The native American had a lot to do with the way hatchets evolved. They did a lot of trapping using deadfall traps. These were usually a figure 4 type trap with the four made of small diameter saplings. So a small light hatchet was all they needed. That and the fact that they preferred to travel light and move fast meant that they wanted a lighter hatchet than what the Europeans used for processing wood. Our longhunters and woodsmen learned from the natives what worked.
Plus being on the move also means minimal wood processing. Nobody is felling or splitting large rounds on the trail. Just dead wood and personal fires. Heavier axes tended to stay back at the fort/homestead.
I've seen your website but ran across your channel here by accident. Thank you for the information! Good to see other 18th century people who are interested in being historically correct. I'm working on it.
I so wish the knife trenders would watch videos like yours, so they would understand the difference between a knife and axe, hatchet, tomahawk… hence lever handle tools vers knife and purposes…
Back in middle ages I belive, the French used a small ax the called a falange for their army. It was thrown in mass at an enemy charge, it looked alot like a tomahawk.
Hatchets of this type were issued to Dragoons along with the sword and long arm post Commonwealth then withdrawn to be reissued again later in the 17th C then abandoned as the military system evolved . They have been described but none exist in the Royal Armouries collection or anywhere else unless hidden away . Strangely this type was issued again in Britain at the outbreak of WW2 . The French also issued them to their forces to the same end . It is entirely possible that the Armoury decided to clear the surplus decades later by shipping them overseas . Small hatchets of this type were used by many trades from bookbinding to brewing ( see Randle Holmes "Academy of Armorie " compiled from 1641 to 1688 ) and surplus munition quality would have had little value on the domestic market. The ears on the heads are representative of the long steel straps that once supported the heads on pole arms of the previous centuries .
I'd love to get the dimensions on these. Most of the tomahawks on the market right now seem to be patterned after the later iterations of trade axes. They typically were characterized by thinner bits and a more abrupt transition into the eye making it less functional for wood processing. These seem to have a good wedge shape. Do you happen to know the weight and thickness of these heads?
Good video even better craftsmanship on the axes! I see you have a fether or something in your hat were feathers common to wear in a three corner hat? Just curious. Thanks!
Thank you most kindly! It's the end of a squirrel tail. Stuck it in there years ago. Not sure how common it was. I know sometimes hats were personalize with feathers and such.
