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- Jan 3, 2004
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crockett said:With the short handles I bend over while chopping- to save my feet from a glanced blow.
In a variation, if the wood to be chopped was flat to the ground, I'd drop to my knees. Upright chopping was 2-handed, a sincere boon compared to single-hand hatchet hacking. Even single-handed, the 24" handle on a cruising axe was a huge step up from the shorties. You absolutely couldn't beat the 24" handle for one-handed limbing unless you switched to a full length handle. Also, don't forget that if a shorter handle is called for on a specific cut, you can just "choke up" on that 24" version and use it like a conventional hatchet. Once I tried a cruiser, I never went back to a hatchet.