imported>ChelodojMolovek at 17:38, 15 January 2026

2026-01-15T17:38:58Z

New page

{{Infobox/Item
|name=
|image= Improvised Hatchet icon.png
|imagewidth=
|caption=
|item type = tool
|weight= 1.75
|craft =
|harvest= 2 × [[Scrap Metal]]
1 hour
|repair= [[Whetstone]]
12-5 minutes<br>
3%-5%
|Breaking threshold=30%|renewable=Yes}}
{{Quote2|An improvised hatchet. Basically a heavy piece of metal with sharpened edge. Not fancy, but utilitarian.|In-game description}}
The '''Improvised Hatchet''' is a tool in ''The Long Dark'', primarily for woodcutting and self defense.

== Overview ==
Functioning similarly to the hatchet, improvised hatchets may be used to harvest [[stick]]s from branches, [[Cedar Firewood]] and [[Fir Firewood]] from tree limbs, [[Reclaimed Wood]] from furniture or to break ice for [[Ice Fishing]].

The improvised hatchet is slightly heavier (0.25 kg) and 1/3 slower to use than the [[Hatchet]]. Its condition is reduced by 3% per use. Hatchets are a finite resource, so once all have been ruined, improvised hatchets must be crafted to complete some tasks. The improvised hatchet may be used as a lighter substitute to the heavy hammer to break down furniture or branches.

Improvised Hatchets are repairable with [[Whetstone|Whetsone]] or at the [[Milling Machine]].

Uses of Improvised Hatchet:
*Self Defense during a [[Struggle|Wolf Struggle]].
*[[Carcass Harvesting|Harvest frozen carcasses]] ([[Hunting knife|Knives]] have faster unfrozen meat, gut and hide harvesting speeds. Hatchets are only faster at harvesting frozen meat).
*Harvest downed tree limbs (for [[Fir Firewood]] or [[Cedar Firewood]]).
* Open or maintain holes in the ice for [[Ice Fishing]] (bladed tools break ice faster, but take more condition loss).
* Breaking down Furniture and Crates (for [[Reclaimed Wood]] or [[Cloth]]).
*Crafting [[Arrow Shaft|Arrow Shafts]].
*Breaking [[Scrub Brush|Scrub Brushes]].
*For the [[Whiteout]] [[challenge|challenge's]] objective, an improvised hatchet may substitute the requirement of a hatchet.
When carried and selected for self-defense at the start of a Wolf Struggle, Improvised Hatchets deal high damage with a low chance per-hit to cause the wolf to flee, as well as a moderate chance to inflict [[Blood Loss]] on the Wolf (which is lethal over time). Improvised Hatchets take low damage from being used in a struggle, and are inferior to Hatchets when used in this way. For more information on Struggles, see: [[Struggle|Wildlife Struggles]].
==Crafting==
{{Infobox recipe
|name = Improvised Hatchet
|amount = 1
|skill =
|skillpoint =
|tool = Heavy Hammer
|facility = Forge
|mat1 = Scrap Metal
|mat1qty = 5
|mat2 = Cloth
|mat2qty = 1
|time = 240
}}

Improvised Hatchets may be rarely found in some regions, usually near frozen corpses or structures; such as in [[Hushed River Valley]] or [[Milton Basin]] in [[Mountain Town]] near [[Frozen Corpse|frozen corpses]]. One may also spawn atop the workbench in the [[Gold Mine]] of [[Ash Canyon]].

Forging improvised hatchets is only possible at a [[furnace]] with a [[Heavy Hammer]]; [[coal]] is required to a heat furnace hot enough for forging along with the necessary crafting materials: [[Scrap Metal]] and [[cloth]].

In Interloper mode hatchets and improvised hatchets will never spawn; requiring forging to create.

== Repair ==
Improvised Hatchets may be repaired using a [[Whetstone]] and the [[Sharpening]] skill, restoring 3% condition to the hatchet and causing 5% condition damage to the whetstone.

The [[Milling Machine]] in [[Bleak Inlet]] or [[Blackrock]] may repair a non-ruined improvised hatchet to 100% condition for one scrap metal, during an active [[Aurora]]. Repairing Improvised Hatchet or Improvised Knife with the Milling Machine is more efficient with Scrap Metal than [[Forge|forging]] new ones.
== Trivia ==

* A broken Hatchet is the icon and logo for ''The Long Dark'' on all platforms, including [https://hinterlandgames.com/ the official Hinterlands website], [https://hinterlandforums.com/forums/ forums] and [https://www.hinterlandstore.com/ merchandise].
* Like the [[Improvised knife|Improvised Knife]], the Improvised Hatchet is a flattened metal pipe with cloth for a grip.

{{Tools}}
[[Category:Tools]]
[[Category:Craftable tools]]
[[ru:Самодельный топор]]

Improvised Hatchet - Revision history

imported>ChelodojMolovek at 17:38, 15 January 2026