Beargrass Ranch

LARCH KNIFE WORKS

Camp Hatchet

The tool you reach for first at camp. Marta forges the head by hand from high- carbon steel and hangs it on a straight-grain hickory haft, balanced for one-handed work — splitting kindling, driving a tent stake, limbing deadfall. Small enough to ride a pack saddle, stout enough to earn its keep all season in the Whitefish Range.

Marta hammers each Camp Hatchet head out at the forge, then files, heat-treats, and sharpens the bit by hand until it bites clean. She hangs it on straight- grain hickory and wedges it tight so the head never works loose, no matter how many cold mornings it splits kindling for the wall-tent stove. The poll is flat and true for driving stakes; the bit holds an edge through hard use.

Our wranglers carry these on the backcountry pack trips, and they come back every fall a little more worn and a little more loved. It's the kind of tool that disappears into the work — light enough to forget you're carrying it, there the second you need it. Oil the head, keep the bit dry, and it'll outlast the truck you haul it in.

  • MaterialHand-forged high-carbon steel head; hickory haft
  • Made byMarta Lindgren, Larch Knife Works, North Fork, MT
  • Dimensions13 in. overall; 3.5 in. cutting edge; ~1.25 lb head
  • CareKeep the bit dry and oiled; sharpen with a file or stone