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Mountain/Walking axe (Read 25182 times)
Ken Pfrenger
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Mountain/Walking axe
May 5th, 2008 at 6:52am
 
Hungarian - fokos
Rusyn - sokyra
Hutsul - topirets
Polish - ciupaga
Slovak - valaska

Various names for roughly the same axe in the Carpathian mountains. A long handeled small headed tool/weapon carried by shepards, forresters and brigands since the Bronze ages throught the Carpathian range.

Basically take a tomahawk head and throw it on a cane and you almost got it!

I have working on a system for fighting with this based on some small training I have with the Hungarian version plus lots of material from Polish and Rusyn dance.

here is a short video clip of what I have thrown together so far:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32792237
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timann
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #1 - May 5th, 2008 at 3:13pm
 
Hi. Ken.  Nice clips. I know this weapon/tool was used in norway and scandinavia from before the viking age and at least far into the 1800s.  And what is usually known as viking broad axes, was actually finally remowed from the norwegian army arsenals about 1814, when we was separated from denmark, and taken ower by the swedes.
But a walking stick/axe could allways be practical.
I think a good present day model would be the gransfors two-lugged broad or bearded axe. Try to google it.
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #2 - May 5th, 2008 at 6:36pm
 
there is a guy on bladeforums.com that puts really long cane length synthetic handles on cold steel trail hawk heads in much the same fasion.

there are also guys on bladeforums that do that but with normal wood handles that are very long, and use them hiking and for setting up camp.
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Curious Aardvark
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #3 - May 6th, 2008 at 11:13am
 
can you post a close up pic of the axe head please ken - it looks kind of hammer shaped, like most of the weight is centred on the shaft - not like a conventional axe at all.
But you can't really get much detail from the videos. :-)

I have to say as the designated punching dummy for my wu chi teacher, you're very gentle on your demo students ;-)
You could at least have hit him a little bit lol

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Ken Pfrenger
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #4 - May 6th, 2008 at 1:00pm
 
Yes I am gentle...well at least with axes:) Hard to convince someone to let you use them as a pell if you decapitated your last training partner:)

The heads are very light and indeed hammer like in weight. It is important to be able to swing the mountain axe single handed as well as two handed so it has to be light.

I have a few pics to share:
...
One I made myself in the Hungarian fokos manner. Fokos literaly means 'backed' this has aa hammer ont he opposite side. Very easy to make, a shingling hatchet on an old rake handle. Wicked light and fast but hits with a ton of force.

...
A traditional Hutsul style axe

...
THis is along the lines of the Slovak and Polish styles of axe...this is not mine but i have one very similar that I need to get a pic of. WHen i do I will post it.
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #5 - May 11th, 2008 at 6:46am
 
cheers for pics - but none of those look anything like the ones used in the video. This is the best grab i could manage. all you can see is the shape - which is very hammer like.
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Ken Pfrenger
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #6 - May 13th, 2008 at 4:53pm
 
Sorry...I just misunderstood your question:)

The ones used in the videos are nothing more than leather wrapped in duct tape so we don't brain each other. Here is a pic showing a metal, a leather trainer and a wood trainer axe. All in the Hungarian style.
...
Here are leather metal and wood in the Rusyn/Polish/Slovak style:
...
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #7 - May 14th, 2008 at 6:59am
 
ah ha - that explains it.
And you know I still much prefer the shape of the practice one.
Just like the idea of the main weight being centred over the shaft.
Plus it looks cooler than the others lol
ALso looks like you could lean on the centre for extended periods of time, add a leather pad and it'd be real comfortable.

After all this is a walking axe. At some point you'll probably stop walking and have a lean :-)   
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #8 - May 28th, 2008 at 2:37am
 
Now, is this supposed to be a walking stick or a cane with an axe on top?
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Ken Pfrenger
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #9 - May 28th, 2008 at 10:22am
 
Maeglin_Dubh wrote on May 28th, 2008 at 2:37am:
Now, is this supposed to be a walking stick or a cane with an axe on top?


Yes:) j/k

It is many things, a walking stick for aid in climbing mountainous terrain, we have passages in documents talking of how it is used to hook roots and trees while climbing, a cane like symbol of manhood, a weapon, a forestry tool, a makeshift seat while out protecting the flocks...probably a few more uses that are escaping me at the moment.
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #10 - May 28th, 2008 at 10:10pm
 
It's also supposed to have a spear tip for the point.
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Ken Pfrenger
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #11 - May 29th, 2008 at 9:48am
 
bigkahuna wrote on May 28th, 2008 at 10:10pm:
It's also supposed to have a spear tip for the point.


Absolutely! Well not a real spear but definitely some sort of point for both offensive and traction reasons. Definitely out of the question for my training axes but the two metal ones....one has a makeshift ferrule on the bottom and I am still waiting to find the right point for the other.

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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #12 - Jun 3rd, 2008 at 1:31am
 
I made something similar except I used a standard hevy framing hammer on an osage orange shaft and I put a small stabbing point covered with another piece of OO and covered it with a crutch tip. if ya don't know it's there you will never expect that there's a very nasty surprise at the end.

Hits like the proverbial ton O' Bricks yet extremly light and responsive.

Might have to try out the shingling hatchet bit though

I gotta check this forum out more often

Marc Adkins

[quote author=Ken Pfrenger link=1209984761/0#4 date=1210093234]Yes I am gentle...well at least with axes:) Hard to convince someone to let you use them as a pell if you decapitated your last training partner:)

The heads are very light and indeed hammer like in weight. It is important to be able to swing the mountain axe single handed as well as two handed so it has to be light.

One I made myself in the Hungarian fokos manner. Fokos literaly means 'backed' this has aa hammer ont he opposite side. Very easy to make, a shingling hatchet on an old rake handle. Wicked light and fast but hits with a ton of force.

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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #13 - Jun 3rd, 2008 at 1:33am
 
When I seen the vid on another group I thought that was you Ken, It looks Extremely nice .

Marc Adkins

Ken Pfrenger wrote on May 5th, 2008 at 6:52am:
Hungarian - fokos
Rusyn - sokyra
Hutsul - topirets
Polish - ciupaga
Slovak - valaska

Various names for roughly the same axe in the Carpathian mountains. A long handeled small headed tool/weapon carried by shepards, forresters and brigands since the Bronze ages throught the Carpathian range.

Basically take a tomahawk head and throw it on a cane and you almost got it!

I have working on a system for fighting with this based on some small training I have with the Hungarian version plus lots of material from Polish and Rusyn dance.

here is a short video clip of what I have thrown together so far:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32792237

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Ken Pfrenger
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Re: Mountain/Walking axe
Reply #14 - Jun 18th, 2008 at 3:18pm
 
winkleried wrote on Jun 3rd, 2008 at 1:33am:
When I seen the vid on another group I thought that was you Ken, It looks Extremely nice .



Thanks:)

I have been working on a page devoted to the weapon and the culture behind it...still in it;s early phases but quite a bit of content up already...take a look and let me know what you think.
http://oprishki.wordpress.com/
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