Best Backpacking Axe??

DirtDiver

DirtDiver

Joined
Sep 7, 2003
Messages
415
I'm looking for a good axe I can pack on extended multi day hikes.

All suggestions welcome :thumbup:
 
I don't carry an axe, but I do carry a woodmans pal. I think it is WAY more versatile, but not everyone likes them.
 
i have a Granfors and Bruhks mini-hatchet... i love it...:thumbup: it's definately light enough to take backpacking...
 
For high quality yet affordable...wetterlings are nice. 13H works great in warmer weather and 20H is better in colder when you need to produce more fuel and burn less calories.
 
I have a Wetterling and a GB and both work great. If you don't want something traditional looking, the Fiskars performs well. I have used the 14" and it surprised me after I sharpened it.
 
Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe is a great hand and a half axe. Not too much weight but enough for serious axe use. You asked about axes, not hatchets, so this is my vote. However, I just picked up a GB Small Forest Axe from GunKnifenut and I will test it next weekend up North.
 
I have the GB wildlife hatchet. Weighs in at about 1 1/2 lbs. IIRC. GB is probably the most expensive commonly available brand that there is but I would definitely buy another. Freakin' scary sharp right out of the box. Wetterlings are supposed to be more reasonably priced alternatives, but I hear the edges may need some work upon receipt. -DT
 
How much weight are you willing to carry?

Snow & Neally Penobscot Bay Kindling Axe

or

Snow & Neally Hudson Bay Axe
 
I have a Gerber Backpax hatchet, the one with the too-short handle, it works, but not alot to grip with.

My scout son has a Buck Hatchet with a longer tough as nails plastic handle thats long enough to use well to swing. I really recommend this one and it wont break the bank, i think its $20 or under.

good luck -- Eric
 
Like most said it really depends on how much you want to carry. Also how far you are walking with that weight.

IMO if I am hiking 5 miles or less one way, camping I'll carry whatever I want. If I am hiking 8 to 10 miles a day over fairly rugged terrain I really start getting picky.

I have a GB Wildlife but I consider it overly heavy but if it was winter and I wanted to spend much time outside after the sun went down I'd probably take it;)

I have a Reeves I take most of the time

I have a GB mini and I've taken it when I had to carry a lot of water or other stuff that upped the weight.
 
For backpacking. these small Bahco's are nice, geat value for the money, around $30 for a German made axe.

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I've got a small GB Hatchet and a Small Forest Axe, also very nice but pricey.

I very rarely bring an axe when I am backpacking as I rarely have a fire, and when I do I just use what I can collect by hand, large pieces I can't break by hand I just push into the fire as needed.
 
For me personally, I can't see laying out much money for a hatchet/ax. I don't hike in to chop any large trees of logs and although I always have a hatchet along, I seldom use it because I only chop or split wood if there is no other way to prepare the wood. I had to chop wood for most my life on the farm so chopping for me is a chore and not entertainment. I have never seen much difference between sharp axes of any brand so any decent forged tool will do. The most I have ever spent on a chopping tool like that is about 30.00 forty years ago for my Estwing which is still going strong. I have a ax and hatchet from estwing. My back pack type ax was made about 40-50 years ago by Schrade.
 
Snow & Nealley 3/4 Hudson's Bay ax. Weighs only a few ounces more than a hatchet but is far more useful.
 
I have used several axes and hatchets as well as large choppers. I think I have settled on carrying around a good sharp machette with a file. I came to this decision when I used my gerber gator machette to chop a 6" hickory tree with litle effort.

I wouldn't use it for anything larger and would recommend something besides the Gerber, but I'd go with a hair popping machette, just MHO.
 
I think it also depends on how much you use your axe. I tend to use mine a LOT while I am out. I can pretty much make an entire bow drill kit with an axe. If that is the case - you want it sharp as the dickens.

If you are just a splitter - then you don't mind a duller axe.

TF
 
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