Some "edged" tools

My dad collects knives of all kinds & I guess I have a weak spot for edged tools or "weapons" as I seem to have my fair share of them also. these are some cherished hawks/axes that I have, the first one is basically a "skull splitter" known as a spike hawk, it could be used to split kindling but pretty impractical for that.

The middle is my "go to" axe that is kind of like having a swiss army knife along & I keep this baby honed as sharp as possible. A couple years ago my oldest son shot a nice white-tailed buck & ironically between both of us we had no knife, not even a pocket knife (I know, that's just wrong!) I did however have this axe along & it was sharp enough that we did the entire field dressing of the deer with it, sure a lot handier splitting the sternum & pelvis with this than a pocket knife. This & the spike hawk were made by the talented blacksmith Joe DelaRonde, last I heard he was living in Mancos, CO.

Now the third one I've had for I guess around 21 years as I think my wife got it for me for Christmas the first year we were married. It is a Ft. Meigs style head from George Ainslie from Lavina, MT & it came without the handle for $45. He's selling them today WITH a handle for $160! AHHH...Inflation I guess, anyways, for a handcrafted, handforged item that is useful as well as a work of art it's still a small price to pay in my book.

This is my "go to" axe from Joe in a sheath with a shoulder strap that I made for it to carry when in the woods.