Axes and Hatchets (Page 1 of 4)
Posted: 9/25/2007 10:26:35 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Aim4MyHead][Edited]
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Here's the links to some axe and hatchet makers - Snow and Nealley link Gränsfors Bruks link Wetterlings link Iltis Oxhead link Council Tool link Estwing link Kommer Bush Pilot Survival Hatchet link Knives of Alaska link Vaughan link Fiskars link Kershaw link Gerber link Cold Steel link SOG link Buck link |
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Three informative links - Selecting an axe - link - this is a sticky at a forum on foraging and woodcraft. The website (which I found while looking for info on Iltis Oxhead axes) is apparently related to a BBC series about a family that tried self-sufficiency. There's a book at amazon about their experience. See here. It looks like the BBC will not be putting out a DVD of the series. See the FAQ for info. An Ax to Grind: A Practical Ax Manual, by Bernie Weisgerber - link - this is an online book, copyright 1999, from the United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration, available also as a 68 page pdf file. The Axe Book, by Gränsfors Bruks, in a 40 page pdf file - link - along with a 17 page pdf file on Ancient Axes by the same company. GL |
| I have been eyeballing the GG&G Battle Hawk |
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Another $100 and you can buy a used Glock, better for fighting. Some basic hand tools cost about $30 each, rock hammer, cats claw, mini crow bar, For less money you can buy a real axe. |
| Marbles |
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Looks uber-cool but aside from burying it into a zombie's head I can't figure a use for it.... |
I think this deserves a tack. Thanks gun for  And you guys who don't see a use for the GG&G axe are going to flip when you see my new CCW shoulder rig when it's done being made by Survival Sheath Systems.  J |
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You're gonna conceal-carry a friggin' axe?! I wonder what the police report is gonna say after you end up using it. |
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Hey FL's license says weapon not gun. I already have a galco shoulder rig that was reworked to carry my 7" cold steel peace keeper opposite my glock 20. J |
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| I've been looking for a hatchet with a hammer and a pry bar. I saw one, but it was one of those cheap ones in a surplus store. |
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Had a chance to examine three Gränsfors Bruks this weekend past. An axe and two hatchets. I was impressed by their construction- light weight, yet the felt rock solid. I'm saving for one now-the gent had a Scandavian Forest Axe, a wildlife hatchet (his sons), and a carpenters axe. I think the carpenters axe was just right for a backpacking axe, as far as weight and length. |
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get the small forest axe. the carpenters axe has a straight blade and wrong geometry for chopping or other "heavy" work. the small forest axe is the same length but has the right blade style and better handle for chopping. i love my Gransfors small forest axe. |
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It showed up this afternoon...   J |
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| I have an Estwing and they are great until the coating on the leather handle inevitably breaks. I own and suggest getting a normal hatchet head and mounting it on a framing hammer handle. Way more power and strength. www.tslrf.blogspot.com/ |
| gransfors bruks sure are nice but they are pricey |
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A little OT, but I just re-hafted a very old Craftsman carpenter's hatchet. About $6 for the right Hickory handle, and about 20 mins to shape and sand the handle to fit the head right. Gave the finished product a coat of some OD paint lying around. Anyone know of vendors of strap-on axe/hatchet sheaths? |
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Here is one option that looks to have pretty good prices. www.osograndeknives.com/Gransfors%20Bruks/gransfors_bruks_-_axes_&_bars.htm No experience with the company. |
'Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither' -- Benjamin Franklin
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. -- Thomas Jefferson
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. -- Thomas Jefferson
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I've been very happy with my Fiskars splitting axe. The quality of the materials seems very good so far, but it's still very new. I picked it up after a good (albiet short) experience with a similarly constructed hatchet. Lost it after about a year of camping here and there. Anymore I keep an eye out at flea markets and swap meets for ooooooold hatchets or hatchet heads. There is an incredible difference in the quality of the steel between them and most of what's made today. To come close to the quality of an 80 year old hatchet for $10 off a guy's table you'd have to spend a LOT more on good scandinavian stuff. Most people don't understand the true utility of a hatchet or small axe. If I had to pick between forgetting a good camp knife and forgetting my hatchet on a trip, I'll leave the knife. 
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Anybody know if Gransfors has replaced their stock after the fire, yet? I was after a small forest axe, and ended up with a hunters axe because that was all I could find in stock. |
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Seems you guys missed one. American Tomahawk www.americantomahawk.com/ |
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Woodland Archery Tomahawks Tomahawks |
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And yet, most certainly, emotionally retarded…
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An Ax to Grind: A Practical Ax Manual This is also available as a PDF on this page, where you can also get other PDfs or read them in HTML, such as a few on crosscut saws. GL |
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+1 on the American Tomahawk Buddy of mine had one at some training and it is a very nice, very solid piece of equipement. The synthetic handle and blade are super strong. We threw it at a tree from about 20 ft trying to work on our "throwing skills". When we were done it didnt even look like we had been using it. Great piece and awsome price for what you get. |
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Originally Posted By EdB:
I just picked up the Estwing camper's axe for $38 at home depot. Used it this weekend on a camping trip - very sharp out of the "box" It is well balanced and felt very "handy" if you will - worked great Did you get the long or the short version? It appears the head & handle are one piece. Is this correct? |
| I tried to find ammo at Wally world the other day, since they didn't have any I went to Sears and bought a Craftsmen double bit axe for $32 with the solid plastic/fiberglass handle. Haven't used it yet, but I've never seen one of those handles break on the sledge hammers I've used. I have to admit the yellow handle is ugly though. |
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Originally Posted By P35FAN:
Originally Posted By EdB:
I just picked up the Estwing camper's axe for $38 at home depot. Used it this weekend on a camping trip - very sharp out of the "box" It is well balanced and felt very "handy" if you will - worked great Did you get the long or the short version? It appears the head & handle are one piece. Is this correct? Estwings are all one piece. I've had an Estwing hatchet for years, if it had a 18 or 19" handle instead of the 12" it would be perfect.....if you break an Estwing you are a true menace to society.
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Originally Posted By TimJ:
Originally Posted By P35FAN:
Originally Posted By EdB:
I just picked up the Estwing camper's axe for $38 at home depot. Used it this weekend on a camping trip - very sharp out of the "box" It is well balanced and felt very "handy" if you will - worked great Did you get the long or the short version? It appears the head & handle are one piece. Is this correct? Estwings are all one piece. I've had an Estwing hatchet for years, if it had a 18 or 19" handle instead of the 12" it would be perfect.....if you break an Estwing you are a true menace to society.
pretty sure they have a larger Estwing in that size. I have one, its pretty old but it has a long handle not really an full fleged axe but a long hatchet http://www.estwing.com/product.php?product_id=1300 |
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Originally Posted By Robertesq1:
Originally Posted By TimJ:
Originally Posted By P35FAN:
Originally Posted By EdB:
I just picked up the Estwing camper's axe for $38 at home depot. Used it this weekend on a camping trip - very sharp out of the "box" It is well balanced and felt very "handy" if you will - worked great Did you get the long or the short version? It appears the head & handle are one piece. Is this correct? Estwings are all one piece. I've had an Estwing hatchet for years, if it had a 18 or 19" handle instead of the 12" it would be perfect.....if you break an Estwing you are a true menace to society.
pretty sure they have a larger Estwing in that size. I have one, its pretty old but it has a long handle not really an full fleged axe but a long hatchet http://www.estwing.com/product.php?product_id=1300 I like the blade profile on the camnpers hatchet. http://www.estwing.com/product.php?product_id=1600 I 17-19" handle and that blade, it would be an Estwing version of the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe, which I think is the ideal small axe. |
<--- A right-wing sleeper cell of One.
Somewhere in Kenya a village is missing its idiot
Somewhere in Kenya a village is missing its idiot
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I just picked up the 14" Fiskars Hatchet. First impressions are very good. It's technically my fathers day present, so I haven't been able to use it much (if my wife asks, I haven't used it at all ). I used it in my mom's garden to cut back some bushes. Worked great. I also grabbed a big hunk of wood from their wood pile that had hatchet marks on it from previous attempts to spit it that had failed. I was able to split it without much effort. Best part was that with the plastic handle, it absorbed a lot more shock than with the metal ones I've used in the past. I'm hooked, and am planning on adding the 23.5" chopping axe and either the 23.5 or 17" splitting axe in the near future.
ETA: Forgot about this post. I took this along with the Fiskars Powertooth 6" pruning saw on a backpacking trip to Utah's High Uinta's over the 4th of July weekend. Even though the area we went to only had a few people that weekend since the hike in is farther and rougher than most people are willing to take on, it's still a heavily used area. As such, most "tinder" is gone, and the majority of dead wood on the ground is at least 4" thick and up. Basically a bunch of tree trunks laying around everywhere with the branches broken off. I'll start of by saying that the hatchet worked better than great. While it had a hard time splitting the knotty pines, it chopped through them in seconds. Everyone that used the hatchet was very impressed by how light it was, how sharp it was and stayed (I swear, it gets sharper with use!), and how well it worked. It will be on every camp out I go to from now on, period. As a side note, the saw worked very well also, and made very clean cuts without much effort. We used both during the weekend, and found them to be about the same speed. The saw seemed to work up more sweat though, although it is much lighter. Can't split wood with a camp saw very easily though. Since it's only a few ounces, I'll probably bring the saw on all camp outs as well since saws come in handy. |