Help Picking an Axe, GB or Wetterlings?

[kpmoloney]

I'm pretty new here, been lurking the forums for awhile, gathering all the info I could. I now have a question I hope someone around here can help me with, I'm sorry if this becomes kind of a long read:
I'm looking to buy a high quality axe to replace the hardware store varieties I've been using for years with varied satisfaction. I'm trying to decide between the Wetterlings Large Hunters Axe and the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe. these axes are of very similar size, perfect as a pack axe that I plan on using them for, Hiking and Canoeing in Ontario, Canada. Now I've done a little research on my own, and held the gransfors axe personally, it comes with a sharp edge and appears to be of high quality workmanship and comes with a 20 year warranty. However, I've read mixed reviews about the design of the axe, OldJimbo tested both axes and found the GB to have an unbalanced bit, by checking the 'throw'. He also field tested the two axes and has found the Wetterlings to be a more efficient design for balance, accuracy and use. On the other hand I've heard that the Wetterlings quality control is a bit lacking, sometimes leaving the factory with asymmetrical heads and polls, a 'cheap' sheath and the varnish on the handle vs. the GB's linseed oil. Now, one other factor is the fact that I can go and personally buy a GB, picking out a good example, while in Canada I would have to get a sales rep from an online store pick out a good example for me and ship it to me. Of course coin comes into play, the Wetterlings would come to around $75 with shipping I suspect and the GB would be around $130 with Canadian taxes added. Anyway, long winded but I wanted to get all my concerns out there, I'm hoping someone with more knowledge and experience than myself can recommend a choice for me, I'm split.

 

[Dogwood]

I own both Wetterlings and GB axes and I prefer the current Wetterlings offerings.

Wetterlings did have some quality control problems a few years ago, but in recent years the quality is very good. At least all the ones I've seen are good.

As of about 15 months ago, the same guy who owns GB bought Wetterlings with the pledge to make the quality very high... As near as I can tell, it's a promise fulfilled.

The finish is a lot nicer on the GB for sure, but that only matters if you don't *use* the axe. If you use it, they'll both be equally finished pretty fast And besides other than the ones that were screwy during the quality control problems, the finish on a Wetterlings is just fine.

The GB is a great axe, don't get me wrong.

But the price difference is crazy -- they're both made from fine Swedish steel by companies that take axes very seriously. You can't go wrong with either -- but for the price, the Wetterlings wins hands down in my mind.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[littleknife]

Welcome to the Forums, kpmoloney!

I don't have too much knowledge and even less experience, but I have the ~14" GB Wildlife, the 13" SAW13H Wetterlings Wildlife Axe and the 15" Wetterlings SAW16H (Small Hunting Axe).
The GB has a 1 lb head, the SAW13H a 1.25 lb head and the SAW16H a 1.5 lb head. The last one has the same head as the 19" long SAW20H Wetterlings Long Hunting Axe, but on a shorter handle.

They are all nice, but overall the GB is the nicest looking one. They are made of the same steel, with similar method and equipment, hardened to almost the same hardness, and now both companies are owned even by the same person (the owner of GB who by rescued Wetterlings when it went bankrupt and kept it in operation as a separate factory ever since).

The test you are referring to was actually done by a French guy, James, the owner of the now defunct Otdoors_Magazine, who is a good friend of Old Jimbo. He actually compared the GB Small Forest Axe and its Wetterlings analog, the Long Hunting Axe:

http://www.oldjimbo.com/Outdoors-Magazine/Wetterling-long-hunting-axe-VS.pdf

Those are larger axes, still can pass for hatchets but might be more useful if you need a lot of firewood.

James' review was received with mixed reactions, many people disagree with his conclusions. It is important to remember that at that time Wetterlings axes (and GB too) were much cheaper, the Wetterlings having been on average third to less than half the price of GB. It is true that the Wetterlings quality of that time varied much more than that of GB, so if you got a nice Wetterlings axe you got yourself a very good deal.

As for the balance, both the GB and the Wetterlings can be less than ideal as for balance goes. For example none of my three above mentioned hatchets is perfectly balanced. However I think that the perfect balance is a little bit overrated for small axes and hatchets and I would think (but I can be easily wrong) that it is more important for longer and heavier axes rather.
These small hatchets are supposed to be used to cut up and split few inch diameter deadwood or saplings with shorter chops and much less effort, so if used so glancing due to less than ideal balance is unlikely to happen.

One definite difference between the GB and the two other Wetterlings is that the GB due to its thinner bit is more suited for chopping, while the Wetterlings are good choppers and better splitters than the GB (they have a more uniform wedge-like profile which is less prone to bind in the wood when splitting). However these differences are not extreme, so you would be well off with any one of them.

An online ordered Wetterlings might not be so pretty as a hand-picked GB, but it will be definitely better than any modern hardware store axe and after proper setting up, as functional as any GB. On the other hand if you can hand pick a great GB, you will get a ready to use axe which will spare you the efforts and time needed to optimize most of the Wetterlings.
If this does not help, decide based on the size/weight you need and like the most.

Once again, whatever is your choice, you are not going to make a mistake!
(Later, you can still buy the other one too! :foot: )

Best wishes,
littleknife

 

[kpmoloney]

Hey, Thanks for the help guys, still looking into it. Anyone else get a little obsessed with buying new gear when the time comes? For me getting a good new piece of gear and taking it out to use it for the first time is when of the best parts of going out into the woods.