This review is from: Gerber 31-002070 Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet with Nylon Sheath (Tools & Home Improvement)
I’ve had the Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet kicking around here for a few weeks now and I must say this is one of the “stand out” tools in the 2013 Bear Grylls line.
But honestly, when I heard Gerber and Bear were coming out with a hatchet, I didn’t even think twice. It was the Ultimate Pro Survival knife that I (and about the rest of the known world) were really interested in.
So it wasn’t until I caught up with Jared from Gerber at SHOT Show, that I realized Gerber had more than one cool Bear Grylls tool up their sleeve this year.
So let’s dig in and take a look at this cool little hatchet.
The Bear Grylls survival hatchet is a compact, relatively light weight, full tang and pretty innovative tool.
~FULL TANG TOUGH
Full tang means that the hatchet blade, head and handle are all one piece. Full tang construction is regarded by most experts as the strongest way to build a knife or bladed tool, like a hatchet.
~NO WELDS
There are no welds on this tool, like between the handle and the head… so it’s pretty unlikely that anything on this stout little guy is going to break.
~THICK STEEL
The Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet is made from 5Cr13 stainless steel that is a full .25 inches (or 6.35 millimeters) thick. This steel is as thick as my roughest, toughest and thickest survival knife… so even though this guy looks sleek, compact and streamlined… it’s really a beast in disguise.
~BEWARE!!! SUPER SHARP
Now my hatchet arrived shaving sharp and is actually sharper than my Bear Grylls Ultimate Pro Knife was out of the box. It was actually a bit scary how easily it shaved the hair off of the back of my arm… mostly because I didn’t expect it too.
So… be VERY careful and respect this blade! Make sure it is safely packed away in it’s sheath when not in use.
~VERY USEFUL EDGE
Like most hatchets, this guy sports a convex blade. The curve of the blade makes chopping easier than it would be with a straight blade. And this hatchet has about 3.5 inches of super sharp edge.
The edge is quite suitable for chopping trees, skinning bark, slicing, shelter building, making kindling andeven fine work like shaving tinder.
~SPECIAL FINGER CUTOUTS
The extended versatility of this hatchet is due in part to the innovative finger cutouts that are found where the head and the inside of the handle come together. The cutouts make it possible to get the leverage and balance needed to control the hatchet, in an almost knife-like fashion.
In fact, because of the design, weight, balance and ergonomics of this hatchet, it could do well as a back up knife in a pinch. I haven’t tried to skin game with it, but if I had to, I bet I could.
~HAMMER
On the back of the head we have a flat, though narrow, hammer-like area. The hammer is more than suitable for breaking, smashing and crushing things.
~DURABLE COATING
100% of the steel on this hatchet is covered with the same gray and pretty rugged PVD coating that’s found on most of the other Bear Grylls knives and tools.
~VERY GRIPPY, COMFORTABLE HANDLE
The full tang handle is over-molded with a very grippy, rubberized substance, similar to what we have on the handles of the other gear in this line.
I’ve found this hatched to be a joy to hold and use. And it stays in my hand pretty good even when wet.
Toward the butt end of the handle the grip flairs. This helps keep the tool in my hand when in use, especially when swinging it hard, like in chopping a tree.
~CHOP A TREE
Using this hatchet to chop a small tree was not as easy as using an axe or my full-sized Estwing Hatchet, but it did very nice with a moderate effort and sure beat using my Ultimate PRO Survival Knife.
~THE BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BUTT?
Okay… on the butt end of the handle we have a really sizable lanyard hole. Now the tang is exposed, so you could break stuff like nuts with this pommel… but I’m not sure why you would want to considering the hammer on the back of the hatchet head.
~ONE LAST THING…
As with every other tool in the Bear Grylls line, the Survival Hatchet ships with the waterproof, Bear Grylls Priorities of Survival Pocket Guide.
This guide is printed on a soft plastic film so it IS totally waterproof. I sunk mine in water for a day just to make sure.
But most importantly, Bear’s guide is THE BEST pocket survival guide that I have seen to date. Why? Because it tells AND Shows you (with claer and concise diagrams) the basics of how stay alive in the wilderness and get rescued.
Now this guide is free, and can be taken for granted, but this little dude is a gem and can help you know what to do to stay alive when the chips are down…
This review is from: Gerber 31-002070 Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet with Nylon Sheath (Tools & Home Improvement)
This hatchet is good quality and honestly the only “sharp edge” that you would need to carry in a survival situation. Anyone who complains about it not being able to chop down a redwood tree needs to reread its intended purpose.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Gerber 31-002070 Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet with Nylon Sheath (Tools & Home Improvement)
This hatchet is solidly built and well designed, but it isn’t lightweight by any stretch of the imagination. The full tang handle is very robust, but it contributes to almost half the weight of the hatchet. A glass-filled nylon handle could have offered more reach for the same weight. While a limited reach is normal for a hatchet — this is not a full axe — it does reduce the effectiveness, so you have to put more effort into the swing and you feel the impact a lot more.
This hatchet well suited to medium duty tasks that a knife or even a machete would perform awkwardly or with greater risk of breakage, but it isn’t comparable to a full axe.
The back of the spine forms a hammering surface that’s quite usable for its intended use of hammering, but also makes it excellent (much better than a knife) for batoning. Given the shape and depth of the blade, your log is likely to split by the time the hatchet’s head is fully embedded. If it doesn’t, you’re probably batoning wood that’s too soft or too wet.
The blade takes an edge very easily and keeps it well, if you don’t give the edge too sharp an angle, which you don’t want in a hatchet, unless you plan to use it for a murder spree.
The handle occasionally has a tiny bit if wobble, but it’s held solidly in place. It’s fairly comfortable to hold, but it won’t shield you from the impacts when you’re hacking at something. You’ll probably want to wear gloves, preferably padded, if you use this hatchet for a while.
The sheath is unimpressive. The attachment options are minimal and getting the hatchet in or out of the sheath is a clumsy process of tugging and wiggling. It seems to be well constructed, if not well designed, but I worry that the contortions that are necessary to get the hatchet in or out will wear it out or damage it prematurely.
As other have mentioned, this is one of the more solid pieces in the Gerber Bear Grylls lineup, along with the new Ultimate Pro Fixed Blade (clearly, the Gerber folks don’t understand the meaning of the word “ultimate” since they keep coming up with updates and redesigns for their allegedly “ultimate” knife).
I have to repeat that it is not lightweight. 21 ounces is a hefty chunk of steel to carry, even if it takes up little space. In comparison, the full sized BG parang is 1.4 ounces LIGHTER than this hatchet! But if the weight is not an issue for you and you need something that’s solid and very compact, this fits the bill.
Despite its limitations, I have to give it 4 stars because it is well built and does what a hatchet is supposed to do.
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Sharp, Tough, Compact and Useful Survival Tool!,
I’ve had the Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet kicking around here for a few weeks now and I must say this is one of the “stand out” tools in the 2013 Bear Grylls line.
But honestly, when I heard Gerber and Bear were coming out with a hatchet, I didn’t even think twice. It was the Ultimate Pro Survival knife that I (and about the rest of the known world) were really interested in.
So it wasn’t until I caught up with Jared from Gerber at SHOT Show, that I realized Gerber had more than one cool Bear Grylls tool up their sleeve this year.
So let’s dig in and take a look at this cool little hatchet.
The Bear Grylls survival hatchet is a compact, relatively light weight, full tang and pretty innovative tool.
~FULL TANG TOUGH
Full tang means that the hatchet blade, head and handle are all one piece. Full tang construction is regarded by most experts as the strongest way to build a knife or bladed tool, like a hatchet.
~NO WELDS
There are no welds on this tool, like between the handle and the head… so it’s pretty unlikely that anything on this stout little guy is going to break.
~THICK STEEL
The Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet is made from 5Cr13 stainless steel that is a full .25 inches (or 6.35 millimeters) thick. This steel is as thick as my roughest, toughest and thickest survival knife… so even though this guy looks sleek, compact and streamlined… it’s really a beast in disguise.
~BEWARE!!! SUPER SHARP
Now my hatchet arrived shaving sharp and is actually sharper than my Bear Grylls Ultimate Pro Knife was out of the box. It was actually a bit scary how easily it shaved the hair off of the back of my arm… mostly because I didn’t expect it too.
So… be VERY careful and respect this blade! Make sure it is safely packed away in it’s sheath when not in use.
~VERY USEFUL EDGE
Like most hatchets, this guy sports a convex blade. The curve of the blade makes chopping easier than it would be with a straight blade. And this hatchet has about 3.5 inches of super sharp edge.
The edge is quite suitable for chopping trees, skinning bark, slicing, shelter building, making kindling andeven fine work like shaving tinder.
~SPECIAL FINGER CUTOUTS
The extended versatility of this hatchet is due in part to the innovative finger cutouts that are found where the head and the inside of the handle come together. The cutouts make it possible to get the leverage and balance needed to control the hatchet, in an almost knife-like fashion.
In fact, because of the design, weight, balance and ergonomics of this hatchet, it could do well as a back up knife in a pinch. I haven’t tried to skin game with it, but if I had to, I bet I could.
~HAMMER
On the back of the head we have a flat, though narrow, hammer-like area. The hammer is more than suitable for breaking, smashing and crushing things.
~DURABLE COATING
100% of the steel on this hatchet is covered with the same gray and pretty rugged PVD coating that’s found on most of the other Bear Grylls knives and tools.
~VERY GRIPPY, COMFORTABLE HANDLE
The full tang handle is over-molded with a very grippy, rubberized substance, similar to what we have on the handles of the other gear in this line.
I’ve found this hatched to be a joy to hold and use. And it stays in my hand pretty good even when wet.
Toward the butt end of the handle the grip flairs. This helps keep the tool in my hand when in use, especially when swinging it hard, like in chopping a tree.
~CHOP A TREE
Using this hatchet to chop a small tree was not as easy as using an axe or my full-sized Estwing Hatchet, but it did very nice with a moderate effort and sure beat using my Ultimate PRO Survival Knife.
~THE BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BUTT?
Okay… on the butt end of the handle we have a really sizable lanyard hole. Now the tang is exposed, so you could break stuff like nuts with this pommel… but I’m not sure why you would want to considering the hammer on the back of the hatchet head.
~ONE LAST THING…
As with every other tool in the Bear Grylls line, the Survival Hatchet ships with the waterproof, Bear Grylls Priorities of Survival Pocket Guide.
This guide is printed on a soft plastic film so it IS totally waterproof. I sunk mine in water for a day just to make sure.
But most importantly, Bear’s guide is THE BEST pocket survival guide that I have seen to date. Why? Because it tells AND Shows you (with claer and concise diagrams) the basics of how stay alive in the wilderness and get rescued.
Now this guide is free, and can be taken for granted, but this little dude is a gem and can help you know what to do to stay alive when the chips are down…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|Excellent,
This hatchet is good quality and honestly the only “sharp edge” that you would need to carry in a survival situation. Anyone who complains about it not being able to chop down a redwood tree needs to reread its intended purpose.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Good hatchet, but not so light,
This hatchet is solidly built and well designed, but it isn’t lightweight by any stretch of the imagination. The full tang handle is very robust, but it contributes to almost half the weight of the hatchet. A glass-filled nylon handle could have offered more reach for the same weight. While a limited reach is normal for a hatchet — this is not a full axe — it does reduce the effectiveness, so you have to put more effort into the swing and you feel the impact a lot more.
This hatchet well suited to medium duty tasks that a knife or even a machete would perform awkwardly or with greater risk of breakage, but it isn’t comparable to a full axe.
The back of the spine forms a hammering surface that’s quite usable for its intended use of hammering, but also makes it excellent (much better than a knife) for batoning. Given the shape and depth of the blade, your log is likely to split by the time the hatchet’s head is fully embedded. If it doesn’t, you’re probably batoning wood that’s too soft or too wet.
The blade takes an edge very easily and keeps it well, if you don’t give the edge too sharp an angle, which you don’t want in a hatchet, unless you plan to use it for a murder spree.
The handle occasionally has a tiny bit if wobble, but it’s held solidly in place. It’s fairly comfortable to hold, but it won’t shield you from the impacts when you’re hacking at something. You’ll probably want to wear gloves, preferably padded, if you use this hatchet for a while.
The sheath is unimpressive. The attachment options are minimal and getting the hatchet in or out of the sheath is a clumsy process of tugging and wiggling. It seems to be well constructed, if not well designed, but I worry that the contortions that are necessary to get the hatchet in or out will wear it out or damage it prematurely.
As other have mentioned, this is one of the more solid pieces in the Gerber Bear Grylls lineup, along with the new Ultimate Pro Fixed Blade (clearly, the Gerber folks don’t understand the meaning of the word “ultimate” since they keep coming up with updates and redesigns for their allegedly “ultimate” knife).
I have to repeat that it is not lightweight. 21 ounces is a hefty chunk of steel to carry, even if it takes up little space. In comparison, the full sized BG parang is 1.4 ounces LIGHTER than this hatchet! But if the weight is not an issue for you and you need something that’s solid and very compact, this fits the bill.
Despite its limitations, I have to give it 4 stars because it is well built and does what a hatchet is supposed to do.
Was this review helpful to you?
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