There is no shortage of uses for a quality hatchet: chopping wood, pounding nails or tent stakes, clearing brush, defending oneself against wild animals, participating in exceedingly dangerous circus acts. The list goes on, but the point is that you don’t have to be a Paul Bunyon outdoorsy type in order to have use for a hatchet.

And as hatchets go, it’s hard to beat the Naturalist-Curve hatchet from Hardcore Hammers ($45). It’s a beautiful instrument that keeps it simple; its 18-inch hickory handle and 19 oz. head are both hand-crafted right here in the good ol’ U. S. of A., by what we can only imagine are bearded dudes in flannel shirts. In addition to the Naturalist-Curve, Hardcore offers four other hatchet models in varying colors. And since no hatchet review can forego a goddamned mention of goddamned zombies, one of the other models is called the Zombie Apocalypse.

TAGS: camping, hatchets