This resource has bounced around facebook for a few weeks now and we thought it noteworthy to share for anyone interested in all sorts of trade axes, hatchets, tomahawks and more of early America.
These small axes are called 'belt axes' because of their small size, light weight and flat hammer polls which could be used as general purpose tools, ie. sectioning a deer carcass and pounding in trap stakes & they are easily carried on a belt. Most of these diminutive belt axes look like they would be hard pressed to be effective as a weapon, but certainly it could have been and were in some cases.
Some belt axes can fit into the trade axe category but some trade axes will NOT fit into the belt axe category. The term belt axe is more of a recent corruption of the concept by dealers & as such has become an amalgamation of nearly any small axe that looks to be old enough to be from the frontier period in North America. In the exuberance of selling, the term belt axe has been stretched to include small round polled trade axes. But the reality is small round polled trade axes may never have been used as a rifleman's hunting tool/weapon & could have been used by a Native American woman or child. These were nearly as common to hunters as carrying a knife was on the frontier & found more often among white men than American Indians. These are sometimes referred to as 'riflemen's belt axes' due to their association with hunters using KY/PA rifled muskets. Most belt axe heads average 4-5" in length although some are 5.75". Anything 6" or more is generally not considered a belt axe. Weights average less than 1 lb. They were primarily used by the white men (trappers, traders, explorers) and less frequently by the Indians. A smaller size/weight trade axe is sometimes referred to as a belt axe. Belt axes are generally much too small to be of much use as a homestead tool and/or do not fit the patterns of them.