Silky ONO 568-12

I bought this hatchet for use on my hunting lease in South Carolina. I used it a lot this past season and it makes short work of just about everything. It cuts through pine like butter. Hardwoods require a little more elbow grease, but it is by far the best hatchet I've ever owned. It punks my Mora hatchet and cut better than my Gransfors Bruks for half the price. It's blade heavy and seems flatter than most hatchets, but it's a great chopper. It re-sharpens and cleans up easily. Hard to beat Japanese blades. Highly recommended.

In this day and age, it is very difficult to find any type of tool not made in CHINA. This tool is an exception...it is made in Japan and looks like a quality piece.It also feels very good in the hand. Back in the day, BUCK KNIVES used to make quality axes like this,,,,unfortunately, not any longer. There are still some people out there who appreciate quality tools and are not looking for the cheapest made garbage they can find. If you fall in to this category,,,,you will enjoy this tool.

This is a good hatchet for someone that doesn't need a hatchet for most outdoor activities. I'm disappointed, their saws are incredible but not so much on this. It's too thin, we used it to slice meat more than split wood or chop down a tree, that would take forever using this.

I haven't had the pleasure of using this nice tool for actual work yet, but it is well done. It is robust and heavy. High quality manufacturing. Easy to resharpen. The main bevel goes all the way almost to the edge and then it had a small-but-wide edge. I reprofiled the edge a bit until I got good feathersticks. I haven't tested the edge against harder/dry wood yet, so no idea on how it would hold (although it should be good Japanese steel). I bought it for bushcraft and to split wood when car-camping, and for the occasional yard work.The handle is really comfortable and I can use my two hands on it (medium size hand). It is ok for small work like feathersticks. You can choke it and put the thumb on the spine for controlled cuts with the belly and lower side of the edge. Some parts of the spine might need a little filing because the edges are sharp, good for firesteels but uncomfortable. It also seems to be a good tool for kitchen work, since it is stainless and can be thoroughly cleaned by removing the rubber handle.

My Silky hatchet looks study, with a thick spine & well shaped blade that should be easy to sharpen. The sheath looks relatively sturdy, with plastic liner.The 2 pieces handle doesn’t evoke trust, but probably will outlast me. The blade wasn’t sharp, but should sharpen without a problem. The warranty card says “Null & Void” outside Japan, but so well made, it probably won’t be needed.Overall, looks like a well made tool.

Apparently Silky has changed the face grind of their hatchet. The upper corner is now poorly rounded over, instead of having the proper corner as shown in the pics. The old ones were well made and carefully ground - the new ones look like cheap imitations.

Silky makes the best products around. This thing is sleek, sturdy, and wicked. This and Silky saw and there wil not be a lot your yard or the outdoors can throw at you that you will not be able to handle.

Right out of the box I can feel that the weight forward design wants to chop twice as much as my other all metal hatchet of similar weight and the handle sticks to your hand like glue, excellent grip. More blade area than i've seen on other hatchets as well. It's a superb tool designed for the professional arborist.

This hatchet has enough heft and leverage to chop kindling wood well. I also batoned the back of it for thicker wood, without any harm. The carrying case is lined so the sharp edge will not destroy the outer nylon anytime soon. Sharp enough to make tinder shavings. Blade angle works with my ceramic mini-sharpener for a quick re-touch of the blade.

他のレビュアーの薪割りに使用した書き込みを見て、同じく薪割り用に購入しましたが、商品のタグには生木用と書いてありました。「枝バラシ」「アウトドア」と用途が書いてあります。メーカーのホームページで用途の適合表を確認しましたが、ユーエム工業の製品で薪割りに対応してるのは両刃のナタのみです。薪割り目的で購入される際はその点を踏まえてください。ヒノキの薪割り(購入した薪をさらに細かく割る）に使用してみた感想。身が細く軽い、刃も鋭くて細いので斧本来の豪快な薪割りは無理。刃を薪に突き立てて背を別の薪で叩いてようやく割れる。ナタと一緒。他の斧に出来なくてこの斧に出来ることは自立できないほど細くなった薪をさらに割ることとか、薪から割りばし作ることかな、という事はナタでいいという事になる。メーカーが薪割りに推奨していないのだからあえて薪割りに使用することはないのでは。広葉樹薪試しましたが硬くて刃が通りません。

もともと鉈を物色していましたが斧の魅力が目に留まりこちらになりました。何となく鉈は刃物感が強くて躊躇していましたが斧だと縦割が出来るしなんとなく鉈より初心者の私は安心感を感じました。総重量を軽くしたい事、コンパクトな事、なおかつ鉈の様な役割もこなしてくれます。斧としては中途半端かも知れませんが薪も割れます。刃の広さを生かした抉りも魅力。細かい作業はナイフが上ですがナイフでのバトニングも減り、コレとノコギリで薪用途はほぼ済みそうです。ケースも丈夫そうです。砥ぎも出来るようですが替刃もあるので躊躇なく使えるのもいいですね。星４つなのは私の場合利点の重量と価格ですね＾＾；もう少し安かったら助かりますね＾＾斧の魅力にはまりそうです。追記です。語弊があるといけないので書いておきます。形状を言うのであれば斧です。役割的には鉈だと思います。よって薪割であるならば一般的な斧をオススメします。

キャンプツーリング用に購入。薪割りが無理なく簡単にできる、しかも全長が短く、薄く、嵩張らない。鉈の購入も考えたが普段細かい作業にはナイフを持っていくので、薪割りやチョッピングに特化した斧にして正解でした。これから末永い付き合いになりそうです。追記色々使ってみたが、広葉樹の薪を割ろうとして節があったりするとなかなか割れない。重みはあるので節が無ければ全力でスピードをつけて振り下ろすことで１撃で割ることも出来た刃が薄いので木を細く削ったりは普通に出来る。斧未満、鉈以上って感じ。私の場合バイクでの移動で積載量が限られるので用途としては合っていたが、オートキャンプで薪割りに使用するなら肉厚の斧の方が適しているだろう。しかし焚き付け作りから薪割りまで出来てしまうのは魅力だし、下手な鉈より全長が短いのは良い。

チョッピングも薪割りも望んだ性能そのままで大満足です！そしてこのサイズのおかげで38cmクラスの手斧では不可能だった収納性も実感しました。ザックにPLCEをつけると完全に死んでたポケットが有効活用できて尚且つ外側からは全く見えない、完璧すぎます。