Mastiff Gears® 13" Carpenter’s Hatchet

This is just my impression after first use, but this is a great little hatchet. I used it to rough out a bow from a hardwood sapling and it performed fantastically. I would say that the edge geometry is a bit better suited to carving and shaping, rather than splitting wood, but that is exactly what I bought it for and its working well so far. Very sharp straight from the factory. My hatchet did arrive with a chip in the blade that must have happened during transit, but Mastiff offered to replace it immediately. Great customer service, prompt, and they stand by their product.

Pour la chasse et pêche cette hachette est superbe vraiment j'aime son style très beau designs

The axe head is beautiful and the edge comes meticulously sharp and polished. I’m amazed at the hand forged technique, it being 1065 steel and well tempered. The thing sliced through paper and made feather sticks as good as any bushcraft knife. I love this design. Lots of control with it being a short handle with the ability to choke up nice and high. However, though I like the choice of food, and finish on it, I’m not impressed with what is considered acceptable in terms of grain orientation. Ok, perhaps I’m being picky, it is dense wood grain, and it is a short handle after all. So there’s not much in terms of major horizontal forces applied like a longer axe handle intended for felling or slitting, but non the less, almost horizontal grain orientation and a run out, doesn’t give me a peaceful joyful feeling for longevity of the handle. Time will tell. It is well seated though. I still highly recommend this product, I’m sure the majority of handles are going to have good grain orientation. In terms of reputation, I’d err on defining what is acceptable for primary sale, then consider anything not meeting that minimum standard as being sold as seconds for discount?

Lilke it. When I first saw it on Amazon I was a little skepticle because it was kind of inexpensive. I wanted a thinner blade to do "trim" work on logs and such. Maybe a little carving kind of thing. It has a pretty decent scabard. It is also sharp. Lite and the back end "hammer" part has proven itself useful. What I don't like about it? Well I do recommend oiling the blade now and again. I do not believe and this is stainless steal so you are going to want to prevent rust. Scabbard comes in handy for this. All in all I recommend this product.

Good quality product. Handle to axe fit is tight and good. Sharp. Going to use it for woodworking and splitting kindling.