Bought my first Wetterlings today!

J

jpr9954

Joined
Oct 1, 2007
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162
I was checking out the local hardware store today for axe handles in anticipation of a couple of Ebay purchases. It is an old-fashioned store with a bit of everything.

While there I checked out their axes for sale and lo and behold they had Wetterlings! Then I started looking at the prices. I looked at them all and a Large Hunting Axe went home with me. Price - $33.95 plus tax. From what I can tell, I did darn good.

I'll post pictures after I borrow my girlfriend's digital camera.

John
 
i think i bought the same axe through mailorder, i'm expecting it any day now (but won't get to play with it for another week and a half)...

looking forward to photos.

so how was the selection? consistently good?
 
jpr9954 said:
I was checking out the local hardware store today for axe handles in anticipation of a couple of Ebay purchases. It is an old-fashioned store with a bit of everything.

While there I checked out their axes for sale and lo and behold they had Wetterlings! Then I started looking at the prices. I looked at them all and a Large Hunting Axe went home with me. Price - $33.95 plus tax. From what I can tell, I did darn good.

I'll post pictures after I borrow my girlfriend's digital camera.

John
Click to expand...

You didn't do Darn Good....You did DAMN Good. You got it for about 20 bucks less than most internet prices.
 
siguy said:
i think i bought the same axe through mailorder, i'm expecting it any day now (but won't get to play with it for another week and a half)...

looking forward to photos.

so how was the selection? consistently good?
Click to expand...

For a small hardware store in a town of 10,000, they had a really good selection. It may have been only one of each model but they had many models. Going from memory, they had the large/small hunting axes, the wildlife axe, the carpenter's axe, the forest axe, and a few others of the hatchets. The lowest price was about $29 and the most about $58.

They also had lot of Council Axes which makes sense - they are made in North Carolina and we are in NC. They also had the Vaughn sounding hatchet for about $19. I just bought one here for $23 (and I'm not complaining.)

The moral of the story is to check the local store first as they might have just what you want at a cheaper price and no shipping. Plus you keep the old time stores in business.

John
 
i have checked every store around...even the awesome hardware store up here in the adirondacks where i am visiting for the week is reduced to modern collins and some other cheaper stuff...no wetterlings or other decently high quality axes...saddens me.

how was the fit and finish on all of the wetterlings there? was it consistently good or did you have to sort through to find one with good alignment/symetry/handle grain etc? basically, what do you think my chances are of getting a high quality one without checking it out ahead of time?
 
You will like your Wetterlings. I have Wetterlings and Gransfors Bruks. The primary difference is that the GB is a bit, well... prettier. The handle is a bit more contoured, and the axe head is a bit more uniform. The funny thing is, the logs don't seem to care about contours and uniformity. I can see no difference in cutting ability between the two. Both hold an excellent edge.

Have fun... go chop up some wood and have a BBQ.
 
That was a great buy. I paid considerably more for their smallest "axe" a while back. I have been very happy with it, however and would definitely consider them for a larger one. I just like to be able to put my hands on an axe before buying it and the nearest place I can find that stuff is almost two hours away and they charge at least full retail for anyting in the store. Their axs are particularly pricey.
 
kdstrick said:
You will like your Wetterlings. I have Wetterlings and Gransfors Bruks. The primary difference is that the GB is a bit, well... prettier. The handle is a bit more contoured, and the axe head is a bit more uniform. The funny thing is, the logs don't seem to care about contours and uniformity. I can see no difference in cutting ability between the two. Both hold an excellent edge.

I agree with kdstrick. Great buy that you should enjoy for years!
Click to expand...
 
siguy said:
i have checked every store around...even the awesome hardware store up here in the adirondacks where i am visiting for the week is reduced to modern collins and some other cheaper stuff...no wetterlings or other decently high quality axes...saddens me.

how was the fit and finish on all of the wetterlings there? was it consistently good or did you have to sort through to find one with good alignment/symetry/handle grain etc? basically, what do you think my chances are of getting a high quality one without checking it out ahead of time?
Click to expand...

I'm surprised (and a little saddened) that you couldn't find high quality axes in the Adirondacks. I thought places like Paul Smith's College taught forestry using the old methods including horses, mules, and axes.

I'd say the fit and fininsh were uniformly good on the Wetterlings I found. Some were better than others but they all tended to be pretty OK. If there is something you'd like me to check out, send me a PM and I'll go over and check it out for you.

John
 
Can't wait for pics!

The large hunter, is that the 20" model? I've been considering that one, but wonder how it well in would carry in/on a pack. I hate buying something without being able to handle it first.
 
"I'm surprised (and a little saddened) that you couldn't find high quality axes in the Adirondacks. I thought places like Paul Smith's College taught forestry using the old methods including horses, mules, and axes."

well, the town that i'm in is a little touristy, so even though the hardware stores have some great selections on alot of stuff (you should see the old auger bits and boxes of files!) i am guessing they just didn't sell the high quality axes enough to justify keeping them in there, they sold all of them and didn't restock, or they never found out that collins moved to mexico and stopped making nice stuff...either way, the stores are a pleasure to browse through.
 
Pictures of the new Wetterlings Large Hunting Axe. I took the pictures on a quilting cutting mat. Each square is 1" square.

The actual length of the axe is just a bit over 19 inches. The tag with the axe listed it at 20 but 19 and something is more accurate. I also tried to capture some of the detail of the axe head.

John

Wetterlings-LgHuntingAx.jpg


Wetterlings-AxHead.jpg
 
Arghhh you are feeding my axe lust.lol.
I have a Cold Steel Trailhawk, Vaughan Sub-zero and a Marbles Double-bit on their way to me in the mail as we speak.
I already have a SAW 13 Wetterlings which i love but i really want the Wetterlings 15 incher as well.
Those Iltis Oxheads look nice as well.
:D

When my newbies get here i need to do a new family portrait, lol.
 
I am looking for an axe/hatchet right now and have decided I want a Wetterlings, but I'm trying to decide between the Wildlife axe and the Small Hunting axe. Other than about 3 inches in handle length and the slightly larger head on the Hunting version, are there any differences. I cannot tell if there are differences in the handles feel or not, and I have never handled any of them, so I have to order blind.

I plan on using it as a general woods/hiking/camping axe and additional BOB item in case it's needed. I know I want compact, just not how compact I suppose. Anyone have any thoughts to toss my way.


PS - to the OP, you stole that axe! Good job, I checked my local hardware stores to no avail.
 
Thats a nice axe there...I forgot to check out the Wetterlings when I was searching for them them this week. i ended up getting a Fiskars...hope i dont regret it
 
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