zakruti.com » Do it Yourself - Handmade » My Self Reliance

My Top 3 Axes for Bushcraft and Building a Log Cabin

video description

Rating: 4.5; Vote: 2

Save your money and buy only what you need - my top 3 axes for building a log cabin and bushcraft can be pared down to one if you select the right one for your needs. Ignore the fact that I have over one dozen axes. I have collected those over many years and many of them were free or very cheap and some of them are redundant and unnecessary. That being said, collecting tools is fun and most guys like collecting knives and axes, which are at least useful items. While I could reduce my collection to 3 or less, I actually do use the majority of these axes for different purposes. The axe on the left in my thumbnail is a Chopper 1 splitting maul. Mauls are essential if you have a lot of firewood splitting to do. A regular axe is just too light and thin to be an effective splitting, so a heavy maul will make the job much easier. The axe on the left beside the maul is a standard felling axe, the best all-round axe. If you can only find or afford one axe, this is the one. Three and a half pound head (3. 5lbs) and a 32 handle, this axe is used for felling trees of any size and for general purpose wood processing. It can be used for splitting firewood, albeit less efficiently than a maul, and it can be used for finer woodworking and carving, although it's a little to big and cumbersome to do that effectively. The two axes on top and just to the right of the maul and felling axe are medium sized axes used for limbing and other light work, like cutting down small softwood trees and finer woodworking. Hatchets and boy's axes are also useful and I would include one in my top 3 axes. They are much lighter with heads in the 1-2 pound range (0. 5-1. 0kg) and handles from 9 to 15. They are great for camp axes when small wood processing for fires, shelters and finer carving is needed. They are small enough to fit in a pack or on a belt so it's an axe you can carry with you a lot more often than a full sized axe. The hewing axes I show are used for squaring timbers for timber frame shelter building. I use them for flattening out section of logs for the log cabin, and I'll be using them a lot more as I build timber framed accessory buildings, like the outdoor kitchen and workshop I'm starting this spring. The other poorly maintained axe are used for clearing sites in the forest. Cutting roots below ground level is difficult and hard on equipment when working with hand tools, so I cheap axe is required. I frequently hit stones and sandy soils when cutting out stumps, and the axe is badly abused. A fiberglass handle and a heavy cheap axe head does the job
Date: 2020-11-30

← Tiny House Furniture, Gratitude, Perspective and Perseverance, Log Cabin Life, Braised Lamb Shanks

Q&A: How Does the Eco Fan on My Woodstove Work? →

Related videos

Building A Forest Kitchen With My Dog In The Wilderness

• Erik Grankvist

Quiet Woodworking In The Swedish Wilderness

• Erik Grankvist

How to Grow Perfect Parsnips, from Seed to Harvest

• Epic Gardening

Leaving my Off Grid Log Cabin for North Carolina

• My Self Reliance

16 Crops to Plant in March ASAP!

• Epic Gardening

14 Crops You NEED To Start In October

• Epic Gardening

Comments and reviews: 10

Paul'ie
Say Heah Shawn, I always wanted a Hatchet to be a Survival Knife, and William Collins did it, he let me name it Paul'ies Delight. I posted it on my Google Plus. I also had him to make me a matching smaller knife, Simply TiT's, Beautiful. I started budhcrafting with a 3Knife Carry, sometimes a 4Knife Carry, but then I got into hatchete's and Saw's. With my Paul'ies Delight and Psul'ies Pride, all I bring is a Folding Ssw, with a Multi Tool like my Leatherman Charge TTi, I've used this set-up on our weekenders and solo scouts. Dilly Dilly. p
reply

chettooo
hey shawn, thanks very much for those videos and subtitles, most of the times when i watch your videos, hard to understand for me. well my english is not so good and maybe little bit from your dialect. he he. i do not know. npw i can read also. it helps alot. i like your videos. i learn alot. amd i love canada & living in forest in canada. say hello to kalli. he he: )
reply

Bob
I love the chopper 1. The mechanical feature makes splitting so much easier,
the 5 lb. head part of the system. Of course I havent split wood in years but
watching Shawn is such fun. I really like the sound it makes on contact.
Shawn makes me want to get out there and do. My disc disease has other ideas, sadly.
reply

Malhel
Thanks for the tutorial Shawn. One thing you did not mention and something I use all the time is a Machete. It is great for camping for defense purposes. But I use it mainly for taking limbs off trees or clearing trails. Works great as a hatchet and much lighter. Would not go camping in the woods without it.
reply

Glen
Shouldn't they be called axperts? :D
My wife and I enjoy your videos immensely, and are aligned with your philosophies of living sustainably with minimal environmental impact. Great quality videos as you put great quality into your projects. Keep up the good work!
reply

Ray
I like how Shawn starts the video by saying he is no expert at axes but then proceeds to give expert breakdown of each and every axe in his collection. Well done sir. You are humble and indeed an expert craftsman.
reply

Cody
The first thing I noticed is the BEAUTIFUL film quality. Also, my wife said the axe was pretty. She has never said that about any of my axes before.
reply

HalfQ
Good video man, I'd recommend this to anyone who needs to go in the right direction. Mrs Reliance sneaking in there for some face time I see. -)
reply

Acez_up
My uncle makes custom hatchets/axes/knifes. Check his page out, hes retired and could use the recognition he deserves for his work! t
reply

The
Relationship advice: Get a partner who touches you with the same amount of love and care as Shawn does handling his axes.
reply

Add a review, comment