Description
A hand forged hatchet with a hammer textured head, a bright polished bevel and a straight American oak haft, wedged and finished for use rather than for a wall.
| Overall length | 19 inches |
| Head | Hand-forged high carbon steel, hatchet profile |
| Finish | Hammer-stamped forge texture, polished bevel |
| Poll | Flat hammer poll |
| Haft | Straight American oak |
| Included | Fitted leather edge sheath |
Packed for: camp work. Limbing, splitting kindling, driving tent stakes and the hundred small jobs a full sized axe is too much for and a knife is not enough for.
The poll is a hammer, and that is the point
The back of this head is a flat hammer poll, ground square and left thick. It turns the tool into two: an edge on one side, a striking face on the other. In practice that means you drive stakes with the head instead of hunting for a rock, and you can tap a wedge or knock a stubborn joint apart without setting the axe down. A spiked or bearded head looks better in a photograph; a hammer poll is what you will actually use on the second night.
Oak, and why it was chosen
The haft is straight grained American oak, which is stiffer and heavier than the hickory most axes use and noticeably harder wearing. Stiffness transmits more shock into your hand on a bad strike, so oak asks for better technique than hickory forgives. It gives back durability and a haft that will not go soft where it enters the eye. It arrives with a light finish. Once that wears through, a rag of boiled linseed oil once a season is the entire maintenance program for the wood.
What 19 inches will and will not do
A 19 inch haft is a one handed tool with enough length to generate real speed at the head. It will process kindling and limbs up to wrist thickness comfortably and it will fell a small standing sapling if you are patient. It will not split rounds, it will not fell timber, and swinging it two handed to try is how hafts get broken above the head. Know the ceiling and it is one of the most useful things in a pack.
Edge and rust
The bevel arrives polished and sharp enough to work. Carbon steel takes a keen edge on a puck or a coarse stone in minutes and loses it against dirt and bark, so touch it up in the field rather than letting it get dull. The hammer textured face is the part to watch: those dimples hold moisture and start rust before the polished bevel does. Dry the whole head after wet weather and keep it in the leather sheath only when it is dry. Forged against factory made explains what the texture on the cheeks is telling you.
Answers
What if the head loosens? Oak shrinks in dry heat. Store it somewhere humid, and re-wedge rather than soaking it.
Is there a longer one? The Homestead Oak is the closest sibling in this line.
What about a tactical version? The D2 camp tomahawk uses a torched hickory haft and a different steel.
Model: BMK-1124
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