Double bitted opinions please!

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

http://heinnie.com/product.asp?s=8ivru8639323&strParents=&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=4614

I'm pretty tempted at that price , but I've never handled a Marbles, so I don't know what the qualities like

So any advice or reviews would be welcome

TIA

[Mr. Whippy]

Obvious drawbacks of not being able to use it as a splitting wedge.  Can't use it as a hammer.  I prefer a single bit axe personally.

'tis beautiful though...

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

You're gonna hurt yourself with that...

I bought two of the small (China made) pocket safety axes and the head came off one before I got a chance to use it. The eyes aren't even tapered. I ended up putting a replacement handle on it and pinning both heads. 

I don't know if that one in the link is any better quality.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Don't use it to chop any really big springs! 

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Obvious drawbacks of not being able to use it as a splitting wedge.  Can't use it as a hammer.  I prefer a single bit axe personally.

'tis beautiful though...

Yeah I prefer a single bit too

@Dave, Yeah I had heard that there quality wasn't always up to snuff

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

Yeah, it's a shame. The intact safety axe has been banished to my spoon carving bucket for light roughing work.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Yeah, it's a shame. The intact safety axe has been banished to my spoon carving bucket for light roughing work.

Well on the plus side you'd saved me some money

You just can't use an axe unless you confident it'll hold together

[sergemaster]

Amici,
Double bits are very hard to find but are very desirable especially for bushcraft. Right now the best double bit hatchet is made by Lee Reeves out of Oklahoma in the good old USA, Here's the link:

http://ssidders.tripod.com/id121.htm

Lee bases his double bit with one edge shaped for cutting, and one edge shaped for chopping according to the specifications of George Washington Sears, who under the pen name of "Nessmuk," wrote many letters to Forest and Steam magazine in the 1880s.

These articles helped populariz canoeing, the Adirondack lakes, self-guided canoe camping tours, the open, ultra-light single canoe, and what we today call environmentalism as well as be the Grandaddy of what we call Ultralight camping.

In those days, It was a happy union of technology and art, nature and life, and he also wrote a general book on camping, Woodcraft, in 1884, which has generally remained in print since then to untold generations of upcoming woodsmen.

A book of poems and forest runes also appeared in 1887, but It has not been  republished, and copies are scarce. One thing to note about Nessmuk, he stood at five foot three inches tall and 103 pounds and was 62 years old and in frail health (tuberculosis and asthma) at the time when he completed a 266-mile (428 km) journey through the central Adirondacks in his 10+1⁄2-pound solo canoe built by J. Henry Rushton which he named it the Sairy Gamp (the name of a Dickens character).   

Nessmuk favored what he called a “trinity” system of cutting tools, his little double bit hatchet, a light fixed blade and a substantial Moose pattern folder. Nessmuk’s views towards knives are arch-typical of the classic outdoorsmen; he preferred thin knives, keen edges and a useable length. Nessmuk, like other classic outdoorsmen, recognized that a hatchet or small axe was the tool of choice for chopping, and wrote with disfavor of large, thick “Bowie” knives. Instead, a smaller knife designed for cutting efficiency was highly favored.

130 years after his death, many folks who believe in Nessmuks "trinity" as well as his approach to the traditional bushcraft style of his era continue in his footsteps as they trek into the bush with only a double bit, slip joint, and of course the "nessmuk" skinner of which I am also a proud owner.

If looking for a double bit hatchet to add to your kit, Lee Reeves is your man, but be prepared to wait up to a year or be willing to pay double through a third party dealer..

Cheers,
Serge

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Oh now they are gorgeous

Massively out of my price range too

[sergemaster]

Mike,
No worries, I recently ordered a Marbles 009 double bit hatchet which stands out at a whopping 15 /12" overall for the nice sum of about $40.00 USD.

Here's a youtube link for a pretty good review on this double bit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo6rY-HAKVw

There's been talk floating around some net knife forums that the Marbles 009 is total rubbish, but it really depends on what you're using it for.  For example if you were using a Buck 110 also as a screwdriver or a crate opener and then being surpised when the blade snapped..

Just as soon as it arrives, I will post pics of both my Marbles and Lee Reeves double bit hatchet as well as my own "personal" Nessmuk Trinity so please stay tuned...

Until then, here's a pic of Nessmuks Trinity taken from his book; "Woodcraft and Camping" that he drew himself, quite interesting..

Cheers,
Serge

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I'll look forward to the shot's mate

[sergemaster]

Amici,
As promised, here is my handmade Lee Reeves double bit hatchet alongside the current version that's being offered by Marbles.. The pictures alone speak volumes about the differences from quality, overall fit, and of course price..

I haven't used either yet, so I don't have any field tests to report in deatail to share with the forum. I do plan on doing so in the fall when I go on a canoe camping trip into the Adirondacks of New York state just like good old Nessmuk did 120 years ago.

Cheers,
Serge

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Sir, that is one very special (ok gorgeous!) looking axe you have there

[sergemaster]

  Amici,
So I decided to try out my Lee Reeves double bit today, and as I was working on halving a 4" pine branch, when the HEAD all of a sudden separated from the handle and off it went about 5 feet away from me.. After reattaching the head and wedge, after a few more swipes and OFF it went again.. At that point for safeties sake, I decided it was time to put the double bit away before I lost an eye or opened an artery.

As you could believe I was in a little bit of shock, here was a hand forged/made double bit hatchet that cost me about $200.00+ USD, and it couldn't even survive chopping up A FEW 2-4 inch Pine branches? 

To make matters worse, I had my surge with me, and when I decided to use the saw to prune some of the smaller branches off of the trunk, it either took forever or the saw began to detach from the blade selector.. Hence why a MT can only do certain things and none of them quite well..

It seems that the wedge used by Lee to fasten the head to the handle was not steel,  but actually also made of the Osage wood as the handle, and that seems to be the failure point, NOT the head.

In fact the head still has quite an edge to it despite the "wardrobe malfunction" of the wedge and handle. I've sent an email to Lee to see if he can correct whatever the heck went wrong, so in the meantime all you axers stick with an Eastwing... I wonder if this happened to Nessmuk while he was out and about..

I know I should have taken pics, but as you could understand, I was feeling a bit hot under the collar too do so..

Cheers,
Serge 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

That would have me a bit worried too