alexrex20
Explorer
Cory.......did you actually drill holes in those perfectly good implements?
they're just for looks anyway.
also, lol @ all the people that include a chainsaw as part of their normal camping gear.
An Axe - Seriously?
- Thread starter htek
- Start date
they're just for looks anyway.
also, lol @ all the people that include a chainsaw as part of their normal camping gear.
The requirement comes at the local NF level, during the fire season, In the form of a road sign at road entrances. If a ranger stops at your camp, they can ticket you, even if it's only a reccomendation. It is better to carry them to be sure, as opposed to ticketed and/or asked to vacate the woods.
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
They were both cheap tools, and also fiberglass/plastic shafts.
Some were concerned about reducing the strength of them, but I never had a problem.
We used the shovel on one off road trip to dig out a friend who sunk his rig into some soft sand.
And yes, they were required up where we went wheeling, it was in the middle of fire season.
Better to have the tools with you than risk getting a ticket.
I do like my new setup better though from Hi-Lift.
It has gotten a lot of use over the past few years.
Exactly. Somebody made mention of cutting a 3 foot tree with a bow saw... yeah, with a 5-6 foot saw! I don't even know where I'd find a saw that big anymore. And where are you going to store a 6 foot saw? That's nuts.
An axe is way more versatile. A simple axe CAN cut a 3 foot tree, given enough time.
Maybe a good bow saw can cut a small tree faster than a good axe, but I doubt it. I can cut a 6" tree with as little as 3 chops sometimes. I don't even know where you'd get a good saw anymore. Do they even make them? I only see crappy ones for sale. Reason is, nobody uses them anymore. An axe, however, lots of people still use axes because they are so versatile.
Says the guy who doesn't live in boreal forest. Last year I was on a trail, probably a grade 1 or 2, easy road. Took 2 hours to go 3 miles because there was so much blowdown across the trail from a storm the week before and I DIDN'T have a chainsaw with me.
It's SO easy to criticize when your experience is so small and your mind is closed.
lowenbrau
Explorer
^ well said^
Speaking of axes. Has anybody else discovered the wonders of clearing axes? These things go through green stuff like nothing. A couple swipes and you are through a 4" poplar sapling. They are super handy when you find yourself slid off a trail and need to clear around the rig.
Speaking of axes. Has anybody else discovered the wonders of clearing axes? These things go through green stuff like nothing. A couple swipes and you are through a 4" poplar sapling. They are super handy when you find yourself slid off a trail and need to clear around the rig.
lostworldexpedition
Explorer
We carry an axe (a Fiskars long handle) and even though it is not used on a daily basis it has more than earned its way into our packing list. Furthermore, if we had a chainsaw we would have been considered superheroes more than a couple of times in Central America. Alas, a chainsaw would be a bit overkill for our packing.
goldenbeagle
Adventurer
I have an axe in my heep....Come to think of it, just this past Friday I used it while camping with my father. The area we camped in must have been a popular place, because there was not a single piece of fuel for the fire within 100 yards in any direction. I ended up taking a stroll with my axe and finding a dead tree that was about to fall over...I hacked it down and split it up.
I firmly beleive in carrying an axe in my rig...but to each his own.
I firmly beleive in carrying an axe in my rig...but to each his own.
Might be similar to the Woodsman Pal in utility.
I bought it based on recommendations here and OJ. But so far, I'm not that impressed. It seems to work really well on fast growing softwood brush. Basically jungle, which it was designed for.
But it does not cut hardwood brush very efficiently. It can't even get through a 1/4" stick of hardwood across the grain. You have to cut at about 45°, which has other issues...
I also find it's use slightly dangerous. To try to use it efficiently, requires broad, wild swings. When those swings are at 45° to a stick, there's a chance it will glance off. It's just not a great situation.
I'm still learning to use it, maybe there's a better technique. But at this point, I still prefer a hatchet for anything over 1", and just leave the little stuff alone.
cruiseroutfit
Supporting Sponsor: Cruiser Outfitters
If anything that is a regional level requirement as its not anything we see here in Utah's many different USFS forests. While the water and shovel are a no-brainer particularly if you plan to have a camp fire... I'm not sure what good the axe will do in a fire suppression situation other than offer a convenient excuse to pack around an axe
The entire worlds topography doesn't match that of Texas, thankfully
Spend time in Utah's high mountains and your likely to have to clear dead fall blocking trails. Along with that, dead wood gathering is permitted so if you've got a large group wanting to enjoy a campfire, either man up on axe duty or have one person in the group pack a chainsaw. It goes along with a portable welder, Pull-Pal, exhaust-jack, sand ladder/mats, one of them in a group will do the trick, split up the load amongst participants based on the particulars of you trip. I wouldn't bother bringing a chainsaw to the desert nor a Pull-Pal into the mountains.
Speaking of the USFS, the Pleasant Grove Ranger District which manages the popular American Fork Canyon area has a dirt-bike with a chainsaw 'scabbard' that holds the saw mass at the handlebars with the chain bar running along the front forks. I've seen the ranger ride it places that challenge even skilled moto riders.
alexrex20
Explorer
Speaking of closed minds, maybe you missed the memo but Texas is not all desert and cactus, and we don't ride horses to work.
Never mind that I live adjacent to 675,000 acres of National Forest, well within hurricane and tornado country. Do share with us where you live, and I can make equally blind, uneducated, naive statements about your state and its terrain, climate, and topography. Or is there some other reason why you don't share that info in your profile? EDIT: Oh, you're Canadian...Have you ever traveled across Texas? Hell, have you ever even been to Texas?The entire worlds topography doesn't match that of Texas, thankfully
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Let's play nice, boys and girls! Please hold the name-calling.
Clearly, the type of terrain you're traveling though will help you decide what sort of equipment you chose to bring along. Once while traveling in the forest in eastern Bolivia, my way was blocked by a 15 foot thick, 90 foot tall tree that had fallen across the road. That's when you need to make a new road! Shovel and axe are both helpful under these circumstances.
Clearly, the type of terrain you're traveling though will help you decide what sort of equipment you chose to bring along. Once while traveling in the forest in eastern Bolivia, my way was blocked by a 15 foot thick, 90 foot tall tree that had fallen across the road. That's when you need to make a new road! Shovel and axe are both helpful under these circumstances.
Eventhough
Explorer
I always carry an axe. It is light weight and doesn't take up much space. I have it mounted inside my rear door with a pair of Quick Fists. I use it most often for splitting firewood. I often come into a camp where someone has cut wood to length but it has not been split. An axe also doesn't require gas, oil, wrenches, spare parts, and doesn't have a carb that can clog up.
Now if I am going out after a storm (wind, heavy rain, heavy snow or ice) then I'll take a chainsaw b/c there is a higher probability that I'll be clearing fallen trees.
With the work I do I'm often in the woods so my FJ stays packed most of the time. Adding a chainsaw to the mix 100% of the time would take up even more space and leave less space for people and other gear.
Now if I am going out after a storm (wind, heavy rain, heavy snow or ice) then I'll take a chainsaw b/c there is a higher probability that I'll be clearing fallen trees.
With the work I do I'm often in the woods so my FJ stays packed most of the time. Adding a chainsaw to the mix 100% of the time would take up even more space and leave less space for people and other gear.
mogwildRW1
Adventurer
Might be similar to the Woodsman Pal in utility.
I bought it based on recommendations here and OJ. But so far, I'm not that impressed. It seems to work really well on fast growing softwood brush. Basically jungle, which it was designed for.
But it does not cut hardwood brush very efficiently. It can't even get through a 1/4" stick of hardwood across the grain. You have to cut at about 45°, which has other issues...
I also find it's use slightly dangerous. To try to use it efficiently, requires broad, wild swings. When those swings are at 45° to a stick, there's a chance it will glance off. It's just not a great situation.
I'm still learning to use it, maybe there's a better technique. But at this point, I still prefer a hatchet for anything over 1", and just leave the little stuff alone.
I've got one of those and found the same thing, I have a large knife that cuts better. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
cruiseroutfit
Supporting Sponsor: Cruiser Outfitters
No & Yes. My comment was not aimed to demean Texas, its people nor its terrain... just aimed at you and your "LOL" at people that consider a chainsaw regular equipment for a camping trip. Different regions will dictate different needs.
Truth is I would love to see more of Texas and have some good friends there that keep inviting me down with the caveat 'its not Utah'
. Too much to see, too little time to see it.
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