Ok so I have here my own Bear Grylls Survival Hatchet from Gerber. I’m always hesitant to buy a product with a person’s name on it, especially when that person goes to great lengths to drink their own urine at every opportunity. I mean I haven’t watched many Bear Grylls programs because I’ve seen him mention or participate in the consumption of his own waste on every occasion except one where he gave himself a salt-water enema. So believe me when I tell you that the idea of funding this type of insanity is something I wanted to avoid at all costs but, when I saw this at an outdoor store I instantly loved it.
Ok so here is some basic info on the hatchet before I go into any detail. It has a 3.5 inch 3Cr13MoV forged steel (which I believe is stainless steel) blade on it. It’s 9.4 inches in length and weighs 20.8oz/590g. It’s got a rubberized handle and a nylon sheath.
As for looks I think it’s quite a nice little hatchet. I’m not a fan of the Bear Grylls colour scheme but the (I’m guessing titanium) coating on the blade is pleasing to the eye. The top opening sheath is pretty sturdy and looks like it will last longer than I will.
I’ll talk about the sheath before I talk about the actual hatchet just because you need to get past this in order to get to the tool. It is strong and it is fairly rigid for what is a very small and light nylon sheath. It has a few different carry options with the loops on the back however I find attaching to my belt can be a bit more difficult than I would hope. The loops (or at least one of them) can be very tight and small but once it’s on you know it wont be sliding around while you are moving about. It’s top opening which appealed to me until I actually had to use it because the handle catches on the seams. It’s not by any means a fluid transition from sheath to hand and I find that I always require two hands to remove or insert the handle and therefore is not something I feel I would like to rely on in an emergency (although I’m not sure what type of emergency would arise requiring nothing but my mini hatchet). 
On to the hatchet and I’ll talk about the handle since I’ve already mentioned it. It is a thin handle but it catches on the sheath when removing the hatchet. It’s rubberized, which I usually avoid as I feel blisters appearing just looking at them. That being said this is unlike most rubberized handles I’ve come across in the past although, that might only be due to my reluctance to spend good money on kit. It doesn’t feel overly tacky like others I’ve found but still feels grippy. I think with extended use this wouldn’t pull on softer tissue too much and also because it’s a lightweight hatchet there shouldn’t be huge amounts of play in the grip whilst wielding. There is only one pin connecting it to the tang of the blade but it’s very secure so I guess the handle has been glued in place which is common practice these days.
Now we can talk about the actual blade. As mentioned it’s a 3.5 inch stainless steel and titanium coated (I assume) blade. There are two finger notches that allow you to choke up on the blade for finer tasks which are pretty comfortable thanks to the profile of the edge which almost curves with your fingers perfectly. The body of the blade is approximately 6mm thick so, it’s not what you would call a splitting hatchet. It cuts like a machete which I love yet the blade is 5 inches from spine to edge so there’s a lot of surface to get stuck. The profile of the blade is much more like a good chopping knife, it’s not a heavy axe head but, there’s certainly enough weight in there with the edge geometry to be a truly devastating cutter. Most of the guys I go out with are genuinely envious of this great little tool, especially when I don’t let them use it, and they just hammer away with their lumps of steel. I’m usually ok with people using my kit but I just love this too much to let it be brutalised by a buffoon who uses every tool like it’s the club primitive man used to bash in his foes skulls.Overall I am highly impressed by the quality and design put into the Bear Grylls Survival hatchet. It’s a blade that will need to be looked after to last (no cutting through tree trunks or hitting rocks while splitting a limb) but last it will and I don’t think its capable of letting you down. In a pinch it could go through a tree, I mean it will go through many a tree but, I would rather use it for smaller limbs and making kindling. That’s what it was designed for and this is where it shines.
As with everything I review and own, I ask myself that same old question which is a good reflection overall.
If it broke, would I buy another one?
I paid about £30 for mine years ago and the price has just flown up since. At £30 I would easily buy another one. I mean I’ve looked online to try to find one at that price just to have a back-up on the off chance that this one did suffer irreparable damage. That’s just how good it is. At £60 (or at least in that area), it could be a contender but there are a lot of options in that price range and I think there are much better options available for my needs.
Honestly though I do genuinely love this little beast and if the day comes when I can’t use it anymore I will genuinely mourn the loss. My thanks go to Bear Grylls for making a good little hatchet, but please dude, just take a bottle of water with you next time.