A proto-American boarding axe?

CutlassCollector · 9th January 2025, 12:39 PM

Hi Mark,

I can see what you mean it does have a similarity to American boarding axes. Possibly it was an early version or a private purchase copying the government models. It certainly looks as though it was designed for dragging and it has an axe blade (I think) and a good spike.
On the downside it looks on the heavy side, looking at the thickness of the metal of the teeth. It certainly is a strange one and I cannot think of another use for those teeth. I would have given it a miss as well.

But not as weird as the 'rake' axe. And Jim is surely right - no way is that an ice axe!

I have checked my axe and tool books and although there are hundreds of axe types, there are no examples that help with either of these ones.

The 'teeth' on American boarding axes has always intrigued me as they would not seem to increase the dragging capability by much. Perhaps they were designed to make it more fearsome in the face of the enemy. There is no doubt that the teeth denoted, without doubt, a US design and not copied from the Brits!!

9th January 2025, 12:39 PM	#11
CutlassCollector Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Scotland Posts: 343	Hi Mark, I can see what you mean it does have a similarity to American boarding axes. Possibly it was an early version or a private purchase copying the government models. It certainly looks as though it was designed for dragging and it has an axe blade (I think) and a good spike. On the downside it looks on the heavy side, looking at the thickness of the metal of the teeth. It certainly is a strange one and I cannot think of another use for those teeth. I would have given it a miss as well. But not as weird as the 'rake' axe. And Jim is surely right - no way is that an ice axe! I have checked my axe and tool books and although there are hundreds of axe types, there are no examples that help with either of these ones. The 'teeth' on American boarding axes has always intrigued me as they would not seem to increase the dragging capability by much. Perhaps they were designed to make it more fearsome in the face of the enemy. There is no doubt that the teeth denoted, without doubt, a US design and not copied from the Brits!!