Hand Axe, Man’s Oldest Tool

     Felling saplings, cutting off smaller limbs and shaping wood often called for more precise cutting and far less powerful swings.  An axe could be choked up to achieve these results but you have the extra handle which often gets in the way.

     Man shortened the axe handle to make it more portable and precise for light cutting and shaping.  Some people call them hatchets, but hatchet only refers to ones with a bit or sharp edge on one side and a hammer face on the other.  Hand axe is the term most frequently used for all short axes.

     The modern hand axe can be hafted in wood, generally hickory in the USA or ash in Europe, metal or synthetic.  The shape of the head is as diverse as the intended uses.  It is a given that the hand axe is shorter than the axe.  The question then becomes just what are the length limits of the hand axe.  A simple answer is there are no established limits.

     Axes and hand axes range in overall length from 7 inches to over 30 inches.  The full size felling axe or splitting axe is generally over 30 inches long.  However, the Hudson Bay axe, large hunting axe and carpenters axe are usually about 25 inches overall.  Many others start at about 22 or 23 inches, including the tomahawks.  Backpack axes start at 7 inches and go to about 15 inches.  Camping Axes cover a broad range of sizes.  So, when is it an axe and when is it a hand axe.  There is no definitive answer and no one is going to criticize you for your choice as to which one you call it.  Remember, technically if it has a handle, it is not a hand axe.

     This short article has covered a huge amount of human history.  You have seen how important our very distant forefathers considered their axes or hand axes.  The hand axe is more compact, lighter, easier to pack and most people can cut more precisely with it.   When you look at the diversity and amount of hand axes available today, one must acknowledge the fact that the hand axe is still very important to man.  Buy your hand axe now!