Good camping axe

silenthunterstudios

silenthunterstudios

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Looking for a good camping axe. Not a hatchet, but an axe for splitting wood in camp. I have an Estwing hatchet, and a no name hatchet. For at home, I have a maul. Not looking for a double bladed axe either, I had the chance to get a double bladed Collins on Tuesday. Looking for a beater, custom or production.
 
Fiskars Large Splitting Axe.
I have it and have splitted plenty of wood with it(we use wood for heating during the winter).It's great!
 
Get a axe from Brian Andrews, you will not be belive how well they work once he has done the right grind on it. go to Off the Map outfitters.com and look at his work.

I have two now and two more on the way. I have used mine almost evey day since getting them for the family campfires we have here on the farm in the evenings.

Bryan
 
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beater?-> Fiskars Splitting Axe

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Picture from www.fiskars.com

Or, A GB small splitting axe.

Peter
 
I would like something a little more traditional, but that Fiskars looks like a good worker! I will check out Mr. Andrews.
 
If you like the Estwings check out their model 44A. Not the 46A which is 28 inches long, but the $$A which is 17 inches long.
 
Check out the GB Small Splitting Hatchet. It's got a 2 1/2" face, a 2 1/2 pound head and a 16" handle. Very traditional and well made.

Jeff

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sicily02 said:
Get a axe from Brian Andrews, you will not be belive how well they work once he has done the right grind on it. go to Off the Map outfitters.com and look at his work.

I have two now and two more on the way. I have used mine almost evey day since getting them for the family campfires we have here on the farm in the evenings.

Bryan
Click to expand...

+1:thumbup:

I just got his modded S&N camp ax and it is awesome. I was planning on giving it a bunch of work today, but my daughter is sick and I am home with her.
 
I have an old Swede Hultafors Bruks hatchet (14") that I use as a beater. Recently, though, I picked up a Wetterlings at Bens Backwoods for $30 or $40 (can;t remember now) and I like it alot.

I have always wanted a Granfors Bruks but just haven;t taken the jump yet.

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No, the sheath is not the one that comes with the Wetterlings.
 
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Fiskars Camp axe or Snow & Nealley Penob Bay or the longer handled version of the S&N .
Get a S&N from from Brian Andrews, he sells regular and modded varieties.
His mod of the S&N looks excellent!
If i didn't already have a S&N i'd buy one of his modded S&N's.
:)
 
silenthunterstudios said:
Looking for a good camping axe. Not a hatchet, but an axe for splitting wood in camp. I have an Estwing hatchet, and a no name hatchet. For at home, I have a maul. Not looking for a double bladed axe either, I had the chance to get a double bladed Collins on Tuesday. Looking for a beater, custom or production.
Click to expand...

You certainly want a splitting axe or maul (if all you are doing is splitting wood), preferably with a 28" handle, or longer, for safety and efficiency. My favorite splitting axe has a 35" handle.

I own dozens and dozens of axes (inherited, collect, use), and have used axes for over 4 decades. I find that even I avoid using my double-bit axes for safety reasons. I can't fault people who can use them efficiently and conscientiously ( like my dad did professionally in the Oregon and Washington forests years ago), but I personally find the safety issue not a worthwhile compromise in this modern era.
 
My vote goes for Fiskars and Wetterlings. Cheap but very reliable, the Mora's of axes if you will.:D
 
My outfitter in Canada had a portrait of a famous trapper Grey Owl, an English guy who move to Canada and reinvented himself as a native American. He was holding a Hudson Bay axe.
So, for my birthday, I suggested to my wife to buy me a Snow and Nealy Hudson Bay. I have used for splitting oak into kindling and really like its size and balance. I am thinning it out a little and putting a good edge on it but I think they are a good bargain.

Below is a copy of the portrait and my mid and small choppers. The larger axe is the SN, the small one is a Norlund ebay find.

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Watch the bargin One-Price bins at the hardware stores for the cheap Chinese hatchets. most are badly shaped "camp axes", but some are quite nice. Forged and hand ground, Much too hard, need to have the temper drawn back. They make many, many traditional patterns for the Asian markets that we never see.
 
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