- Joined
- Apr 4, 2007
- Messages
- 71
OK.
So, any of you who have been reading this forum for a while know I am a died-in-the-wool traditional/antique axe guy. However, I am also a curious fellow. Having heard all the raving about the new (fangled) styles of axes out there, I have been getting a bit of an itch to try one for myself.
Was looking for a certain kind of rake at Menards today (no luck) when I spied a rack of Fiskers axes and hatchets. The 24" Pro Chopper caught my eye. The $24.95 price tag seemed too good to pass up (as I would be spending no money on a rake today.)
Now, let me preface this all by saying that I will NEVER give up my big and heavy, hard to carry, older-than-internal-combustion, rusting-wad-on-an-antique-store-shelf axes. HOWEVER. This axe, for a purpose, is incredible.
I will gleefully throw this axe in the bed of my truck, and not feel bad when it starts to rain. I will chop into questionable wood without weighing the possibility that a nail/pebble/whatever might screw up my carefully honed edge. I will carry this on a day when I am not certain there will be anything to chop.
More than anything, I will recommend this axe to anyone who asks what axe they should buy. Anyone who will notice a difference between this and a carefully modified antique axe will never ask what kind of axe to buy - they will already know what they want. For a novice chopper,the Fiskers will be easier to control than a larger work axe, and will require none of the (significant) investment of time and skill to rehabilitate for use that one of my darling old axes does. If I am chopping, and the Fiskers gets ruined, a quick trip to the home store will remedy the situation. I won't feel like I have destroyed some piece of culture, like I do when I rock an old axe.
It hurts a little to see how good these axes are for the money. My only solace is that maybe a few others will notice, and there will be a few more antique heads sitting on the shelves the next time I go shopping for "real" axes.
With copious chagrin,
-TheChuck
So, any of you who have been reading this forum for a while know I am a died-in-the-wool traditional/antique axe guy. However, I am also a curious fellow. Having heard all the raving about the new (fangled) styles of axes out there, I have been getting a bit of an itch to try one for myself.
Was looking for a certain kind of rake at Menards today (no luck) when I spied a rack of Fiskers axes and hatchets. The 24" Pro Chopper caught my eye. The $24.95 price tag seemed too good to pass up (as I would be spending no money on a rake today.)
Now, let me preface this all by saying that I will NEVER give up my big and heavy, hard to carry, older-than-internal-combustion, rusting-wad-on-an-antique-store-shelf axes. HOWEVER. This axe, for a purpose, is incredible.
I will gleefully throw this axe in the bed of my truck, and not feel bad when it starts to rain. I will chop into questionable wood without weighing the possibility that a nail/pebble/whatever might screw up my carefully honed edge. I will carry this on a day when I am not certain there will be anything to chop.
More than anything, I will recommend this axe to anyone who asks what axe they should buy. Anyone who will notice a difference between this and a carefully modified antique axe will never ask what kind of axe to buy - they will already know what they want. For a novice chopper,the Fiskers will be easier to control than a larger work axe, and will require none of the (significant) investment of time and skill to rehabilitate for use that one of my darling old axes does. If I am chopping, and the Fiskers gets ruined, a quick trip to the home store will remedy the situation. I won't feel like I have destroyed some piece of culture, like I do when I rock an old axe.
It hurts a little to see how good these axes are for the money. My only solace is that maybe a few others will notice, and there will be a few more antique heads sitting on the shelves the next time I go shopping for "real" axes.
With copious chagrin,
-TheChuck
