Some information about the craftsman who is behind the hatchets:

“In 1981, I took a two year course at Salem college in Salem West Virginia. The course was Heritage Arts the study of 18th and early 19th century trades and traditions. The one course that I excelled in immediately was Blacksmithing. I entered this school as a glassblower, and when I saw how hot steel could be heated, manipulated, then hardened as it cooled, I couldn’t help notice the similarities of iron and glass, except that when finished… iron would last forever! I was mesmerized and still am to this day. In six months time I started to teach new beginning students, and by my second year I was teaching all beginner classes.

Living History

After leaving college I took a few jobs in the Living History fields where I was able to use my training somewhat as an interpretive tool. In 1985 I decided to try to make a full time living at Blacksmithing. My first shop was an old smoke house on a farm we rented it measured 6ft x 8ft. There was just enough room under the roof for a small rivet forge, anvil, and a leg vice. I actually had to stand outside the door to work! Three months later we moved to a new farm and my shop was above a root cellar and measured 12ft x 12ft. I at least could work inside now! Two months later I moved into a garage that was 20ft x 40 ft weput in two forges and hired our first employee. We began supplying most of the east coast gift and craft shops with ironware. This has been our sole income for many years. I now do more custom, one-of-a-kind work. Although I still welcome production wholesale marketwork. I was trained as a traditional Blacksmith and worked most of my career as such until 2003.” Doug Lockhart’s story from his website located HERE

The History of Nessmuk

George Washington Sears (Nessmuk) was born in Oxford Plains, Mass., Dec. 2, 1821 and lived until May 1, 1890. Mr. Sears is most well known for his contributions to outdoor recreation, the most lasting being his book that was published in 1884, simply titled Woodcraft. You can find his book and more by clicking My Suggested Booklist at the top of the page or clicking HERE. He contributed articles to what was once called Forest and Stream and later changed to Field and Stream as we know it today. All of his books and articles were written under his pen name Nessmuk which he adopted based on the name of his Native American childhood mentor and friend who taught him about the outdoors such as hunting, fishing, and camping. The word Nessmuk means wood drake in Narragansett.

Many people give him credit for being one of the earliest documented and purposeful lightweight backpackers with leisure in mind. This was in stark contrast to the majority of sportsmen of his time, who in a lot of ways, made contemporary “glamping” look humble. Interestingly, from various sources and opinions, the biggest drive for his lightweight approach to camping and trekking was due to his stature of being around 105 pounds and five feet fall. He also suffered from illnesses including asthma in his adult life so having a light and efficient kit was necessary. He advocated for the health rejuvenating benefits of the outdoors and was an environmentalist by every meaning of the word in his personal life and what he promoted in his writings.

Sears’ axe and knife were designed by him and forged by local blacksmiths, the axe is especially small when compared to other period trapper’s and cruiser axes and his knife is uniquely shaped for a campcraft knife. To this day no one knows what happened to his personal tools thus there is no physical reference beyond what he drew in his book.

The axe Mr. Lockhart crafted is an 15.5 oz. head on a 14″ hickory handle made by the myself. It handles surprisingly well and is especially suited for splitting. You can see it being tested in extraordinary circumstances in the video below. There is another video coming soon of it being used and tested in more traditional and typical field use.

A Brief History of Horace Kephart

Horace Kephart was born on September 8, 1862 in East Salem Pennsylvania and lived until April 2, 1931, he died in a car accident and is buried near Bryson City North Carolina. Mr. Kephart is most well known for his contributions to outdoor recreation, the most lasting being his book Camping and Woodcraft published in 1906. You can find his book and more by clicking My Suggested Booklist at the top of the page or clicking HERE. He contributed articles to many magazines and journals of his time, he was a trained librarian and a prolific writer, you can find an incredible bibliography of all his writings HERE. In 1886 he accepted a prestigious position as the librarian at Yale University in Connecticut. In 1890 Kephart accepted a position as the director of the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association, in this position he built the largest collection of Western Americana of the time to include diaries, newspapers, letters, manuscripts, court records, and anything else that could be considered historically important to the social and political history of the west.

His life consisted of a tremendous amount of time spent in pursuing the outdoors. Even though he was married, as time went on his attentions were directed to an outdoor and wilderness lifestyle, in 1904 he resigned his position after his doctor suggested he leave professional life after suffering from a nervous breakdown. He abandoned his wife and six children to live in Hazel Creek North Carolina where he wrote Camping and Woodcraft: A Guidebook for Those Who Travel in the Wilderness. Even today the wisdom in that book is valuable for the outdoor recreation enthusiast. To pay his bills he wrote for magazines and journals specializing in outdoor recreation and also authored several books. Ever the academic, he wrote a history and commentary of southern Appalachian life titled Our Sothern Highlanders. The following passages comes from the 1909 edition of Kephart’s The book of camping and woodcraft; a guidebook for those who travel.

“A woodsman should carry a hatchet , and he should be as critical in selecting it as in buying a gun . The notion that a heavy hunting knife can do the work of a hatchet is a delusion . When it comes to cleaving carcasses, chopping kindling, blazing thick – barked trees, driving tent pegs or trap stakes, and keeping up a bivouac fire, the knife never was made that will compare with a good tomahawk . The common hatchets of the hardware stores are unfit for a woodsman’s use. They have broad blades with beveled edge, and they are generally made of poor , brittle stuff . A camper’s hatchet should have the edge and temper of a good axe.

It must be light enough to carry in or on one’s knap sack , yet it should bite deep in timber . The best hatchet I have used The best hatchet I have used (and it has been with me in the mountains for seven or eight years) is one shown in Fig. 103, except that the handle is a straight one, 17-inch, that I made myself. Its weight, with leather sheath, is 1 lb. 10 oz. With this keen little I Fig. 103.— Hatchet tool I have cut many a cord of the hardest woods – hickory, oak, dogwood, beech, etc.- up to young trees eight or more inches thick, often laying in a winter night’s wood with it. (The way to learn chopping is to go slow, give all your attention to making every blow tell just where it is needed, and don’t strike too hard.)” (1909, 166)

Mr. Lockhart made the head of his Kephart hatchet at precisely 8oz. just like the original and with the 17″ oak handle the total weight is 1 lb 6 oz. which is only 4 oz. shy from the original.