with a lighter machete than the pal. We used machetes surveying and nobody liked the heavy ones. A light folding saw might be a good way to go. I wouldn't carry a hatchet on a bike tour, too heavy.

eather one looks like they would get you busted for a weapon , BUT eather one would work as a weapon as well

How much actual backcountry camping are you planning on?

I'm with Griff...folding saw is probably more utilitarian than an axe overall, but then again, if you're driving a lot of tent pegs...the axe is the clear winner.

get one of these:


http://microtorches.ayay.com/Pencil%20Torch%20pack.jpg

and one of these:

http://www.orchardsedge.com/images/p...050/medium.jpg

That torch looks neat. We might have to get one of those. I guess they probably sell there over here too.

absolute life saver for starting fires in the damp. refillable with canned butane. i recently replaced the one we had when we were on tour.

I don't like the new, light, hatchets... *old fart*

IMHO, you can't go wrong with a Gerber anything.

Although I'd recommend the Glock entrenching shovel if you were intending on taking one. Has a saw in the handle.

I carry a Fiskars hatchet when camping and love the thing. All the new stuff is light and comfortable enough that hacking up enough firewood for several nights doesn't result in exhaustion.

Make sure it has a sheath if you hike with it, as the Fiskars didn't come with one and the blade was razor sharp when left left the factory. I strapped it to the back of my pack and managed to slice my hand up pretty good by accident.

For starting wet firewood, I carry some Trioxane bars I get from the local army surplus store.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to run around tomorrow and see if I can find somewhere with a variety I can try on.

I just need something that I can cut a night or two's worth of wood occasionally.

I kind of want to avoid anything that could be easily construed as a weapon.

hammer = rock
hatchet = rock

... so simple even a caveman can do it.

My idea of a hatchet... I hate the light ones. I feel they are dangerous. I have spent a LOT of time with hatchets. I grew-up on a ranch and was an Eagle Scout.
NEVER buy a hatchet with a tubular (hollow) handle, no matter what model you buy, PLEASE!!!
My Fave.
Another.
If you want smaller.
Go to your local hardware store, not a camping store.

Personally, I get a converter, charged batteries for my cordless sawsall and used it the last few times I camped. I pre-cut wood and brought it with me.

Don't forget the hot buttered groat clusters...

Really? Why?

The Estwing, by the way, is a really nice looking hatchet, seeing that the base metal runs well into the handle. I've always considered the hatchets with an all-wood handle to be more dangerous than the new composite ones, as most of the ones I've owned in the past had the blade drop due to the wood shrinking. In one case, I even had a blade fly off mid-swing.

That's a good idea, but... that ain't camping. :headshake

Hatchets worst problem is that they can ricochet, the lighter ones are far worse about this than the heavier ones. Estwing is the best made out there, the only hammer I have ever purchased as well... I trust them. You can also get them with a rubber handle. The metal goes to the bottom.
You WILL eventually miss, a tube handle will fold, you can end-up hurt badly or just with no hatchet, if you are very lucky.
It ain't camping to take it with you, but taking the wood with you already cut does just fine.

I'm with rkzenrage on avoiding tubular handles, failure can be catastrophic rather than incremental.

hatchets weigh too much. go with the folding saw. every ounce will count going up hills, dude. i have a plastic handled one that weighs nothing. i take a lot of abuse about it, but it has always served me well. it rips thru branches with a quickness. perfect for campfire wood, and faster cutting than a hatchet. It's not like you'll be felling trees.

Folding saw + Hatchet
 

For many summers in my youth, I traveled by wooden canoe, and cooked over an open wood fire. We were manly men, and chopped all of our firewood with a short Hudson's bay style Axe. very wasteful of wood and energy. Now that I have to substitute smart for strong, I use a folding saw Sven saw, (Minnesota USA), but the best are japanese - silky - a UK link:

http://www.abbeygardensales.co.uk/su...s-0001704.aspx

The Silky USA site recommends some of their models for camping use.

I also use an Estwing 26" axe now for splitting the sawed up pieces, but the Estwing hatchet or a roofers hammer with a hatchet blade and a hammer head is a great idea without being so threatening. I agree with rkzenrage, Estwings are satisfying for their simplicity, function and form. like most quality tools, there is no reason not to have it to hand down if well kept.

For small fires, a sheath knife with a stout blade can be used to split sawn wood, and it's lighter than a hatchet. A traditional hunters knife, not a military one, ought to be acceptable, but I know that people aren't always reasonable...
Never used a pencil torch, another good idea. I'd stash a few solid fuel pellets for when it's been raining long enough that dry tinder is hard to come by. we were pretty caught up in the tradition of it.

in combination with commercially available napalm:
http://www.nitro-pak.com/images/7360-Fire-Paste-NN.jpg
you'll have no issues

Sven saw. The silky may be sweet, but do you want to make a side trip to Japan or Walmart for a replacement blade?

I don't think you'll be cutting much firewood. Are you going to be cooking over it? Is it for environmental warmth? Something to tell stories around and toast your smores? Only option three is a reasonable excuse for a fire night after night when you're traveling.

Cooking over a wood fire is ... a challenge. A long time consuming, inexact, fuel intensive, romantic ordeal. At camp, after hiking all day, I want something hot to drink and eat, and right quick. That means a camp stove. I **LOVE** my MSR Dragonfly. It is loud, granted. That is its only "flaw". It has a great range from candle flame to SR-71 on afterburner. It runs on white gas, unleaded, kerosene, diesel, and jet fuel. No, I'm not exaggerating.
I love it. I'm never going back.

I'll only mention in passing that open fires are often not allowed at all, when a camp stove is. I guarantee you'll find that to be true as you travel west, especially as fire season starts.

For the record, I have the Gerber version of the Fiskars (one company bought the other...) and I love it. It is scary sharp, light enough to pack and goes on ... one trip in ten, and I camp a lot. The Sven saw goes on every trip. Much much much more practical and useful.

We used to collect pine-cones and lighter-knot. I agree with the folding saw comments. I also like a heavy machete, but I know how to use them, they take some time to become skilled with... they can be dangerous for someone not used to them.
But, still, my last few trips before becoming too ill... just cut it up at home and took it, pre-cut, with me. But you have to have the right vehicle, tarp and room.
I like cooking in the fire, fold the food, wine and spices into several layers of foil, bury into the coals and wait. BTW, use a shovel and long tongs. We called them hobo-packs in the scouts and on the ranch. Does well with potatoes too.

that does make more sense, biggie. much of the time you may not be able to gather fuel for a fire, and that stove looks portable enough. there aren't many trees along the road in oklahoma.

I loved my Coleman stove! I still use Coleman Camp Stove Fuel in my Zippos, cleanest, hottest, least expensive fuel in the world.
I miss my Coleman... :sniff:

I made blueberry crepes for my wife at dawn in Death Vally on that stove *cries*

i wish i was going too....in a microbus

When I was a canoeist, we were cooking for nine, and the little backpacking stoves wouldn't cut it. We were in Ontario and Quebec, and there was plentiful seasoned windfall and drift wood for fuel, and yes, building a wood crib to set a 6 quart aluminum pot full of water on to boil required experience, fast reflexes and a pair of foundry/welders gloves for rescues. The multi burner stoves were too big and heavy, and didn't pack well in our scheme.

an older more experienced guide once made me a scratch blueberry pie, rolled the crusts out on the bottom of a canoe using a paddle shaft as a rolling pin, a frying pan, lid and two plates as a dutch oven. birch and maple for slow cooking coals. I did it for a group the next year and achieved legend status with them.

didn't earn shit for salary, and I'd go back and do it again in a second. sigh.

Weight doesn't count, afloat. Pedaling it counts. I've taken similar advantage during our kayaking expeditions. I love cooking with a dutch oven, and that's one tool that is well suited to wood fire / coals cooking. I even have a small one (9 inch) that is backpackable. I won the first place prize for my pecan pie, best dessert, made in that little dutch oven. I love dessert.

But floating and cooking for nine is a considerably different situation than carrying and cooking for one. I still say stove, for this trip.

You guys are awesome. I now know more about the pros and cons of axe-like implements than I ever thought there was to know!

I've got one of those MSR Dragonfly stoves already. I think I'll pick up a tiny folding saw and napalm to make a fire if I feel like it.

Thanks for the hatchet/saw advice, guys. I'll have to take a good look at the selection the next time I'm out.

Ah, my favorite camping stove! Eats nearly any fuel and barely uses any to bring a pot to a boil. The Dragonfly is a beast and I've considered moving away from it to a light, quiet folding stove that takes gas canisters, but I can't bring myself to do it.

Curious: Did your stove come with a red pump or green one?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/14/88...69fd153ea7.jpg

...and we need a "camping" thread. I'm crazy about it.

Mine came with a red pump.

And yes, we need more camping chat.

camping chat
 

Did you guys know that folks collect old camp stoves? I think our old stove is a Primus, but I'll have to look. It is pushing 20 years.

edit:Now I'm thinking Optimus stove

I always wanted to try making a Pepsi can stove for fun, but I have no experience with genuine spirit burners.

You got the "good pump", Grant. The old green one cracked easily and had a lot of seal problems. I had it bust on me while out on a weekend trip and should note that the difference between a good morning and a bad one came down to the temperature of the coffee.

Oh, if only the weather would cooperate around here! My camping stuff could finally be removed from the hurricane kit and used for something fun...

BigV,

right with you. I've pedaled too, and we carried a whitegas pressure stove - screamed like a banshee and did great for a party of four with mostly freeze dried, etc.

One of my best desserts was warm chocolate cake with frosting, out of a dutch oven, sipping VSOP cognac (weighs the same as the cheap stuff, if you're going to curse the weight, might as well be worth it) at dusk on a stony island in the middle of some nice river rapids. The CN superchief came down the valley, spotted us enjoying it and gave a appreciative blast on the airhorns as it thundered by.

Out longest portages were 2 1/2 miles. canoes weighed about 80 lbs, dressed, and I carried a 15 lb pack under it. the food packs weighed about 75 lbs (party of 4, two canoes, two food/tent packs. Party of 9, three canoes, three tent/food packs. three gear packs. we singled carried, could cover up to 25 miles on a fast day, down hill, wind at our backs, light packs)

I carry a Coleman multi-fuel now for when there's an open fire ban or I'm too tire to saw and chop.

Backpackers really have my respect, we didn't suffer at all canoeing, other than portaging the weight. One year I invited a dedicated backpacker along to fill out a party of 4. He showed up for packing the night before and asked what the large pile of stuff in the living room was. I said "our gear!", and he nearly passed out from fright. He'd snapped the handle off his new toothbrush to save weight. My 17 1/2' Kevlar canoe can freight 1600lbs with 6" of freeboard. It does just fine with two adults and two packs.

Did a lot of packing, I thought the Appalachian would be the worst, but the Ocala National Forrest and parts of the Everglades were. The humidity, heat and all the roots made it rough. The Ocala trip was 50 miles total.

Limb trees, cut kindling, split logs, 12 gage does it all. :cool:

Care to share where you went through Ocala? At 50 miles, it sounds like you did all of it! I've done the Juniper Wilderness -- the peace, quiet, and night sky would have made every footstep while hauling a pack twice as heavy worth it!

The wilderness areas, for now, are very rough going after the storms of the previous years. Campsites along the trail were very difficult to locate.

It was a long time ago, I'm pretty sure it was most of it. It was 25mi, there and back again. If I recall correctly, right up the middle.

Funny you should mention that. Here's a Google image and it's accompanying description of my stove ( which still works) transcribed. I carried it throughout my Special Forces days:

PRIMUS GRASSHOPPER STOVE
http://www.dslretorts.com/Paladin/im...per_stove_.jpg

"If you told me that this handy little stove was no longer on the market I wouldn't have believed you. But it seems that sometime in the past 30+ years it has been taken off the market. Long enough ago that eBay is not selling any (as of now anyhow) and images.google.com didn't have any images. Which makes it tough to link to an image so you can show someone what you are talking about.

It uses the long skinny 14.1 ounce Bernzomatic TX9 disposable propane fuel cylinder that is still used for the little hand held torch. The two legs fold down against the tank for a stowable package no bigger in diameter than the bare tank and half again longer.

Add the four cup percolator and you can have tea or coffee just about anywhere in a matter of a few minutes."

NOTE: the stove made the weight cut, the percolator did not (I had to settle for a canteen cup). :sniff: :lol: END NOTE.

Neat, that is a clever design.

Mine is a lot like that, except it is a two burner and uses liquid fuel. Awesome and cannot be beat!

I agree with using a saw instead of an axe, unless you are building a shelter or a very large bonfire.

If you shop at REI, here are coupons.

I have absolutely nothing to contribute to this very interesting thread, except for this tangental comment: Recently in DC I got to see numerous tomahawks from the 18th century. These were steel tomahawks presented as gifts to Native Americans (they were exhibited in the National Museum of Native Americans). The really cool thing was that many of them were very elaborate, and had elaborate etching on the heads done in England, then shipped out to the colonies.

20 years is old for a camping stove? Shit, mine's just getting a good patina. c.1976 but I think the design is unchanged since back when snakes could walk.

Svea 123! ROCK.