Senkichi SGKN-6 Double Edged Hatchet for Gardening, for Wood Splitting and Pruning Branches, 6.5 inches (165 mm)

A very well made cutting/chopping tool. Edge is made out of hardened steel, whereas the back of the blade is made of softer steel to ensure strength and not to be brittle. A very nice wooden handle coated with some sort of clear varnish. Varnish made handle look very pretty but just a bit slippery for my taste, so I used acetone to clear the varnish, lightly sanded it and finished with a good old fashioned linseed oil. result is perfect. handle is still beautiful and not slippery. The blade is held with a rivet and a steel ring. I tested this on variety of wood and it held very well. Edge remains very sharp for a long time. The balance is nearly perfect and somewhat thicker blade makes it a perfect in-between the axe and a machete. It is very convenient in cutting brunches in the bush, where conventional machete can actually be too long. The sheath add convenience. The tool can be carried on the belt. I would not say that the sheath is outstanding quality, but it is adequate and held up very well so far. Bottom line - I like this tool very much and it is very versatile. Camping, copping off branches in the yard, or splitting wood - it is far superior to many axes and machetes I tried.

Nice thick and sharp blade. Good, thick steel, but the sheath is junk. The short tang makes your doubt it's capabilities

Well made nata tool. Balanced and a useful gift for camping, yardwork, food prep. Bought for my sons for Christmas. They seemed happy!

This has a great feel and excellent balance. Well made. I can easily see this replacing my hatchet.

I have the gardening axe's big sister, 210mm, with an even more ergonomic handle. I absolutely love this tool for chopping off branches, woodworking, cutting down weeds with thick hard stems and more. Blade and handle work hand in hand so smoothly, you hardly have to exert any force, it just bites into the wood easily. A perfect tool, sturdy and long lasting.

I purchased one of these a few years ago and have put it to use pruning trees and for cutting up firewood while camping. It balances well in the hand and rotates easily with a fluid wrist motion. The edge hold well with this kind of use and has just needed minor touch ups between uses to maintain the edge.I recently met my adult son for a little camping trip and he really liked using it as well, so I got him one as an early Christmas present.This not full tang. The handle only extends halfway through the handle, but if you are using it as intended and not prying sideways with the handle, the saved weight of half tang is worth the loss of strength. The handle has a significant gap around the tang where it meets the blade, but I have found that this only really affects the appearance and not the function or hand feel.

do not buy its made in chian not japan

Added this to my gardening tool box. Great little axe.