Honshu Karito Battle Axe
Apr 23, 2021 23:49:12 GMT
Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Apr 23, 2021 23:49:12 GMT
So I just got my hands on a Honshu Karito Axe for review. I wanted to give some initial impressions/specs and ask if there's any specific tests anyone would like to see with it before I start filming.
This axe is fairly short, but with a large bearded head. The head thickness is about 5mm, consistent, with a hollow grind and a secondary bevel. The edge came paper-slicing sharp. The tang extends down about as far as the beard itself and is bolted into the shaft with several torx-head chicago bolts, just like the grip on the Honshu Grosse Messer. The haft isn't totally split for the tang - the tang is set into a channel so you can see the tang from the edge side but the haft hides the tang from the back side. Since I'd be more concerned about haft durability than tang durability, this is probably a good thing.
Yes, it has holes in the head. I was a little worried about that just from the website photos but looking at it in person, they're pretty minimal with a lot of steel around them. They don't improve performance but I don't think they'll be a breakage point.
The haft is hard injection-molded nylon. There's a lot of checkering and grooves. It's very ergonomic. The slight recurve shape gives a noticeable snap to chopping motions. I think it'll PROBABLY hold up just fine to chopping. Bear in mind this thing is designed as a soft-target slicer rather than a tree-chopper. I'll still be doing some chopping for you just to make sure. This is NOT a throwing axe. Handle breaks on throwing axes are common to the point of expected, and since you can't just throw this one on a new shaft like a tomahawk, I wouldn't even try.
I complained a lot about the Grosse Messer sheath. This one is actually pretty well designed. It's made for right handed belt carry (or left side cross draw). You drop the axe straight down into the sheath from above and a strap goes around the back of the head to snap closed at the front. To draw, you reach down, unsnap the strap, grasp the haft below the head and pull straight up. It's hard to make any kind of good axe belt sheath. I can't think of any improvements I'd make on this one, although I might have preferred kydex with slots around the edge for lashing to MOLLE. It's annoying to walk around with any axe dangling off your belt, but this sheath is field functional for sure.
Weight is 2 lbs 10.5 oz, point of balance is just below the tip of the axe beard. You can swing it one-handed but it's really better used with two hands. Real historical single-handed fighting axes usually had much smaller heads - you don't need all that mass and edge length to pop someone in the dome. This one isn't what I'd call overly heavy, but with such a heavy head and a light shaft it's hard to control with one hand.
Yes, the head is stainless. Just based on how I think the impact forces will be distributed and how thick the head is, I don't think it'll be an issue. It won't have to flex the way a long blade (sword) would. The haft would probably be an issue long before the blade. If anything, I just need to make sure it won't chip too much on reasonable targets.
From a design standpoint, this one really only makes sense for one thing... decapitating Walking Dead-style zombies. It's got the edge length for it, and the recurve of the haft kind of makes the edge behave like a kukri, so it'll gather and cleave through material pretty effectively. The hollow grind will make it objectively worse for bushcraft, but might actually help it slice through flesh and bone. With zombies you wouldn't be worried about telegraphing or the intrinsic lack of range using this thing in two hands. I know "zombies" is exactly what I said the Grosse Messer would be good for. I can think of worse verdicts for tactical-styled weapons.
If you've ever swung one of those Gerber camp axes with the plastic handle around, that's about how this feels in motion, except this one has a ton more edge length and would actually slice through water bottles and stuff pretty well.
It looks really good in person, by the way. You'll get to see that in the video.
Any thoughts on testing medium or techniques you'd like to see? I should be doing the video in a few weeks at most, maybe next week.
This axe is fairly short, but with a large bearded head. The head thickness is about 5mm, consistent, with a hollow grind and a secondary bevel. The edge came paper-slicing sharp. The tang extends down about as far as the beard itself and is bolted into the shaft with several torx-head chicago bolts, just like the grip on the Honshu Grosse Messer. The haft isn't totally split for the tang - the tang is set into a channel so you can see the tang from the edge side but the haft hides the tang from the back side. Since I'd be more concerned about haft durability than tang durability, this is probably a good thing.
Yes, it has holes in the head. I was a little worried about that just from the website photos but looking at it in person, they're pretty minimal with a lot of steel around them. They don't improve performance but I don't think they'll be a breakage point.
The haft is hard injection-molded nylon. There's a lot of checkering and grooves. It's very ergonomic. The slight recurve shape gives a noticeable snap to chopping motions. I think it'll PROBABLY hold up just fine to chopping. Bear in mind this thing is designed as a soft-target slicer rather than a tree-chopper. I'll still be doing some chopping for you just to make sure. This is NOT a throwing axe. Handle breaks on throwing axes are common to the point of expected, and since you can't just throw this one on a new shaft like a tomahawk, I wouldn't even try.
I complained a lot about the Grosse Messer sheath. This one is actually pretty well designed. It's made for right handed belt carry (or left side cross draw). You drop the axe straight down into the sheath from above and a strap goes around the back of the head to snap closed at the front. To draw, you reach down, unsnap the strap, grasp the haft below the head and pull straight up. It's hard to make any kind of good axe belt sheath. I can't think of any improvements I'd make on this one, although I might have preferred kydex with slots around the edge for lashing to MOLLE. It's annoying to walk around with any axe dangling off your belt, but this sheath is field functional for sure.
Weight is 2 lbs 10.5 oz, point of balance is just below the tip of the axe beard. You can swing it one-handed but it's really better used with two hands. Real historical single-handed fighting axes usually had much smaller heads - you don't need all that mass and edge length to pop someone in the dome. This one isn't what I'd call overly heavy, but with such a heavy head and a light shaft it's hard to control with one hand.
Yes, the head is stainless. Just based on how I think the impact forces will be distributed and how thick the head is, I don't think it'll be an issue. It won't have to flex the way a long blade (sword) would. The haft would probably be an issue long before the blade. If anything, I just need to make sure it won't chip too much on reasonable targets.
From a design standpoint, this one really only makes sense for one thing... decapitating Walking Dead-style zombies. It's got the edge length for it, and the recurve of the haft kind of makes the edge behave like a kukri, so it'll gather and cleave through material pretty effectively. The hollow grind will make it objectively worse for bushcraft, but might actually help it slice through flesh and bone. With zombies you wouldn't be worried about telegraphing or the intrinsic lack of range using this thing in two hands. I know "zombies" is exactly what I said the Grosse Messer would be good for. I can think of worse verdicts for tactical-styled weapons.
If you've ever swung one of those Gerber camp axes with the plastic handle around, that's about how this feels in motion, except this one has a ton more edge length and would actually slice through water bottles and stuff pretty well.
It looks really good in person, by the way. You'll get to see that in the video.
Any thoughts on testing medium or techniques you'd like to see? I should be doing the video in a few weeks at most, maybe next week.