Axe Carry

[Tom_Ranger]

Attaching a sword to a belt is not too difficult and fairly safe, but I have found to carry an axe on a belt is downright dangerous. I have a small axe (https://mensgear.net/wp-content/uploads ... hawk-3.jpg) which I carry in a leather sheath. I usually carry it in hand because of safety. I was wondering if anybody has any experiments they have done on the ways to carry an axe?

[redhandfilms]

I carry a tomahawk. I've got a leather cover over the blade and then just drop it into a loop on my belt. What is the danger here? As long as you've got a sheath on the blade what makes it downright dangerous on a belt? I can only think of a tripping hazard depending on the length of the handle.

[ForgeCorvus]

In one of my other outfits (a Georgian Redcoat Pioneer) , I carry a billhook in a sheath on my belt and a felling axe on a shoulder strap.
The axe head goes into a leather axe mask thats behind my hip and the handle runs up the strap to my opposite shoulder...... Its not a quickdraw at all but its a secure way to carry a big heavy lump of sharp steel on a stick.

[Cimrandir]

Yeah, I have to echo redhand here. I'm not understanding what's so dangerous about a (sheathed) hand-axe being carried on your belt? Of course, I don't consider mine a weapon as it's just a tool and so I have no need for a "quick-draw." Therefore it's usually passed through the straps of my current bedroll set-up and then slung around to be carried on my back.

[Tom_Ranger]

The danger in it is falling down. My land has a lot of rocks and gullies and steep hills so falling down is common, and even though my Traumahawk (https://mensgear.net/wp-content/uploads ... hawk-1.jpg) has a sheath as shown, it's held stiff on the side so it can sort of pivot away from the body at a right angle but falling down sideways still results in getting impaled or at least with broken ribs. My sword on the other hand can pivot in multiple directions as it's attached via a frog.

[redhandfilms]

My sword on the other hand can pivot in multiple directions as it's attached via a frog.

Well, how about a frog for your axe, or even attaching the axe directly to the sword sheath? I know a lot of people like the PJ Strider sword with the knife on the scabbard. Just do that with an axe instead. Something like this.
https://swordsaxe.com/shop/ols/products ... winter-eoj

[theguywitheyebrows]

Having fallen into pine forest duff with my tomahawk in its loop on my belt with its mask, i can say that falling with a load of gear is going to suck but when you get jabbed by a sword handle/knife handle/axe head too its definitely +2d8 bludgeoning damage to your ribs and side. i fell once with a bag full of high school books and got smushed by the bag after the immediate immobilization of the sidewalk and i'll never forget how that sucked. i also keep my tomahawk in the lashings for camp work as i see it mostly as a tool as well. so many other things by which to defend myself, the axe ain't the swiftest weapon in my hands.

[Cimrandir]

Honestly, yeah. It sounds like you might need to just carry it off your belt and shift it to somewhere else in your set-up.

[Jack]

Are you familiar with scout style knife sheaths Tom?
Maybe you could come up with a similar way to carry your handaxe in the small of your back horizontally so that if you were to slip and fall on your back, your pack will be what makes contact with the ground and not your axe.
It does seem though that this problem is exacerbated by the aesthetic stylings of your axe of choice. I see a lot of sharp points that to me wouldnt add much by way of practicality as a tool or as a weapon but do add a bit more potential for self inflicted injury in a fall, not that falling on ANY kind of axe is safe.

I myself made my axe of a length that could be used as a walking stick and thats usually how i travel with it but when not in-hand it rides tucked into my wool blanket roll with the masked bit facing away from the back of my head.

[redhandfilms]

axe of a length that could be used as a walking stick

A Shepard's Axe! Combine a small axe head with your walking staff. Now you get a great tool for taking down hard to reach limbs, and a weapon with a longer reach. Now, a long handle isn't the most effective when it comes to chopping firewood, but it could be done with a removable tomahawk style head that could be switched out for a shorter haft.

[Jack]

A Shepard's Axe! Combine a small axe head with your walking staff. Now you get a great tool for taking down hard to reach limbs, and a weapon with a longer reach. Now, a long handle isn't the most effective when it comes to chopping firewood, but it could be done with a removable tomahawk style head that could be switched out for a shorter haft.

Yes very astute Redhandfilms! Thats exactly what i was going for, i felt the shepherds axe/fokos/valaška was the perfect weapon for a young dwarf scout who needed both tool and weapon rolled into one to travel light

And i did consider interchangeable handles while forging the head, especially since the axe head is my attempt at a knockoff of a mass produced tomahawk that i thought was discontinued at the time. But ultimately in early tests i realized that:
A- i wouldnt be able to add a palm smell at the foot of the handle like i wanted for added grip when swinging
B- i was too lazy to forge a new tapered mandrel for a tapered tomahawk eye when i had one that i used for hammer heads already made
C- its not half bad for chopping just takes some getting used to

So i just forged and hung it like a normal axe head with a straight eye and wooden wedge lol

[Tom_Ranger]

Well, how about a frog for your axe, or even attaching the axe directly to the sword sheath? I know a lot of people like the PJ Strider sword with the knife on the scabbard. Just do that with an axe instead. Something like this.
https://swordsaxe.com/shop/ols/products ... winter-eoj

No that is an idea that would work for me. Thanks for the suggestion.