David LaPell
Blackhawk
I picked up this old Bridgeport hatchet a couple of years ago at a garage sale for $30 if I recall and I have yet to find anything that can keep up with it. It's about a foot long is one piece of steel with the wooden handles riveted on. I have cut saplings, brush, butchered a couple of geese with it and this spring cut down a 12 inch white birch. (With my injury to my left arm a couple years back using a chain saw is no longer an option). I was told that Bridgeport parented this hatchet in 1931 and stopped producing it right about 1969 or so. The Boy Scouts started using them in 1934 (can imagine the media and politicians response if kids were given these now). This one has no markings for Boy Scouts so I am not sure if it's a pre-1934 or just a commercial version. The handle had some red paint on it so I went over and added more and inspiration struck and decided to name it Molly. If you spot one of these, snag one because they are pretty cheap now but I see the prices have been going up on them over the last year or so.
