The Bayonax - When Thor Meets Bushcraft

Last week we had the worst weather ever in many years, over here in North France. Heavy showers, thunder & lightning, heavy wind, total apocalypse.

Water levels rose rapidly when I was on my way home, and all of a sudden I saw much too late that the road was blocked by a blown away willow. The road was covered by almost 30cm water and when I started to drive backwards I saw the driver behind me, trying to do his best to get his car started. Small car, soaked engine - I've got a small van, my engine could support even 30cm more but the water was really rising rapidly.

Moving the tree manually wasn't an option, the only way out was to cut it apart & force the passage.

But, the only tools I got in my van were metalworking tools. There was no saw, no axe or machete. Only hammers, drills, welders, grinders etc.

And my Hultafors survival knife. Always have that on you, or near you - it's not a survival knife for nothing.

So I grabbed a hammer, some duct tape & my knife and married them together in a kind of neo-apocalyptic zombiekiller.

I asked the other driver to attach his car to my van while I attacked that tree with my new tool.

I don't know if it was because the tool on itself was just great, or because I was soaked by adrenalin, but after 15 minutes the road was free and we managed to get out of the sink.

Thank you, Hultafors & hammer. And duct tape.

Urban survival. I didn't see that coming.

I won't learn you how to fix a hammer to a knife with tape, in this I'ble, but I will show you how to upgrade your knife into a real hacking beast.

Step 1: My Divine Hammer

This project can be resumed in 'hacking a hammer', in fact - in this case a cheap 'Magnusson' carpenters hammer, whatever.

Cut off the tip & make a groove in what's left of it. Angle grinder, you need it.

This groove will block the blade and keep it straight. Without works, but the blade will likely move sidewards and all you risk is demolishing your knife.

Width: at least the same as the thickness of your knife.

Depth: 10mm is okay.

Grind the edges & you're done.

5 minutes. Easy & brutal.

Step 2: Hultafors

This brand might be known by some of you, but I just met it a few months ago when I visited a new retailer of hardware.

I stumbled upon the so called 'plumbers knife' (the grey one), fell in love immediately, bought it, used it, abused it, started research, discovered the 'heavy duty' GROVKNIV, couldn't believe my eyes, watched every test on the net, ordered it & fell in love once again.

Compact, indistructable, sharp & useful. And cheap. Hultafors.

For a few months, this grovkniv is always been on my side and it has already saved my life - or at least my van - once.

Watch the net, watch the comparisons with the MORA & ESEE & make your own opinion.

Cost: 11 euro.

Cost: 11 euro.

Cost: 11 euro.

I had to write this 3 times because for that ridiculously small budget you'll definitely own the best bushkraft aka survival knife ever.

But make your own opinion, anyway.

Step 3: Beauty & the Beast

Fix the knife to the hammer with paracord or duct tape and wonder what you've just been doing.

Fishermens knots. Be careful not to cut your arm off while knotting..

Use it, this tool. Go hack down a tree & enjoy the doing.

With a bushkraft knife, yeah right.

In the video I made the comparison between the Hultafors plumbers knife (with file), the Hultafors heavy duty grovkniv and the Hultafors bayonax (bayonet & axe, sorry I didn't have better...).

Attacking a piece of wood with a bushkraft knife on its own is just ridiculous, as shown. But with a bayonax, well, it's kinda different. And just awesome to do, btw.

The bayonax has the advantages of a bushkraft knife & an axe. There's no knife that will do both. Or the knife is big & heavy & perfect to make beaver dams, or it's small & handy & only useful to make viking beer mugs. But crossovers, nah!

With this combination you can do both. Easy & peasy.

Don't want to carry a hammer with you? Be creative with a piece of wood, at least you learned that you don't hàve to lose the game..

Enjoy this one guys, & let me know what you're thinking about it.

Comments

[grangerknives]

This is not a safe idea. Knives are harder and therefore more brittle than axes. Knives are ground thinner than axes to do the type of work they are meant to do. Axes are not as hard as knives so they will absorb shock rather than be damaged by it. Axes are thicker than knives so their edges are less likely to chip.

Putting weight behind a knife's thinner and more brittle edge to convert it to an axe is unwise and will eventually lead to the edge fracturing, and possibly causing an injury. Better to carry a hatchet for safety and efficiency instead. Very imaginative and creative, to be sure. I'm sure you'll have lots of excellent ideas to share in the future.

[chancefour]

American Hero.

[chancefour]

And his sidekick, Bayonax!

[MurS1]

Ridiculous! Asinine! Cumbersome! and...and... I'm going to make that tonight...

[bartworker]

I agree totally! This shouldn't have been invented at all!

But now you see what the instinct to survive - and save your car - can do with a persons mind...

Good luck with not building this!

[MurS1]

HAHAHAHA! I will, thanks mate!

[frook]

Do you know axes?

[bartworker]

Axes? Oh yeah, I know him! He's totally crazy and thus a good friend of mine. We yell to the open see very often and throw emty beer bottles to alien warships. Axes is just one piece of fun. You know him too?

[sillyzombie666]

did you read it at all

[sillyzombie666]

i kinda want to see this done with a mini sledge and a big bush knife or a full sledge and a machete

[LarryG7]

Since you had the tools to grind that hammer down, why not just grind an edge on the hammer?

[bartworker]

The grinded hammer is just an upgrade of the initial idea. Like I wrote, I just fixed my knife to a hammer with duct tape to get the job done, and it worked perfect as well. Less elegant, but functional.

For what its worth: this configuration has a large cutting edge. Even if you should manage to sharpen one side of the hammer, it still would have a very small cutting edge and thus it would take an eternity to do something decent with it.

Better should be to forge one side of the hammer. But, this would take much more than the minute I needed to do the duct tape thing. And it would have required a forge, also...

[LarryG7]

Yes, I saw in one of your pictures on one limb how it worked perfectly.

[DennisJ25]

Shadow catcher

Clever, but if you have to buy an inexpensive hammer to modify, why not just buy a good hatchet or camp ax and be done with it. That way you still have your ax, hammer and you don't ruin a good knife.

[bartworker]

You're probably a lot better informed than me, but where did you get that I ruined my knife?!

[DennisJ25]

Wasn't trying to be snarky or anything. It's really a clever idea. Didn't think you ruined your knife. Meant that there is a chance of damaging the knife. (If continually used in this fashion) I know that type of knife is meant to be a survival tool and you needed something then, but for most people, I think having a good hand axe would be more practical.

[bartworker]

No worries Dennis! Maybe you could damage the knife by hitting directly on the back, but in this configuration the back is in direct contact with the hammer and so there's very little chance of ruing it.

Know that the start of this all was an emergency situation: getting out of there asap. No rules, there were only points to gain with efficiency.

I agree though, just a small axe would have made a difference froim the start, but since I had all but that it was pumping of drowning.

So far so good, a decent knife & some out off the box thinking do can save your life.

Cheers!

[Fly4aWhiteGuy]

Use a rock on a stick for the hammer.

[a.steidl]

Good ible. I usually carry a knife, but almost never a hatchet or an axe. In case SHTF, could just tie it to a stick, and make like you did, hell, could even make a spear if needed. But yeah, this is cool, never would have thought of chopping a tree with a knife.

[bartworker]

I've always been a great fan of these small short axes you see in most of my Ibles, but I didn't have one when I needed it really badly. So I improvised, and came up with a new tool. And a good story ;)