Axe or Blade? Which is "best?"

My wife is pretty proficient with the S.O.G. Tactical Tomahawk, and I'm working with a blacksmith to have an old school Valaska made for me.

There's a comforting simplicity in carrying some form of axe!

 

Im a longsword practitioner in ARMA - the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts and still would prefer a good axe in the wilds over a blade if I had to choose ONLY one.If I were actually in the realm of survival id use stone flakes and the like for the smaller cutting tasks and rely on the trusty axe for just about everything else.Everything from warfare,shipbuilding,,to a log cabin can be done by the head of a good axe and a back to wield it.

 

Personal experience on my end is with knives. I've just recently taken the leap into territory that has always interested me and that's tomahawks. I bought my first el cheapo SOG at Walmart. Now I'm getting ready to buy a Cold Steel trench hawk and a S&W Escape and Evasion.

I bought my dad the E&E and love it. Its too heavy to spend a week hiking with it but for a day hike or in the car with my BOB, it's perfect.

I would imagine it would be a true asset in an urban scenario.

Sadly, I can find no one with much experience around here that can teach me proper and efficient usage for fighting with it or for usage of it as a tool. So, while i can use it, I won't be able to use it to it's potential.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

 

The tool box on the work horse, a M38 Jeep, has this in place and it stays sharp with a Diamond Stick, as well as a folding saw with 3 different blades. Good Stuff Becker. Never tried the stuff from the new maker since Becker and others that followed went belly up.

http://www.knivesplus.com/BECKER-KNIVES.html



Select what you like.

 

Looks alot like my Becker Companion.

Becker Knife and Tool: Becker Campanion, BKT-2
$61.97 SALE PRICE!

Becker Knife and Tool, Campanion, full tang construction, 5 1/4" 1095 blade, Cro-Van, black epoxy powder coat, lanyard hole

 

For general use a kukri, for cutting firewood a saw.
Firewood is dry and often can be picked from the ground.

For a shovel either the Spetznaz shovel or the German Extra Heavy Duty E-tool (has the only hinge I trust, but it's heavy ) depends on carry a lot use a little, or carry a little use a lot.

Edged weapons never jam and are much quieter than guns.

 

True but there is an old saying about never bring a knife to a gunfight.

 

Bring a knife, a gun and a friend with a gun.

 

Wouldn't that depend on how many of them there are?

IMO, avoiding others would usually be the wisest move.

Unless you know where, killing silently with a knife isn't easy and even then it isn't easy.

 

A machete would be more manly but, an axe would be more useful. Clearing brush is one thing but, building and cutting is another.

 

I have a three blade survival system which consists of a hatchet, a folding saw, and a utility knife.

In your case with arthritis and not being very fit I would recommend a folding saw. Its a more efficient way of cutting wood. Sawing > Chopping. Also it is much safer. Unless you put your fingers directly underneath the saw while using it you can't hurt yourself. However when chopping with knives/axes especially in the beginning you can misjudge angles, swing to short, or deflect and bounce off what you are chopping and catch a leg.

For a saw I would recommend the Bahco Lapland folding saw its costs around 30 bucks. It's a great saw not as complex as some of the other compact foldable saws which means there are less points of failure for it to break during a survival situation.

If you still want to go with a chopping tool I would recommend an axe over a blade. Even though I am very partial to a Kukri because they are so versatile. However they are less user friendly. Ideally you want to an axe who's shaft length is equal to the length of your arm measure from your finger tips to your armpit. For me that is 24." You will probably be a little different over or under. Once you do that go ahead and find yourself an axe with that length.

Hope that helped!

 

I have used all of the above. If you were to ask me to choose one i would have to go with my 22" blade machete made in El-Salvador. My dad gave it to me when i was 9 (thirty five years ago).
It goes everwhere and can do about anything. firewood, self defense, tool and trap making.
it never breaks, warps or wimps out. I used it this week to clear brush and collect squawwood.
In college i got into a skirmish with a fellow who had pulled a samurai sword
i promptly in one move pulled old "glamdring" out of its sheath and chopped his blade in two close to his hilt.

 

It has to do with what kind of vegetation you have also. Here with larger trees and practically none or very little dense vegetation like the kind you would use a machete-typeblade for Id bring an axe any day. Gransfors or similar with heavy weight distribution towards the edge (head? Excuse my English)

 

Since I can remember my father used a bolo from his native Philippines to trim trees, bushes, edge the lawn & carve toys out of wood for me. You can say I grew up with a machete. On my mother's side all my uncles in Puerto Rico owned and used machetes. So naturally, I prefer it over an axe/hatchet but; I do own the latter (CS Frontier Hawk, SOG Fasthawk & an old BSA hatchet). My current machete is a 14" Tramontina. I can't say which is the better, but the machete works for me the best...

Dom

 

I believe it all depends on the place you tend to wander .
Public camping areas you might have to do some hiking to find fire wood and at that processing might just start with a saw.
Remote areas hardly touched by outsiders is going to be tinder rich unless there's been a fire recently.
If you taking a tent and only need fire wood, is different than if you intend on making a shelter.
A kukri is probably the most rounded tool borne in the jungle a do every thing tool .
I carry a big Bowie, a hatchet, and a saw inside the handle of my shovel . A secondary fixed blade knife is inside the hatchet handle. I've also welded an adds blade (spring steel) on the hatchet to assist in digging or gouging out wood .

 

When I first read the question, my instinct was to go for the Axe....but they're both so useful and I'd really want both (greedy ole b**tard)

Then I started thinking about my long-term training (30yrs) with the martial arts, specifically Gojo Ryu Karate....one of the original forms of Karate. They had their weapons (swords/spears/axes etc) seized by the Japanese when they were occupied in the 1600's (what do Dictators always do first? Disarm their subject population...
So the Okinawans turned to farming and boating implements to use as weapons, along with extreme physical conditioning......Did they really defeat armed Samurai with these methods? At times, yes.... I have been to Naha city twice for training and witnessed the ladies training with gardening blades still....quite impressive.

So back to the original question, blade or axe? Blades seem to be better for fighting.....I dunno, I still want both....

As I read my post, I just realized that I only rambled on and didn't answer the OP question...sorry

 

Another vote for the kukri if I could only have one tool. The combination of cutting and chopping at the same time is very efficient. Many years ago my father, brothers, and I helped a brother in law to knock down a couple of dozen big pines mostly 3' and larger trunks. When it came time to limb them chain saws were in short supply so I used my kukri and easily kept up with them even on the larger branches.

As an Axe i'd rate the kukri as a 6, as a hatchet a 10, as a big knife/defensive weapon a 10, and as a general purpose knife a 3, though I've seen them used for all those purposes (not in anger, fortunately) by Nepali villagers back in the day. Pair one with a smaller fixed or folding knife and it's pretty hard to beat.

 

An axe is 100% offensive where a blade of sword has a defensive characteristic. I watched a documentary many years ago where they compared the two using them against each other. They used people who train with historic weapons to demonstrate the pros and cons of each. An axe is kept in motion 100% of the time and is so effective and deadly the conclusion was that the axe was superior. It completely overwhelmed the defensive capability of teh sword and its offense was much stronger. Personally, I want no part of a blade fight.

 

Agreed on the latter......but if an axe is so superior, why did the Vikings/Brits/French/Etc all use predominately swords back in the day?

 

My understanding is that the masses primarily used pole arms for close combat, with swords and axes being secondary weapons. The most useful, however, were the archers. The Francs and many of the Vikings were known for axes, but the axe having no defensive component requires larger than normal stones to take into combat. Swords are more closely associated with nobility (makes sense as they would be more costly to produce) and as such have a cool factor.