Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Mini Pocket Axe

Picked up this mini Norlund Hatchet from a local antique store a while back.


A note said it used to be owned by some rancher named Archer. Well that rancher had taken about an inch off the lower end of the bit!

I kinda liked that though. He also made a useable belt sheath for it. And since I've been drooling over the Gransfors Bruks Mini for a while, I thought I would pick this up for a small fraction of the cost. Luckily I was able to rehaft the original handle which is thinned out nicely. So this one comes in at 1lb 1oz with a 10 1/2" handle and with a 2 1/8" bit. A little smaller than the GB.

Horace Kephart was a fan of the mini hatchet as well. In his masterpiece "Camping and Woodcraft" he has this to say:

"Among my most valued possessions is a tiny Colclesser tomahawk, of 8-ounce head and 2 1/2 inch bit, which, with hickory handle and home-made sheath, weighs only three-quarters of a pound. I seldom go anywhere in the woods (unless in marching order with a heavier axe) without this little trick. It is all that is needed to put up a satisfactory shelter wherever there is hemlock or balsam, or bark that will peel, while for other service I use it oftener than I do my jackknife."




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