I have both but would drop the hatchet and never look back. Would you use one or the other? Do you think the weight is worth carrying a hatchet? I have a saw that I would take anyday/anywhere. Its a little cheap thing but I have put this thing through hell and back and the only way it ever let me down was cut my finger (I blame the tool, not the operator..lol) I plan to do a review on it soon.
So which would you choose?
Don't bring in the chainsaw, its in a class of its own.
Be ready now, you won't have that chance later.
If it is only a choice of having either one, I choose the hatchet. More uses than the saw.
I'm with RJ. I keep the hatchet around. Definitely has more uses than the saw. I'll take the weight vs the versatility
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I think I'm with LB on this one. You can cut most anything with a saw you can a hatchet. A be much quiter while doing so. Move up to a true ax and i'd change my mind. There is not a good way to spilt firewood with a saw.
To me a hatchet is just too small, unless you plan on driving stakes with it.
a hatchet isnt going to be quieter than a wire saw. and wire saws weigh maybe an ounce and can be concealed in your shirt pocket. they take a long time to cut, but the can cut through just about anything, and do a quiet job for essentially no space / weight penalty.
I've been doing a little reading and thinking on just this lately, since tools can really impact the weight of a BOB and mine is/was just too damn big and heavy. A cutting tool isn't a necessity throughout most of the year here, but the ability is useful enough I'll keep my lightweight saw in it year round. I'll be adding my gerber hatchet in the winter when its going to be most effective and needed for splitting dry kindling and pounding tent pegs into the frozen ground. I'm still thinking about one of the gerber axe/ saw combos Kodiak mentioned for winter use.
Consilio et animis
Essayons!
In this instance if I could only have one I'd take a hatchet any time. A good hatchet can double as a knife if necessary, strip poles much easier than a saw, split a decent size log if you use it like a wedge, double as a hammer and if absolutely necessary it can provide a reasonable emergency weapon. Additionally it's a whole lot easier to sharpen a hatchet out in the feild than it is a saw.
Saw
+1 weight
+1 safer
of those choices... hatchet. more versatile.
personally though... I'd leave em both at home, and take my machete.
Hatchet over a saw. It is better for fire starting. diwill99 I'm with you, the small ax is much more versatile than the saw. Mitunnelrat I have a Gerber too and have found it works well. I would much rather be in a position to have a full size ax but in a BOB it is not going to happen.
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