Fiskars Norden Kirveet

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Aug 21, 2013
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Oh Fiskars.
 
Random thoughts put to pictures.

1. Develop awesome regionally specific collared axes over centuries:


2. Update to modern production methods:


3. Finish them nicely:


4. Rename it Fiskars.


5. Follow suit with modern trend with some epoxy.


6. Take it one step further:
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7. And a step back but in the right direction lol.
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Adding a nice haft does not improve a piece of c-p:mad: The main problem with the Fiskars is the stupid method of attaching the haft around the head, which makes it unwise and almost impossible to hammer anything with the poll. Try and most likely the axe is ruined. I myself haven´t done it, but have seen plenty enough FDF surplus Fiskars axes where the attachment has given up, sometimes more or less exploded:eek:

I fully agree that old Billnäs 12.1 and Fiskars 1121 were (and are) superb axes!
 
I have a shed full of axes, Council, Wetterlings, Gränsfors, Kelly, and some older ones.

I can’t speak for anyone else. But I can testify as to my own experiences.

My little Fiskars Hatchet has been around for roughly 2 years. It continues to impress me. I heard the horror stories about the head coming apart, exploding, cracking and others.

My Fiskars has seen almost weekly use since its arrival. And even more importantly, it has been severely mistreated. It hangs in a tree in various locations near my semi-portable camps. Moving from place to place occasionally. But never seeing any shelter or care. The way I have treated this tool is almost criminal.

I have batoned it through countless pieces of firewood. Chopped small trees, Trimmed branches, shaved kindling, you name it. But it never makes it back to the shed.

Much of the above abuse has occurred during Adirondack winters. Often with temps at or below zero.

I have hammered in wooden tent pegs with it, even broken off a few rock points that protrude out of the ground. You know the ones you inevitably trip over in the middle of the night.

It isn’t going to win any beauty contests. But I have come to depend on its durability and unfailing ease of maintenance.
I have noticed, I should touch up the edge a bit. And there is a bit of rust/discoloration at the Scandi edge.

But I shutter to think what some of my Premium Axes would look like after two continuous years out in the bush.

I will seriously look at one of these Norden Axes when they hit our shores. My two Fiskars pieces, one axe and one hatchet have more than proven their worth to me.

I have seen several reviews and videos of the handles “Just Breaking”.

After beating the living bodily fluid out of mine. The conclusion I have arrived at is as follows. The only real weak spot I see in the Basic Fiskars Axe is the hollow handle.

Mine hangs in a tree, head facing up. Tied there with a loop of twine by the handle. When I need the hatchet, I just take it out of the handle/guard which remains attached to the tree. I keep it at head height. That keeps it out of the snow and also discourages critters that may like the taste of my sweaty, salty hands from chewing on it.

I do however see the very real possibility of it getting destroyed, if the following were allowed to happen. If the axe/hatchet were to be left handle up, and allowed to fill with water or snow. I can see where the resulting expansion of the ice would be consistent with the breakage I have seen. I’m guessing the expanding ice in that tubular handle would blow one apart quite easily.

I am a traditionalist. Heck I still use wooden Ojibway Snowshoes. But I’m not a snob about it. And I have to say. My purchase some years back of the Fiskars Axe and Hatchet, along with a More Bushcraft Black have truly opened my eyes as to how well these tools perform.

For less than $100.00 you can have a pair of solid, working, low maintenance, tools.
Are they pretty, no, not really. But in knee deep snow and 0 degree temps. Making a camp fire with them brings out their form follows function beauty.

Fact of the matter is, they just work for me.

Recently, I bought a White River Ursus. A beautiful knife. A solid work horse actually. But if I was stranded in some remote boreal forest with just the Fiskars and Bushcraft Black. I’t take solace in the fact that I’d be just fine.

I have also looked at the stripped head. I think a split handle could be fashioned caveman stone axe style to wrap around both sides of the steel head. Much like a war club is mounted. Again, not pretty, but I’m guessing it would work. I mean rock chopping tools work for a long while in this fashion.

All of the above is just my opinion. And we all know what opinions are like. But at least mine are field based in all weather.

YMMV
LV,

P.S.
I sort of equate to Fiskars breakage reports to the reports I have seen of the snapped Becker BK-9s.
Where the person in question states there was no misuse involved. And they display knot free, the wrist thick, piece of firewood that reduced the mighty BK-9 to rubble. Or the ever popular, “I dropped my Becker on to some soft grass on the forest floor and the first 2” of the blade snapped right off”
I struggle to comprehend.

One last thing.
Don’t forget Fiskars Warranty. If yours does break? Contact them and they will send you a new one. I know that has little bearing in a true survival situation. But most people don’t find themselves in an Alexander Selkirk scenario. Not even an Alexander Supertramp situation.

Food for thought!
 
Fiskars meets reality i.e. Finnish conscript use:
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Clearly the axes have been abused, used for hammering, but out in the field you have to use the tool you have in order to survive. There are no sledge hammers to be found in the Finnish forests;)
 
Fiskars meets reality i.e. Finnish conscript use:
:)
What an excellent testing lab!

I wonder what can be done with those heads...Steel for re-blading older axes?
That "waist" where plastic strap goes would make it difficult for slitting them for a conventional eye...Maybe possible,with a powerful,industrial grade hydraulic press....
 
And you have proven that anything can be broken.
I have always figured the fiskars axes were probably pretty tough, but also that if one did break you couldn't just put a new handle onto it.
Out in the woods one could get all the plastic off and lash the steel to a stick stone tool style, but the tool really is done at that point.
 
Now they need to eliminate the plastic entirely, then while they're at it just make a real axe.
I know people like Fiskars axes, but it's wood or nothing for me.

I was watching a cartoon once, and the animators had clearly used the image of a Fiskars for reference but drew it with a wood handle.

You're missing out. Fiskars are making excellent axes and that plastic material is second to none. Far, far more durable than wood.


I understand the allure of a wood handle, and I do prefer wood myself. But don't completely discount the permanently affixed fiskars!
 
You're missing out. Fiskars are making excellent axes and that plastic material is second to none. Far, far more durable than wood.


I understand the allure of a wood handle, and I do prefer wood myself. But don't completely discount the permanently affixed fiskars!

I gotta completely discount the plastic handle for myself because for a swinging tool nothing feels as good in my hand as wood.
I cannot shape a hollow plastic handle to better fit my hands, and those hollow plastic handles do not have the curve I like.
 
I gotta completely discount the plastic handle for myself because for a swinging tool nothing feels as good in my hand as wood.
I cannot shape a hollow plastic handle to better fit my hands, and those hollow plastic handles do not have the curve I like.


For most applications, I agree. But I do appreciate the robustness of the synthetic material at times.
 
Fiskars meets reality i.e. Finnish conscript use:
DSCN9967.jpg


DSCN9959.jpg


DSCN9963.jpg


Clearly the axes have been abused, used for hammering, but out in the field you have to use the tool you have in order to survive. There are no sledge hammers to be found in the Finnish forests;)

........ you of course have to ask how would an equivalent wooden product worked with the same abuse (as opposed to use). I can buy any axe I want but as a tool I find the Fiskars products suit my needs perfectly. I appreciate a nice timber and steel axe for the aesthetics and history but for use not so much.
 
Fiskars replaces the entire axe if your handle breaks. And the amount of abuse it takes to destroy one is truly incredible. Many wooden handles would be broken in the course of the work it takes to break a single Fiskars handle. Anything--ANYTHING--can be broken, including Estwings. If I were in a survival situation and a Fiskars was my only axe, it'd do just fine. I just wouldn't be an idiot with it and act like it was impossible to break. Treat it like it's wood and you're unlikely to ever destroy one.

That being said, if you prefer wood, there's nothing wrong with that. But you're simply not the target market for them.
 
At my job we sometimes have to chop roots or limbs and we often don't have a saw suitable for such work nearby. So we have a Fiskars hatchet and if it were easy to break it would currently be in a landfill. The boys I work with(most too young to be called men) are often quite destructive and we have a few chips in the bit but the handle is just fine. Many wooden handles would have been broken in the time the Fiskars has been in service. They break shovels that state right on them "Unbreakable" and are heavy and overbuilt enough to make you believe it until "the boys" prove otherwise. The head shape is not my favorite but in a survival situation I would be comfortable with a Fiskars by my side.
 
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