{{Short description|Log-handling tool}} thumb|upright|Pickaroon thumb|Two types of hookaroons {{Redirect|Picaroon|the racehorse|Picaroon (horse)}} A '''pickaroon''' (or '''picaroon''') is a typically wood-handled (or other material), metal-topped log handling tool that originates from the Alpine Region where it is called a "'''Sappie'''", '''"Zapin'''", or '''"Sapine'''".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/outdoor-tools/how-to-handle-five-extreme-tools-pickaroon#slide-2 |title=Extreme How-To Skills - 5 Extreme Tools |publisher=Popularmechanics.com |date=2011-03-11 |access-date=2018-07-26}} (dead link 11 July 2023)</ref><ref name="Logging Principles">{{cite book |last=Bryant |first=Ralph Clement |date=1913 |title=Logging: The Principles and General Methods of Operation in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRsyAAAAMAAJ&q=Logging%3B+the+Principles+and+General+Methods+of+Operation+in+the+United+States |location=New York |publisher=Wiley and Sons |page=498 |edition=First}}</ref> It is distinguished from a pike pole by having a shorter handle, no metal point, and an opposite curve to its hook (toward the handle rather than away); and from both a cant hook and peavey by having a fixed hook facing its handle rather than a pivoting one facing away.
A pickaroon with a down-turned point on its hook is also known as a ''hookaroon'';<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://axehistory.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=34 |title=U.P. MI Pickaroons, Hookaroons & a Pike pole |access-date=2012-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226184437/http://axehistory.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=34 |archive-date=2014-12-26 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> one with an axe blade opposite its hook an ''axaroon'', eliminating the need to carry two tools to manage logs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pickaroon.com/products.htm |title=Products |publisher=Pickaroon.com |access-date=2018-07-26 |archive-date=2019-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502201436/http://www.pickaroon.com/products.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In the axe collecting hobby, pickaroons can be more expensive, as they are less common than axes and thus are valued at higher prices.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=McLeod |first=Brett R |date=Summer 2020 |title=The Handy Hookaroon |work=Northern Woodlands}}</ref>
== Usage == The hookaroon was developed so that loggers could hold or drag small logs without bending over and risking back strain. Similarly, the pickaroon was developed so that firewood could be more easily released; the user merely makes a flicking motion to do so.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McLeod |first=Brett R |date=Winter 2022 |title=What's This Tool For? A Look at Loggin Tools of Yesterday |url=https://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/logging-tools-yesteryear |website=Northern Woodlands}}</ref> Despite being developed to reduce strain, a study of Turkish loggers found that those who use hookaroons are more likely to have accidents, and hookaroon usage was cited alongside smoking, chainsaw usage, and frequent taking of breaks as a factor in accident occurrences.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Enez |first=Korhan |date=2014 |title=An evaluation of the occupational accidents among logging workers within the boundaries of Trabzon Forestry Directorate, Turkey |journal=International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics |volume=44 |issue=5 |pages=621-628}}</ref>
== Composition == A hookaroon can be made by taking an axe head and cutting it in half, keeping the ends of each half narrow.<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links==
* [http://yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears%20Tools/Glossary%3A%20Axes,%20Edge%20Tools,%20etc..html Extensive glossary of tools at YesteryearsTools online magazine]
{{Forestry tools}} {{forestry-stub}} {{Tool-stub}}
Category:Logging Category:Mechanical hand tools Category:Forestry tools