Reddit mentions of Gerber Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet [31-002070]

I just got a Gerber Bear Grylis Survival Hatchet on Amazon black friday deal for $22.80.
https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Grylls-Survival-Hatchet-31-002070/dp/B00B0I2DBK

with the prime now offer you can use 15offnow and it knocked off $15. so the total was $7.80. However i added $5 tip

so $13.54 for a hatchet

http://i.imgur.com/u3D1e4z.png

update: just got it delivered. nice little hatchet. very small light yet hefty for chopping

While I agree generally with what everyone else is saying, there is one circumstance when I cut wood. Sometimes, state parks where I live cut up downed trees and pile it up near backcountry sites and it still needs to be split or cut into smaller pieces. You can get a pretty lightweight backpacking hatchet for this. I have this one.

I've tried a LOT of different knives in a wide range of sizes and 4-5" seems to be ideal for me. I want a blade that's at least twice as long as the thickness of anything I'd try to baton and I don't really need to baton anything thicker than 2 inches. In my opinion, batoning is for making kindling and I use anything larger than 2" as fuel, not kindling.

Take a look at this picture for a second. That's a 20.8oz Gerber Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet and a 22.5oz Ontario RTAK II, after the same number of chops on the same log. The RTAK II is a BIG knife made for chopping wood but it can't even match the performance of a hatchet that is both smaller, lighter and 1/3 of the price.

You say hatchets are "specialized" tools as if they aren't capable of more than 1 or 2 things, but a good hatchet is one of the most versatile tools available. I carved my first bow drill kit with a Fiskars X7, in addition to chopping, limbing, splitting, carving feather sticks, etc.

I've had a KaBar Becker BK7, Ontario RAT 5, multiple machetes and other big knives but even though my BK7 chopped and split better than my current ESEE 4, it sucked at everything else and my $25 Fiskars X7 still chopped and split better. I've just never found big knives to be as useful as a good hatchet (or a folding saw) paired with a well made work knife, like an ESEE 4. That combo offers FAR more versatility, which saves you calories, for only a few more ounces and for the price difference, you can save weight elsewhere by splurging a little on Titanium cookware.

All that being said, if I could only take a knife with me, then I'd take a BK7 or an ESEE 6, but I'd still prefer a good hatchet over either of them.

These two are 1lb+ each:

• Gerber Back Paxe II
  
  
• Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet
  
  I have the former and found it insufficient. I got the Gerber Sport Axe II. It is 22oz and ~14" long. I find that much better.
  
  If you have the money, find a Wetterlings

Gotcha, use this then.
https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Grylls-Survival-Hatchet-31-002070/dp/B00B0I2DBK/