Anyone Else?

J

John A. Larsen

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Jan 15, 2001
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Every month I have lunch with two retired Special Forces friends. One was the commander of the Airborne Infantry Company stationed in Alaska. He told us about being out on an Exercise and after a few days of -40C/F to -50F one of his men started chopping with his Estwing Hatchett, and suddenly the head snapped off and flew away. His thought was the metal shaft was just so cold, and it became brittle. Anyone else have that experience. John
PS After that they just used wooden handled hatchets.
 
I doubt that I will see temperatures that low, but I still prefer wooden handles. Most of the weight at the bit, where it is supposed to be.
 
Low temperatures can make steel brittle. I believe stainless alloys are more affected by this, but would not swear to it, I'm not a metallurgist.
 
That sucks about the black eagle I just bought one for cheap I wasn’t planning on throwing it at anything though.Was on devils lake nd in January once and it was 30 below I think,remember hearing the windchill was -48 and yes sir I believe it been in Mn for 20years now the cold affects everything .
 
Yep,not an infrequent event if you live and work in cold enough climate.
It's easy to snap an Estwing at -40F and lower,especially applying force across the flat shank.

But most larger (27") Estwings i've seen broken was not because of cold,but the rust that eats away at the weld of tubular handle to shank,moisture gets in through the hole at butt of grip. That tube is very thin,and rusts through easily,and the rubber coating helps by keeping moisture in.

They're Not a stainless alloy,btw, i think the consensus in many such discussions ended up with them being AISI 1050.

(whatever the alloy they're wondrously tough,those broken remnants serve as cold-,and hot-cutting tools in my forge,and i marvel at how much abuse they can take...).
 
John A. Larsen said:
Every month I have lunch with two retired Special Forces friends. One was the commander of the Airborne Infantry Company stationed in Alaska. He told us about being out on an Exercise and after a few days of -40C/F to -50F one of his men started chopping with his Estwing Hatchett, and suddenly the head snapped off and flew away. His thought was the metal shaft was just so cold, and it became brittle. Anyone else have that experience. John
PS After that they just used wooden handled hatchets.
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It would be nice if the title to this thread were more descriptive than just "Anyone else". Maybe something like, "Anyone else break an axe in cold weather?"
 
-50 is beyond my experience, thankfully. All I can say is I’d hardly expect wood to hold up any better at that temperature.
 
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Blue Sky said:
-50 is beyond my experience, thankfully. All I can say is I would hardly expect wood to hold up any better at that temperature.
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No problems with wood at low temps,handles hold up,even some very delicate section/high loading wooden objects(like a dog-,or snowmachine-sled) function pretty much as at higher t's.

Wood is a mechanical structure that flexes quite well whereby steel is a crystalline lattice,homogeneous and with not much give to it.
 
P.S.

Wood Splits easier at low temps,especially if somewhat wet. It's common in AK to keep the nastier/knottier rounds around till the cold weather,it's amazing what nasty stuff you can split starting at about -30F and the lower the better.
 
Not a fault of the tool so much as it being a result of the environment it was being used in. Axe bits are known to be prone to fracturing when used in extreme cold and it was recommended practice to carry your axe with the bit tucked in your armpit to keep it at least a little warmer and to take light, careful blows at first so that the friction of the bit entering and withdrawing from the wood can warm the bit up a bit, and then you can go harder with reduced risk.
 
Blue Sky said:
-50 is beyond my experience, thankfully. All I can say is I’d hardly expect wood to hold up any better at that temperature.
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Having visited Alaska in the winter for work, at temps were at -54 at the time, I can tell you that you're definitely not missing out. Hint: doesn't matter what you wear, the wind is like being stabbed with a million tiny daggers, right through whatever you're wearing. It's the worst.
 
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