Product Review: Weyland Survival Hatchet

 

Image credit: Weyland Outdoors

The Weyland Survival Hatchet is intended to be an easily transportable tool for outdoor adventure. The hatchet is a beautiful device, and the blade is carefully constructed to be effective for many uses.  The case and strap work well to safely store the device, securing the blade. However, the size falls in between what would be most suitable for most uses. It is large and unwieldy, not really practical for attaching to a backpack or stowing in a backpack without a collapsible or retractable handle. But it is also too small to be practical for regular yard use, finding an in between ground that is somewhat more transportable than a full axe and somewhat stronger and more effective than a truly transportable backpacking axe.

The biggest issue is with durability. After being used less than 10 times total, the screws came out of the handle. As they popped out and promptly disappeared, the axe was then unusable. In addition to providing a safety hazard with a suddenly loose blade, the missing screws showed the interior of the handle and the shoddy workmanship of the handle and screws, which did not match the sturdy blade. 

A U.S.-based outdoor company, Weyland's customer service was non-existent to help resolve the issue. The only way to contact the company is through email or submitting information, neither of which received a response. 

A decent idea, but does not entirely fulfill any specific outdoor need. The blade is solid enough to cut through smaller bones such as hands or feet, but would struggle with larger ones such as a thigh. The biggest issue is the lack of dependability, one cannot be dragging a body miles into the woods only to have their hatchet fall apart. That sort of thing tends to draw attention.