Sling blade


A sling blade or kaiser blade is a heavy, hooked, steel blade at the end of a handle that is usually made of hickory wood. The blade is double-edged, and both sides are usually kept sharp. It is used to cut brush, briar, and undergrowth. Other common names for the tool are ditch bank blade, briar axe, and surveyor's brush axe. On the East Coast of the United States some farmers call it a bush axe. The Plover, WI dialect refers to it as a ditch witch. Also historically used as a wildland firefighting tool to cut fireline, known as a brush hook. It is also sometimes referred to as a bush hook in south eastern North Carolina. Its use in wildland fire has been substantially superseded by the chainsaw.

In popular culture