Jeesh.
Guess what?!?
I ordered my very own billhook and it arrived this weekend. Here it is.
also got the leather sheath too, to be on the safe side... to protect it from getting damaged... but more-so to protect me from getting damaged by it, since I'll be traveling with it in my backpack.
Good thinking, huh?
What do you think? Isn't it cute?
Guess you'll have to trust me on that... it really is cute. It's much smaller than the billhooks John has for volunteers, and that I've been using thus far. With the blade being just shy of 7" verses a 9" blade. Overall length is about 12". This particular design is called a Morris Spar Hook.
I thought it might be a little more manageable for me to use, though now I am wondering if it will be too light and too small to do what needs to be done. I can't wait to try it out!!!
This is a little snippet I cut from the Wikepedia page on billhook(s):
The use of a billhook is between that of a knife and an axe. It is often used for cutting woody plants such as saplings and small branches, for hedging and for snedding (stripping the side shoots from a branch). In France and Italy it is widely used for pruning grape vines. The billhook is the European equivalent of tools such as machetes, parangs, kukris, etc.
The billhook's use as a cutting tool goes back to the Bronze Age, and a few examples survive from this period—for example found in the sea around Greece. Iron examples from the later Iron Age have been found in pre-Roman settlements in several English counties as well as in France and Switzerland.
The tool has developed a large variety of names in different parts of Britain, including bill, hedging bill, hand bill, hook bill, billhook, brishing hook and broom hook. In American English a billhook may sometimes be referred to as a "fascine knife".
I am calling mine "Betty"...
She and I are very anxious to get out in the woods for some good old fashioned manual labor! A couple weeks of only 'inside stuff' is enough for me!
I'll keep you posted as to how we do!
love,
susie
