Good Hatchet

N

NJWHN95

Joined
Jun 25, 2011
Messages
77
I'm looking for a good hatchet or ax that is small enough to fit in my pack for camping. Obviously it won't be chopping down a huge tree, but i would like to be able to get through smaller trees and chop wood. Basic camp chores I guess. anyway thanks for your recconmondations =
 
Most expensive: Gransfors Bruks
Moderate price: Wetterlings, Husqvarna
least expensive: Fiskars, Graintex

*most will need some sharpening.
 
Gransfors Bruks is top of the line. I have one of their wildlife hatchets and it's awesome. I think it set me back somewhere around $100. From what I've read the comparable Wetterlings are not quite the quality but reasonably close and about 1/2 the price. You should be very happy with either.
 
I love my little Wetterlings, but my Fiskars X7 sees quite a bit more use. For a cheap hatchet I think its a good choice.
 
ManOfMisery said:
I love my little Wetterlings, but my Fiskars X7 sees quite a bit more use. For a cheap hatchet I think its a good choice.
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Yeah, for the money, an X7 can't be beat. Granted, I wouldn't trust the steel in the middle of the wilderness in winter time, but for all the other times it's the best performing hatchet I own. Walmart sells them and so does Ace Hardware for under $25. Fiskars uses forged stainless for their axes, and while they do hold an edge well and can chop through knots, etc, the steel can get brittle in extreme cold. That's when I pack my Wetterlings carbon steel hatchet, tough steel and performs well in all weather. Still, the X7 is a beast of a chopper and splitter and it's cheap.
 
I have the old Fiskars hatchet (not the X7), purchased 1.5 years ago. It rusts. I always thought these were carbon steel.
 
My Gerber version hatchet rusts as well. I've had it for probably 4 years or so, so it's the older model.
 
You may want to check into Husqvarna axes as well. Wood Trekker . com . They compare them to Gransfors Bruks.
 
there are a lot of crap hatchets at garage sales. but only a couple bucks usually so nothing lost if you don't like it after some use. If you want one you can enjoy the rest of your life and aren't tight on cash get the Gransfors. I have never read where someone wishes they had saved the money and gotten a lesser hatchet.

I personally hate the Gerber/Fiskars hatchets. I would never pay store price for one. But on the other hand, they have a handle and blade, so will work. I would grumble about it the whole time if I had to use one.
 
cckw said:
there are a lot of crap hatchets at garage sales. but only a couple bucks usually so nothing lost if you don't like it after some use. If you want one you can enjoy the rest of your life and aren't tight on cash get the Gransfors. I have never read where someone wishes they had saved the money and gotten a lesser hatchet.

I personally hate the Gerber/Fiskars hatchets. I would never pay store price for one. But on the other hand, they have a handle and blade, so will work. I would grumble about it the whole time if I had to use one.
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I am not a big advocate for the gerber/fiskars either. For the same price, you could pick up a nice husky, which have been getting pretty favorable reviews. They also look like they have much better geometry than the fiskars.
 
dogstar said:
Where can you get a Husqvarna for the same price as a Fiskars?
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I actually think I was off base with this. I want to be careful about not "deal-spotting" but the website that I was looking at has the 15" husky for $34.50. Then I noticed that they list the 17" Fiskars for $38, but I think I must have been looking at the 17 "splitting axe." The Fiskars 14" hatchet is definitely less. My mistake, sorry folks.

M3mphis said:
I am not a big advocate for the gerber/fiskars either. For the same price, you could pick up a nice husky, which have been getting pretty favorable reviews. They also look like they have much better geometry than the fiskars.
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Disclaimer: I have been told that my gerber is an older model and that the later model has an edge. I can't verify or dispute that, I can only tell you that mine came absurdly blunt. It took some work to put an edge on it. Otherwise, it has held up just fine.
 
M3mphis said:
Disclaimer: I have been told that my gerber is an older model and that the later model has an edge. I can't verify or dispute that, I can only tell you that mine came absurdly blunt. It took some work to put an edge on it. Otherwise, it has held up just fine.
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"Edge" is not the same as "geometry" here though. The Husqvarna (contracted through Wetterlings, last I heard) has better geometry, in that it will be much more efficient at most axe tasks. The Fiskers will likely be better at splitting, because it's much more wedge-like, where the Husky has a concave cheeks making it a better working axe, in general.

Apologies if I am misunderstanding what you mean here.
 
scouter27 said:
"Edge" is not the same as "geometry" here though. The Husqvarna (contracted through Wetterlings, last I heard) has better geometry, in that it will be much more efficient at most axe tasks. The Fiskers will likely be better at splitting, because it's much more wedge-like, where the Husky has a concave cheeks making it a better working axe, in general.

Apologies if I am misunderstanding what you mean here.
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I'm in agreement with you regarding the geometry of the two tools. What I was attempting to refer to in this case was the factory edge itself. Geometry aside, my gerber came with basically an unfinished edge, IMO. It was rough and wide and probably ground at 30 degrees or broader angle, not inclusive! (just a guess, I didn't measure it). Am I making sense?
 
scouter27 said:
The Husqvarna (contracted through Wetterlings, last I heard) has better geometry, in that it will be much more efficient at most axe tasks. The Fiskers will likely be better at splitting, because it's much more wedge-like, where the Husky has a concave cheeks making it a better working axe, in general.
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I did a review here a few months ago that put the Wetterlings made Husqvarna Hatchet against the new Fiskars X7 and the Fiskars outchopped the Husky. Both were made hair shaving sharp to ensure a fair test. You can check out the review here http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/837501-REVIEW-The-new-Fiskars-X7-14-quot-Hatchet
 
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