Granfors Bruk perfect field knife

C

collecter

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Aug 21, 2002
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I was looking for that perfect field knife that chops well but has an edge fine enough for other cutting tasks...I finally stopped looking! There is no such tool.

I've read about the gransfors axes on this and other forums but never really considered an axe as something I would carry in my pack, until now. I recenty bought their Small Forest Axe and have seen the light!

It's 1 1/2 pounds, 19" long and you can shave with it! It chops the way I want an axe to chop and cuts the way I want a knife to cut...it's an awsome tool!

Along with my Swiss Army Soldier, there are no cutting or chopping tasks that I would not tackle.

I posted this here and not in the axes/hatchets because I've read a lot of threads that evaluated the copping performance of fixed blade knives which are not the right tool for the job, and I'm so impressed with this small axe!

Cheers,
Collector
 
The GB axes are indeed great tools for thick wood cutting, however there are lots of fixed blades that chop well, easily enough to handle any kindling and shelter building chores. No they will not be able to match the performance of the small Forest axe assuming you are using a two handed swing in a wide area, but they can match or better the penetration of the Wildlife Hatchet from Gransfors Bruks, and are in general a much better precision cutting tool and work much better for brush work than the axes. The GB axes a come sharper than many tactical knives and can outcut most of them as well. I wish they made a full size version of the Forest axe. I had one which worked great as a limbing axe, but was a little too short for felling. In retrospect I should have considering just putting a longer handle on it. But it was still too light for the harder woods around here.

-Cliff
 
I was wondering which of the 2 axes that Cliff mentioned would be better for camping. Sounds like the larger of the 2.
 
The Wildlife Hatchet looks like a nice little axe but it's just not a good choping tool. The handle is just short enough to make it dangerous to use.

Once you move up to the 19" handled axes (Small Forest Axe or Hunter's Axe) you have serious chopping ability with excellent control. Either of these are also good for one hand use.

They are kind of expensive at approx. $70 each, but for how much most of us are willing to spend on a single knife, that's cheap. Especially for hand made and a 20 year warranty.

Small Forest Axe or the Hunter's Axe are perfect for camping or hunting. I think their other models are either too small or too big.

If your interested in these, there are several other threads in the axes/hatchets section of this forum where you can get more information.

I recommend them over any large knife intended for the same chores. No contest!

I'm very impressed with these two products.

Cheers,
Collector
 
Thanks Collector. I plan on chopping with it, so I will look at those two that you mention. Yes, they are a little pricey, but I've bought cheap hatchets and axes that were absolute crap and dull, making them unsafe to use, especially when tired. They also didn't hold an edge at all. Even they cost 10 - 20 dollars, so it seems like the Gransfors are well worth it.

I appreciate all the comments!
 
Originally posted by collecter
The Wildlife Hatchet looks like a nice little axe but it's just not a good choping tool. The handle is just short enough to make it dangerous to use.
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Collector,

did you try the hatchet and not like it, or are you saying this because you don't use hatchets that size in general?
What about the short handle makes it dangerous?
 
Originally posted by Cliff Stamp
they can match or better the penetration of the Wildlife Hatchet from Gransfors Bruks,
Click to expand...
What about vibration and fatigue?
The Gransfors axes have nice wooden handles that should absorb vibration. Their length should make chopping easier even if the penetration per minute is the same.
Am I off-base on this? Is it really just as easy (and painless) to chop with a big, full-tang knife as with a hickory-handled Gransfors?

[I've had carpal tunnel syndrome several times; this is always a factor in my thinking.]
 
Hatchets, have been described as dangerous as the short handle keeps the blade closer to your body than the longer handle of an axe. In my experience this isn't the critical point in use because the swings are too different to restrict the comparison to this one, however valid, point. I chop a lot of wood with hatchet and similar sized knives, many thousands of pieces of three to five inch pieces a season. It isn't uncommon just to spend hours bucking up piece after piece of wood. Through all this time I can count very few glances that resulted in cuts to my off hand, and that is only because I keep my off hand very near the cut (inches), mainly to control the wood (I don't recommend this, I just adapted this as a natural technique). These glances were all with blades with odd geometries and on bad wood, I have never had one with a quality hatchet that I can remember.

I have recently started seriously felling wood with an axe again, and I had more glances with the axe last year than I have had with the large knives and hatchets. They are far more frequent, and *massivley* more dangerous when they happen mainly because of the hugely larger forces used which have a much greater chance of inducing bad breaks in the wood. They are also inherently less accurate because of the greater head size and longer handle plus more complicated swings. A knife or hatchet when glanced can give you a decent cut across the bad of the hand, and I have the scars to prove it. A axe when glanced will easily take a much bigger piece out of you. Just last weekend I saw a friend glance an axe and have it slam into the side of his shoe and luckly he was just able to turn his foot to avoid it getting seriously cut. The technique to swining an axe two handed is far more complicated than using a hatchet, and your body positioning is much more critical. Now I am not making the arguement that hatchets are without danger but they are much easier to learn to use safely and not nearly as complicated.

In regards to what I would have as a camp axe, I have never had much use for less than full size axes. The exception to this would be a limbing axe like the Forest Axe. The middle size axes (handle length not head weight), put your body too close to the head for a safe full swing, and simply don't have enough reach for any kind of serious cutting and are overkill for the lighter material. For any size of wood that you are cutting at camp, or even shelter building and construction in general, a small saw and hatchet (or large blade) is a much more versatile, functional, and safer combination. This combination will tear through even an eight inch tree in less than a minute. This is more than 200 lbs of wood. How much do you want to cut? Using a saw to make the undercuts make using an axe so much safter and far easier it should never be left behind, you are many times more productive. The saw does the part of the cut that the short blades and hatchet find the most difficult which is the under cut as it is hard to do the upswing when felling with a shorter blade unless you want to leave a very high stump (feet off the ground)

The vibration issue is very good with an axe indeed. However yes many large blades can easily match this aspect. The Valiant Golok easily performs this well for example. Shock should never be an issue with a blade anyway, it is caused by many factors such as a lack of blade stifness, poor penetration, poor handle ergonomics and security etc. . I can easily give you a wooden handled hatchet very similar to the GB but which will act like a club and beat your wrist apart. The bit geometry difference alone can make the tool horrible in hand. If you have a chance and can handle a blade by Ray Kirk you will see what a wood cutting bowie can feel and cut like. These are a class of blade that can exceed the chopping ability of the hatchet and be far more versatile and overall functional.

Personally, for most outdoor use I would bring a quality folding saw and a blade long enough for brush work, but which also did well at thick wood work. The most optimal blade I have seen so far for that was an 18" Ang Khola from Himalayan Imports. The 22" model I have is much better at thick wood work, but I still have not developed the wrist endurance necessary to use it for lighter work for any length of time. The Valiant Golok is very close the 18" Ang Khola in overall functionality, and I would pick it if the wood was clear and mainly soft to medium in hardness. The khukuri can handle even the worst woods with no problems.

To close though, nothing beats personal experience. Get a quality blade, the best you can buy and start off with the softest and clearest wood you can find. Buy some clear white pine 2x4 which will offer 2"+ inches of penetration on a decent 10" bowie with a proper swing. This will be the easiest to cut, induce the minimal wedging and nasty side effects (glances and break outs), and focus on learning the technique. Which angle to come in on, how much power to use, how to minimize fatigue, how to follow the lines, how to get a fluid and smooth pace etc. . Slowly more up to harder and junkier woods (knots and such), and discover how the tehnique has to be changed. For example softer woods can use much lower angles of attack than hard woods. The same angle on hardwoods will cause a glance and thus you need to come in steeper and thus the penetration is limited.

-Cliff
 
Great thread!
The GB Wildlife is 1lb 4oz and the Small Forest Axe is 2lb 2oz total. I find the small forest to be a great tool as used two handed it can vastly outchop the Wildlife. It's also more comfortable for me to use one-handed with hand near the head for small cutting jobs - due to the thicker handle. It carries very nicely in a small pack. After collecting a bunch of older hatchet and axe heads, I believe that the GB are some of the best ever made, and great value.
A while back I would have been very doubtful of Cliff's statements about chopping knives, but thanks to Singularity I got some Valiant blades. The survival golok at the same weight as the GB Wildlife cuts almost about as well on smaller wood. It's well worth the investment of $40, postage and a bunch of time smoothing the bevels with a sanding pad. It changed my ideas about chopping with knives.
The saw is a complementary tool to the axe or hatchet and does save a lot of time.
I'm not so sure that cuts with my blades would leave limbs or digits attached - I like blades very sharp. So I follow Singularity's blade safety advice!
 
I agree with a lot of the comments noted above.

All the hatchets that I've owned and tried I was not satisfied with. Too heavy, wrong shape, etc.

I often found myself wanting to use my 13" estwing two handed which is very uncomfortable. Usually after a couple swings I would ask myself "what the hell am I doing?". It's dangerous, especially when you're tired. One handed it's not that good either.

I have a full size felling axe which would be similar to a larger GB forest axe and until now it was the best axe I new of. It has a very old axe head that I was never able to trace the manufacturer. I've searched everywhere hoping to find a smaller version.

The gb is not the same manufacturer but the small forest axe is the smaller version I was lookng for. It chops, cuts and it's a hammer all in one.

Good bye field knife!

This thing doesn't address brush work. For this I have an 18" machete which almost never gets used so it usually stays in the truck!

Cheers,
Collector
 
If you have a look at the RM patterson quote at the bottom of this page, you'll see that you aren't alone in liking small axes!
Small axes
 
I have a small GB hatchet and think it's a great tool for cleaning/clearing out brush as well as a tool for the camp site. The handle is slippery and I have wrapped hockey stick tape on the handle for more control. I have also had a close call with glanced blows. One ought to use shorter strokes with proper stance and balance to reduce glancing.

Barry H
 
Barry:
Lots of the problems with grip are probably because of the thin handle. One of the good points of the small forest axe is the thicker handle for one handed use with a hold part way up the handle. Two handed use of course gives good grip.
Glances are always likely and so I have a less effective way of chopping where I keep the blade moving in a straight line, and my body parts out of the way of any posible glances. When I'm using long blades for clearing, I'll even wear kevlar chaps. I'm often just too far out to chance accidents with sharp blades.
 
I really like my GB Small Forest Axe. It lives right inside the front door where I can grab it quick for making some kindling out of the log pile.

I am an awful axeman and I constantly think I am going to chip the edge or mash the wood of the handle up close by the head, but despite my abuse it is as good as new. Still sharp too.

You might not need one, but I doubt you will regret it if you get one.
 
I think much of wilderness hiking (at least in the northern part of the globe) is shelter and fire building.
Often the weather changes fast and you have to do this fast, there is no comparising between a knife and a small hatchet. (or a saw)
I do not agree that a saw and a knife is more versatile.
In a tropical climate a big knife like a machete probably is a good choice. I do not have the experience yo tell. In colder climates the vegetation is different and also the tools. Look at what the locals use and don´t give me the crap about it is because they don´t have any better options. If a Tactical tanto survival knife and a folding saw with plastic handle were the best they would use it.
If I had to choose I would take a hatchet over the knife any time.
With a little training you can fillet a fish, make traps, flay and cut up a moose and even build a cabin with a hatchet.
 
Mextreme :

Look at what the locals use and don´t give me the crap about it is because they don´t have any better options.
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Money is a large issue in many such places. For example the village khukuris that are made in Nepal are not up to the standard of the khukuris that Bill Martino imports into the US. It simply takes too much time and effort to produce the level of quality, and the prices they are sold for in the North American market would stagger a native to Nepal. Who could never consider paying that price for a tool

It is the same locally. When axes were commonly used for felling wood here (just one generation ago), one axe was used for limbing, felling, bucking and splitting. The same axe would be used for utility work if needed such as cutting holes in ice in the winter. These were people who seriously depended on their tools for survival and used them all year round, yet many of them did not have multiple axe patterns for differnt chores or different types of wood, and it was common for there to be just one.

If you go back just a little further you will find even more odd "traditional" tools. For example on many blades used for cutting vegetation the edges were left very soft - this was so they could be sharpened by burnishing and hammering, as they could not afford grinding the edges away constantly with stones.

Or consider the Japanese tooth patterned saw, these are tremendous wood cutting tools but yet in many parts of the world these are unknown. This isn't because they are not functional, in fact many western hand saws are not adopting such patterns.

Learn from native cultures of course, but learn why what was done was done, and see if it can be advanced using modern materials and techniques - that is exactly what those cultures did as they advanced, such as trading for modern steel knives and cookware.

Jimbo :

I'm not so sure that cuts with my blades would leave limbs or digits attached
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You can redirect a glanced blade or hatchet, or vastly reduce its momentum, as you can apply enough force at enough speed with a simple flick of the wrist. With an larger axe, with power from the shoulders, hips and back, the momentum is vastly above the smaller hatchet or long knife (hence the greater chopping power of the axe) which means a glance cannot be contained to the same extent - and considering the greater momentum, it would actually have to be more easily contained to be as safe. The much wider arc of a longer handle also means a directly large range of danger.

Most of these issues can be avoided with proper cutting technique and body placement. In some ways I feel safer when using a full size axe for felling as I can position myself to avoid the vast majority of glances. In other ways though I realize that if the wood breaks really bad, or I lose footing on the swing, or whatever, I am in for a lot more of a problem that if the hatchet / knife glances out of the wood. The other issue that makes axe far more dangerous is the class of wood they are functional on. It is pretty difficult to injure yourself on small woods as they are easy to control by pushing them, but with axes there are many other difficulties when falling.


-Cliff
 
I'd agree with Cliff that we're pretty well off, and can have our choice of tools - whereas lots of people in the world have to make do with what they have.
I was out clearing some trail yesterday with the Valiant Bolo Camp, which I've extensively reprofiled, and today with the Gransfors SFA. I'm always surprised when a long blade does about as well as a small axe, but that one does. Once you've done the consumer guide comparison of cutting tools, though, there's far more to take into account. Clearing out trail and campsites is something that the Bolo Camp excels at - but isn't really something that has to be done. The SFA is a far more capable tool for splitting long sections of dead conifer branches, and would be more useful as a tool and for skinning game.
For the most part, I would be confident with either, but there are times around here, where it's so wet that anything less than a full size axe would be outclassed. While I don't think that there is one "best" tool for anyone, let alone everyone - I'd pay a lot more than I did to own the small forest axe, it's that good.
 
Believe Cliff about the efficacy of something like an 18" AK khukuri. I'm going to have to check out the Valiant bolo also.
 
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