Axe. Travel Tips

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Axe. Travel Tips

Tourist tips

Take with you ax or not to take depends on the "seriousness" of your campaign and the area in which it will take place. In the steppe and desert regions, it is of little use, a shovel can be more useful there, especially if you sharpen it on one side, at worst, the so-called. "survival knife", although I do not advise anyone to use it. In the forest and tundra zone, if you stay on the road for more than a day, you cannot do without a good ax.

Which ax should you choose? For a single trip and in the warm season, you can get by with a small tourist hatchet, sometimes called a carpenter's hatchet. But the more people in the group and the colder, the larger the ax should be. Do not think that two small axes can replace one large one.

On sale now you can find a huge number of different axes, including foreign ones. I don’t want to seem like a “Russophile” to you, but foreign axes are made for a Western tourist who does not need pegs for a tent and flyers for a fire, which will not cut down a parking lot, etc. (Throwing it to them certainly would not come to mind). In addition, sometimes comes across frank hack-work, impaled on a pine handle.

I strongly do not recommend buying axes with a metal handle. They are heavy, made of poor steel, poorly balanced. Also, do not buy axes in which the blade is welded. The ax must be cast with a piece of iron weighing about ? kg.

The quality of the steel can be checked by running a file over the flat part of the blade. If noticeable scratches remain, you should not take such an ax.

The hole for the ax handle must necessarily taper slightly towards the bottom. The blade should not protrude much above the hole.

Sharpening an ax is a delicate matter. An ax is not a knife. They cut with a knife, but chop with an ax. Therefore, if you read somewhere that some lumberjacks shave with an ax, know that at the first inaccurate or careless blow such an ax will break, and it will be very difficult to sharpen it again. Sharpening must be done at three angles. First, from the hole, an acute angle, then - the middle one, and the very edge - blunt, this is how all chopping tools are sharpened. (As opposed to cutting, for example, razors or piercing, for example, cleavers). If there is a strong desire, then a straight cutting edge can be slightly rounded, although after a couple of years of intensive use it will round itself.

The handle is just as important. I have never met a better material than wood. Although it is possible that carbon fiber ax handles, or those made of composite materials, can compete with wood.

So, the tree must be hard so that it does not wear out, elastic - so that it does not split, light - to wear, cheap - to buy, widespread - so that a new ax handle can be cut down at any time. What happens? Birch ordinary. Abroad, birch trees are bad, so ax handles are made from beech. It’s also not bad, but it’s heavy and expensive, just right for a hammer, but not for a tourist ax.

The length of the handle should be as long as possible, but such that the center of gravity of the ax is within the chopping edge of the ax. The shape of the hatchet is no less important. Ideally, if the center of the lower end of the ax handle will lie on the same line with the center of gravity of the ax, this is achieved by bending and thickening at the end, thanks to which the ax is also comfortable to hold in your hand. It is impossible to paint, varnish, impregnate a tree from decay. Categorically!!! At best, treat it with glass sandpaper and polish it with your hands. To a modern person, this will seem silly or unbelievable, but there is no more reliable way to non-toxic wood preservation.

For the final finishing of the ax from above, it is necessary to make a cut with a width of 4-5 mm, to a depth equal to the height of the butt.

Although they say that "it is necessary to plant an ax on an ax handle", it is necessary to do the opposite. This locksmith's hammer is put on the handle, and the ax handle is inserted into the ax, moreover, from the wide part of the hole.

To prevent the ax from falling off, a wedge must be driven into the cut. The wedge is made from harder and heavier wood, oak or beech will do. The thickness of the wedge in the lower part should be equal to or slightly greater than the thickness of the cut, in the upper part - the thickness of the cut + the thickness of the gap between the ax handle and the ax + a little more.

Sometimes, so that the ax does not suddenly jump off the ax handle, an L-shaped bracket is placed on the side of the butt. When working, the front face of the ax handle wears out most quickly, so that this does not happen, it can be reinforced with a steel corner.

Selected and assembled in accordance with the recommendations, the ax will last a long time in any conditions. Previously, such axes were produced at the 1st GPP. Made of bearing steel, the ax had an almost perfect shape and sharpening. Now something similar can sometimes be found in inexpensive stores.

The best ax can easily be ruined by improper use, so follow some simple rules.

never hit the butt of the ax with another ax or a sledgehammer (stone, mallet, etc.);
watch the safety of the wedge, if it falls out, you should put a new one;
if the ax is a little loose, and there is no time to repair it, you can put it in water for the night, the wood will swell and the ax will sit tight again. But often this cannot be done, because. each time he will hang out more and more;
try to sharpen the ax with a file, and not with an electric sharpener,
never cut on the ground, be sure to put some wood.
wrap the ax in a piece of canvas and carry it in a backpack, or by attaching it around the side pockets.

As practice shows, an ax is one of the most traumatic items, therefore:

do not chop by holding the middle of the handle;
in no case should the trajectory of the ax, even close, be directed in your direction;
when chopping firewood, the log cannot be held by hand (hands);
watch where the ax can bounce after the blow, very often for some reason your leg or arm is there;
when starting to cut, make sure that there is no one behind you;
do not throw an ax at the trees, by doing this you will save the tree, and your comrades will remain intact;
in the parking lot, the ax must either be removed or stuck in a log, and the stump will not trip people over it. A well-sharpened ax lying in the grass can bring a lot of trouble.

Despite all the above troubles, an ax is one of the most effective and necessary tools in a hike or expedition. In winter, in the coastal taiga, I met Nanais who had only a bowler hat, a rifle and an ax with them.

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