/out/ - Outdoors » Thread #2516250

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Billhooks

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 15:03:30 No.2516250 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>2516266 >>2516440 >>2518008 >>2518084 >>2518218 >>2521477 >>2522134 >>2529119 >>2531499 >>2531600 >>2533941 >>2534580 >>2535033

These things were THE shit in Europe until fairly recently, every village oldtimer worth his salt carried one. It was way more common than a belt axe. What happened? Are rambo knives just today's fashion or perhaps they are both fashion? Were these things ever popular in America and if not why didn't settlers bring them over?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 15:27:08 No.2516263 Report

Quoted By: >>2516287 >>2516387 >>2518218 >>2526357 >>2526363

My layman's guess is that in most of Europe the land had been long cultivated, with hedging, coppicing and pollarding much more prominent, subsequently a more specialised tool like a billhook has it's place. In the Americas where these kinds of cultivations would be less common, a more generalist axe was maybe more useful.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 15:31:43 No.2516266 Report

Quoted By: >>2516443

>>2516250
I've been interested in bill hooks for some time now. They seem to be perfect for clearing alder bushes and spruce/fir boughs. I'm going to shop around. All I can really find in canada are the fiskars models.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 15:37:53 No.2516270 Report

Quoted By: >>2521034

I've never seen one before in my life. Where I live in America, my grandparents did everything with a machete. Cut down a tree? Machete. Cut the grass? Machete.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 15:59:46 No.2516287 Report

Quoted By: >>2516361 >>2533901

>>2516263
Excellent layman's guess. Also, it's easier to grab a rowan branch with a billhook when pleaching.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 16:32:22 No.2516299 Report

Quoted By: >>2516366

Infinitely better than machete or rambo knife

Sage

Sage Wed 28 Dec 2022 18:42:17 No.2516361 Report

Quoted By: >>2518673 >>2518689

>>2516287
I’m sure some of these are words

Anonymous

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Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 18:46:34 No.2516366 Report

Quoted By: >>2516689 >>2516695

>>2516299
thats a poorfag cope and even medieval peasants knew this.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 19:20:19 No.2516387 Report

Quoted By: >>2516392

>>2516263
>hedging
that is actually exactly what they are for

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 19:40:18 No.2516392 Report

Quoted By: >>2516413

>>2516387
I suppose they are great at every thick and branchy environment regardless of reasons, in England those are hedges in agricultural context while in the Mediterranean almost everything is scrubby and thorny because of poor soil and low rainfall, Axes can get stuck in those and are easily damaged, but billhooks just sweep through and nobody cares if the tip hits some rock.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 20:15:42 No.2516413 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516392
also takes less metal to make then an axe, so cheaper to produce

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 20:34:07 No.2516440 Report

Quoted By: >>2516455 >>2518694

>>2516250
Very cool and useful.
Hiking mesquite deserts and hills, washes, my fiskar billhook works unbelievably.
I used to carry a hatchet or a machete ( I have a nice collection of different sizes and blade styles over the years).
The fiskars does it all and better.
I keep mine sharp.
My machete most times just glances off branches or won't bite except in the ten inches from the handle or so.
So my set up is
Billhook
One hand pruners clipper.
Folding saw.
Leather work gloves for when grab thorny branches to chop.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 20:36:55 No.2516443 Report

Quoted By: >>2516614

>>2516266
Lee Valley Tools has/had an okay-ish one with a leather handle. Edge on it needed work though.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 20:54:57 No.2516455 Report

Quoted By: >>2516459

>>2516440
your'e like the undertaker but for plants

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 21:00:50 No.2516459 Report

Quoted By: >>2516461

>>2516455
Yes, you wouldn't believe how fast desert brush and thickets grow.
Always watch for rattlesnakes, scorpions and other things that like to bite or sting. Always carry a stick to beat and poke the brush if you can't see the ground.
Everybody loves a little shade in the summer.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Dec 2022 21:04:03 No.2516461 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516459
you're telling me i live in shrek's swamp, when i cut a plant down its back the next week.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Thu 29 Dec 2022 02:32:12 No.2516594 Report

Quoted By: >>2517035

They still are, atleast in finland. Nobody carries a small hatchet here. Even in the army our fire team carried two billnäs billhooks and one full sized fiskars axe.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 29 Dec 2022 03:38:44 No.2516614 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516443
Thanks! Would be neat if it had the wood handle. I guess the leather, and curved handgaurd thing have a purpose.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 29 Dec 2022 09:51:36 No.2516689 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516366
>german fighting knife
Topkek

Get a billhook you gaping fanny

Anonymous

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Anonymous Thu 29 Dec 2022 10:33:33 No.2516695 Report

Quoted By: >>2516890

>>2516366
This is not as good as a billhook for any work except stabbing

Anonymous

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Anonymous Thu 29 Dec 2022 21:04:57 No.2516890 Report

Quoted By: >>2516897

>>2516695
That's not, but this is.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 29 Dec 2022 21:17:42 No.2516897 Report

Quoted By: >>2516901

>>2516890
Thats fucking trash. Shit balance for chopping. Too thick to be nice for slicing. Did you even try?

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 29 Dec 2022 21:20:55 No.2516901 Report

Quoted By: >>2516904

>>2516897
So you've never used one. Ok

Anonymous

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Anonymous Thu 29 Dec 2022 21:24:51 No.2516904 Report

Quoted By: >>2518087

>>2516901
>never used one
Judging by the condition of yours neither have you

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 30 Dec 2022 00:49:04 No.2517035 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516594
So if you ever go to war with Finland, shoot the guy with the axe first. He's probably the only guy who can call for fires.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 Dec 2022 17:59:51 No.2518008 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516250
Hauu~, I'm taking it home with me!

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 31 Dec 2022 20:08:42 No.2518073 Report

Quoted By: >>2518118

Bilhooks are the best, but the real question is single or double bladed

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 Dec 2022 20:37:31 No.2518084 Report

Quoted By: >>2518102

>>2516250
In Italy, at least in the North, it is still a common tool for garden work. It's useful with brambles especially. It can cut grass and also chop branches and brambles.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 Dec 2022 20:40:21 No.2518087 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516904
Gearfag larper btfo

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 Dec 2022 21:30:16 No.2518102 Report

Quoted By:

>>2518084
Visited north italy, loads of new rinaldi billhooks sold at the local market

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 Dec 2022 22:19:19 No.2518118 Report

Quoted By:

>>2518073
double is more versatile but clumsier to carry around. depends on the context.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 Dec 2022 22:29:08 No.2518120 Report

Quoted By: >>2518140

Best way to sharpen the curved section of the blade nicely?

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 31 Dec 2022 23:17:30 No.2518140 Report

Quoted By: >>2518166

>>2518120
I use a round file followed by a worn whetstone for scythes (or a finer file, like a small chainsaw file). Don't think there is a need for any fine honing. As for power tools I've got no idea.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 Dec 2022 23:58:55 No.2518166 Report

Quoted By:

>>2518140
I've got a couple fine round files I can use then I guess! I'll keep an eye out for a scythe stone.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sun 01 Jan 2023 02:08:33 No.2518213 Report

Quoted By: >>2535044

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 01 Jan 2023 02:12:21 No.2518218 Report

Quoted By: >>2531550

>>2516250
Can't answer for anywhere else, but in Ireland they'll get you banned from pretty much everywhere: They're strongly associated with pikeys.

>>2516263
Nah, they're perfect for maintaining hedgegrows and bushes.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 01 Jan 2023 03:58:23 No.2518265 Report

Quoted By: >>2519273

Ah billlhooks, I was just today trying to find the name for these. Figures it would be a thread on /out/ kek

Just spent over a week cleaning out my fields of thorn bushes and other unwanted vegetation. They are amazing when sharp. I have mine on a 3ft handle, will post in the morning

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 01 Jan 2023 06:03:04 No.2518306 Report

Quoted By: >>2522372

I just use a half sickle.
The main differentiator here it's whether The blade is symmetrical to the handle or offset, with an offset blade you can cut things parallel and right against the ground (grass). There's often a mild warp in the blade so your cut remains parallel through a sweeping arc.

Downside is you can't use as much force, but the half sickle is still fine for anything up to about two thumbs.
My rationale here is that rarely will I be surprised by wood that thick, if I'm cutting wood like that I'm either clearing land and will need a maatock, or I'm chopping fire wood and will need an axe.

If you're cutting grass it's usually because you want the grass, and between cutting branches and cutting grass it's the grass which needs the specialized tool

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jan 2023 02:13:50 No.2518673 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516361
Keke

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jan 2023 02:40:01 No.2518689 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516361
only town clowns don't know what he said

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jan 2023 02:47:05 No.2518694 Report

Quoted By: >>2518761

>>2516440
what are you working on with the billhook? just clearing the way as you hike?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jan 2023 04:57:23 No.2518761 Report

Quoted By: >>2519155 >>2520516

>>2518694
I basically chopped chop my own hidden trails to high spots on hills in the low ranges.
Sometimes I follow animal trails but need to cut brush high so a human(me) can pass through tight spots.
I tried to keep trail hidden from people, animals like the trails I will see coyote and javalina/peccary, rabbit, deer etc tracks. I used to hunt but really I don't do it anymore unless someone wants meat.
I just enjoy the hike and reading tracks and being a desert ninja.
I could spend hours out there just enjoying the silence and watching things move around. I hunt for particular species of tree to make a bow or gather clay. Lots of things to see.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Mon 02 Jan 2023 05:47:18 No.2518778 Report

Quoted By:

There could be riggers here

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jan 2023 18:28:28 No.2519092 Report

Quoted By: >>2519149

what is the benefit of the hook vs. a traditional machete design, or a hatchet?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jan 2023 19:39:24 No.2519149 Report

Quoted By:

>>2519092
cut springy saplings, becomes obvious. hook traps the stick and ensures it cuts rather than slide off the edge and out of the way. also prevents you from hitting the ground

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jan 2023 19:55:33 No.2519155 Report

Quoted By:

>>2518761
Sublime, \Godspeed anon

Anonymous

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Anonymous Mon 02 Jan 2023 23:48:48 No.2519273 Report

Quoted By: >>2521031

>>2518265

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 04 Jan 2023 21:43:42 No.2520516 Report

Quoted By:

>>2518761
I'm in Tucson near quite a bit of desert scrub so I was curious! this sounds really fun, might have to take up the trailcutting myself. good luck out there and may we meet amicably someday in a thicket of thorns. do you use the billhook on prickly pear/cholla, or is your area not so heavy on cactus?

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 05 Jan 2023 21:29:20 No.2521031 Report

Quoted By:

>>2519273
That seems like such a useful tool.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 05 Jan 2023 21:32:07 No.2521034 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516270
>Cut down a tree? Machete
Maybe a sapling

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 06 Jan 2023 19:25:31 No.2521477 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516250
Billhooks are great. I have one from the Philippines and I use it for most gardening stuff.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 07 Jan 2023 23:56:08 No.2522134 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516250
Very cool. Where can you buy one?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 08 Jan 2023 11:00:41 No.2522372 Report

Quoted By:

>>2518306
That's what I've always used, a sickle or a small axe, but I do like bill-hooks, they are just rare here.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 08 Jan 2023 14:27:28 No.2522426 Report

Quoted By: >>2523414

How do you make a sheath for them

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 10 Jan 2023 21:33:15 No.2523413 Report

Quoted By:

https://www.billhooks.co.uk/

check out this web shrine dedicated to billhooks

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 10 Jan 2023 21:37:06 No.2523414 Report

Quoted By: >>2524123

>>2522426
Split at the top with a fastner

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 12 Jan 2023 22:36:24 No.2524123 Report

Quoted By: >>2526365

>>2523414
Does it have quick draw or is belt clip better

Anonymous

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Anonymous Tue 17 Jan 2023 11:17:24 No.2526357 Report

Quoted By: >>2526363

>>2516263
good guess, but billhooks were used in medieval scandinavia even. So no, not because of hedges.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 17 Jan 2023 12:18:57 No.2526363 Report

Quoted By: >>2526941

>>2516263
>>2526357
I guess it's because peasents were often forbidden from felling trees (because the forests often belonged to royalty) but were allowed to gather twigs or small deadwood for which the billhook is perfect.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 17 Jan 2023 12:29:16 No.2526365 Report

Quoted By:

>>2524123
Never been in an old west battle with one so just take it slow personally.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 18 Jan 2023 17:50:38 No.2526941 Report

Quoted By:

>>2526363
>peasents were often forbidden from felling trees (because the forests often belonged to royalty
seems like my country honestly the royalty being the forestry

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 23 Jan 2023 01:28:14 No.2529119 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516250
wondering what other unusual hand tools /diy/ swears by...

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 28 Jan 2023 12:09:32 No.2531489 Report

Quoted By:

This thing is really good, great mix beteen hatchet and machette

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 28 Jan 2023 12:40:45 No.2531499 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516250
They are amazing, my grandma has one that is older than me

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 28 Jan 2023 14:58:02 No.2531541 Report

Quoted By: >>2531549

what do you do with the tip

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 28 Jan 2023 15:17:57 No.2531549 Report

Quoted By:

>>2531541
It is great for sharpening staves or dragging tangled brush

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 28 Jan 2023 15:24:00 No.2531550 Report

Quoted By: >>2531569

>>2518218
Why would pikeys carry a billhook

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 28 Jan 2023 17:13:35 No.2531569 Report

Quoted By:

>>2531550
Hmmm
Why do gangsters carry razors?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 28 Jan 2023 19:44:19 No.2531600 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516250
vinjak

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 28 Jan 2023 20:53:31 No.2531634 Report

Quoted By:

Based Yorkshire.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 29 Jan 2023 00:08:31 No.2531688 Report

Quoted By:

If you're in Australia I can recommend this:

https://www.handforgedtools.com.au/shop/product/hand-forged-tools-by-michael-drinkwater/hand-forged-brush-hook/3

Brilliant for clearing roads etc while 4wd-ing, or general clearing/pruning if you have a property.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 29 Jan 2023 00:18:45 No.2531694 Report

Quoted By: >>2531896

Billhooks are large, clumsy and heavy and they are hard to put into a sheath. In fact, they generally come without a sheath at all. I wouldn't want to take one with me in the outdoors, that's stupid. Of course if you're a farmer or you work in forestry they're really good tools. Farmers here still use them a whole lot. They're very good to use as a machete or you can use the hook bit to do pull cuts. There are also smaller billhooks that are knife-sized, and you can use them for pruning smaller branches, but they've been largely superseded by gardening shears.
I'm going to guess that some kind of YouTuber has posted a video about billhooks as the ultimate outdoors tool?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 29 Jan 2023 11:48:53 No.2531896 Report

Quoted By: >>2532756

>>2531694
Dont talk pish anon, it makes you look foolish.

There are 1000s of different billhook designs, weights and shapes for many different uses. Its a better option than machete.

If you want to whinge though about your pussy wrists not being able to swing one though whats the alternative tool?

not him but

not him but Tue 31 Jan 2023 07:00:40 No.2532756 Report

Quoted By: >>2532898

>>2531896
Machete is an incredibly broad term and you are dumb as hell.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 31 Jan 2023 17:40:41 No.2532898 Report

Quoted By:

>>2532756
Billhooks are far broader in design differences. Machetes that people actually use are just 99% thin rolled steel with some variation of tip weight and length. If you include all the overly thick tacticool mall ninja survival stuff sold to yanks you get a bit more variation. you are retarded. Dumb means you cant speak.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 03 Feb 2023 11:10:15 No.2533901 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516287
rowan's a neat tree

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 03 Feb 2023 13:01:22 No.2533926 Report

Quoted By: >>2533929

There is something similar the austrians use when felling lumber in the steep incline, cant remember the name but it has a small cutting side and a hook side for pushing and dragging lumber down a slide made from other trees, i saw it when i was there ages ago but looked pretty similar.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 03 Feb 2023 13:25:00 No.2533929 Report

Quoted By: >>2533930 >>2533937

>>2533926
here in Denmark we call it "marking the cows mouth" and i think i know what tool you are talking about, kinda-sorta a knife, that has 5-6 blades paralel for marking the bark

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 03 Feb 2023 13:32:57 No.2533930 Report

Quoted By: >>2533932

>>2533929

Its sized like a bigger cleaving axe so unsure

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 03 Feb 2023 13:46:51 No.2533932 Report

Quoted By: >>2533934

>>2533930
so, what we are talking about is an axe or step, with a steeper, angle then an axe?
to clear things up
here we have
>splitting axe
and
>splitting storøkse
i dont know fuck it

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 03 Feb 2023 13:49:20 No.2533934 Report

Quoted By: >>2533936

>>2533932

Found a clue, its sort of like a Sappie but with the addition of a cutting edge for removing branches.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 03 Feb 2023 13:56:15 No.2533936 Report

Quoted By:

>>2533934

Its a sappie i was looking for, fucking brain working overtime trying to remember a trip 15 years ago, they used that tool to funnel lumber down these wooden flumes from the top of the incline, very effective once you de-bark trees.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 03 Feb 2023 14:00:21 No.2533937 Report

Quoted By:

>>2533929
Denmark and inclines are not something I associate with each other.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 03 Feb 2023 14:05:59 No.2533941 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516250
Great for brush clearing in areas where its a bit too heavy/woody for a machete. Im in the tropics, so vines and grasses with more give to them are easier with something sharper/faster even if you can do it with a brush hook.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 04 Feb 2023 21:33:37 No.2534557 Report

Quoted By:

I was given one a few years ago by my mums partner who is a farmer. It's easily the best outdoor tool I've used.

They are great for general yard work and I always use one when we need to fell trees on our land. They are great for stripping branches of smaller twigs etc. and general cutting tasks. When taking care of my garden, it's much easier to just carry one billhook instead of shears, pruners and a pruning saw. I also use one regularly for chopping kindling.

For the faggots moaning about a sheath, I regularly carry it as is in my bag when out hiking. I've never cut myself or damaged any of my kit. They are also much safer than machetes.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 04 Feb 2023 22:44:57 No.2534580 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516250
I have a few, they were in an adobe house we use as warehouse in my family farm, they came with the property. No idea how old are they, some were in Ok condition, some were rusty. Despite this being Latam (Chile) machetes aren't that common here, they're a more tropical thing.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 05 Feb 2023 22:09:21 No.2535033 Report

Quoted By:

>>2516250
Whenever I'm helping my grandpa in the french alps we always have one each. It's so useful when we're out cutting wood or clearing paths for the hunt.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sun 05 Feb 2023 22:18:51 No.2535044 Report

Quoted By:

>>2518213
Very accurate.

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