I realized that Scot had a very valid point in his previous post about doing a more complete comparison and test with using the Longhunter two-handed.
So, I conducted another round of testing (and comparison against the Les Stroud) with the Longhunter this morning. I was going to wait until I got the small diameter cordage and furniture tacks to wrap the handle, but decided to just wrap the handle with McNett Camo-Form to do new tests, using it two-handed. I made sure that both the Les Stroud and the Longhunter were pretty much equally sharp by giving them both a good stropping session using black and green compound, and finished with a clean leather strop. At the beginning, both tools could easily slice a sheet of paper and trim hairs off my arm.
I started with a pine round, approximately 9" in diameter.
I began with a single, solid, one-handed hit with each tool. The Les Stroud, followed by the Longhunter, and then checked the results.
In the above photo, the Longhunter made the cut on the left, and the Les Stroud is on the right. The Longhunter created a slightly wider slice, and the Les Stroud made a longer one. Although it's hard to see in the photo, both tools bit about 1/4".
I then repeated the single blow with both tools, but this time two-handed. Once again, I checked the results.
Once again, the Longhunter cut is on the left and the Les Stroud cut is on the right in the above photo. The new cuts are the inner pair of the four pictured. The Les Stroud obviously bit deeper, but the Longhunter (used two-handed) actually did pretty well.
I decided to try the two-handed single blow with each tool once more. This time, I really tried to put some power behind each swing. I felt the results were pretty remarkable.
The Les Stroud "felt" like it went deeper, but the cut made by the Longhunter actually produced a fairly respectable result, too. The outermost cuts near the top of the above photo show the results. Longhunter on the left, Les Stroud on the right.
Here are a couple close-ups of the final two-handed comparison cuts. First the Les Stroud.
And now the Longhunter.
Although I do think the Les Stroud bit a little deeper, the Longhunter wasn't all that much more shallow of a cut. Pretty good, I think.
I then set the Les Stroud aside and went to work on the 9" round with the Longhunter, using it two-handed. I gave myself 5 honest minutes for this test. I didn't go like I was in a race in some tomahawk chopping competition. Instead, I set a pace that I felt would be one I would use in the backcountry to handle such a task. I chopped with the Longhunter (two-handed) for the full 5 minutes. Here are the results.
I did not conduct a new splitting test using the Longhunter two-handed, as that I think the chopping test is sufficient enough. I do think that it will do a wee bit better at splitting if using it two-handed, with a decently wrapped handle for good grip. However, because it doesn't have the "cheeks" that an axe does, it will always be a harder task to split sizable rounds with it, until the eye contacts the wood, as Evan had stated previously in this thread. Smaller logs (~3-5" diameter) wouldn't be a problem for it. After all of these tests, I checked the sharpness of it again. The edge wouldn't slice paper like it would before, but it could still carve nice shavings on a fatwood stick.
All in all, this is unquestionably a fine tool for backcountry use. Like anything, it has its limitations. The lightness of the 2 Hawks Longhunter, coupled with its ability to do many backcountry chores decently when properly used, makes me realize that this tomahawk will make the cut for being pretty much an "always-carried" tool for any trip that involves forests.
