Nicely said! I frowned at my frugal dad for choosing an on sale 'made in Sweden' (a Sandvik 1 1/4 lb) pulp axe back in the early sixties. Made in USA, England or Canada was standard convention for quality. At the time 'made in Sweden' and 'made in Japan' was psychologically akin to buying 'made in China or India' now.
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Help with US Forest Service axe identification?
- Thread starter Landodnal
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Lots of mis information in this thread. I haven't been away that long but lets get the information correct at least. Come on fellas.
"Made in Sweden" meant 'one down' (as opposed to 'one up') during the 1960s, at about the same time that "made in Hong Kong" became synonymous with lowest price and lowest quality. At the time the Swedes went out of their way to model their export goods based on Can-Am products, entirely unlike what is happening today . Globally their existing factories of the day couldn't compete and a few have come back as boutique rustic-exotic retro (and expensive) but they still make nice tools and use first class steel. The Swedes (so far) have never been known to produce junk!
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Who's going to set the record straight?
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Interesting....Most of the USDA Forest Service axes made in the USA were stamped FS or FSS.
FS was Forest Service and FSS was for Forest Service Supply. This is the first one I've seen that is stamped USFS. It is also the first one that I have seen that was stamped on the helve. It is also the first Swedish made axe I have seen that was stamped for the Forest Service.
Makes one wonder if it was so stamped by a previous owner to make a a rarer axe and commanding greater value.
Just my thoughts, Tom
FS was Forest Service and FSS was for Forest Service Supply. This is the first one I've seen that is stamped USFS. It is also the first one that I have seen that was stamped on the helve. It is also the first Swedish made axe I have seen that was stamped for the Forest Service.
Makes one wonder if it was so stamped by a previous owner to make a a rarer axe and commanding greater value.
Just my thoughts, Tom
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I work for the USFS, and it in my cache we have metal stamping dies that say "USFS" as well as "FS" and other denotations of marking the object as "federally owned"
it is true, things were purchased made to order by the FS, but a lot of things were also just purchased from what was on hand, or what was sought after from what i can tell, and then folks stamped whatever they wanted onto them!
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the FSS stamp stands for "federal supply system" and was later taken over by GSA and their champagne/caviar galas. it was required to be stamped on the axe (regardless of actual maker) as per the specs put forth by the MTDC for large scale federal purchases of axes thru the FSS catalogue. hell, they probably still stamp "
FSS on them because nobody rewrote the specs!
idaho_crosscut- Thank you for clearing that up. Quick question maybe you can answer. What is the process, more specifically, when new axes need to be bought/ordered? Are there particular manufacturers the USFS uses? Do they attempt to buy USA made, similar to the military? Are axes even commonly used anymore by trail crews/rangers/maintenance? Thanks in advance for any info you can offer.
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well, i haven't really looked in the GSA catalogue as of late, but i know that barco currently supplies all of the pulaskies for the USFS. I have seen collins, council, and true-temper pulaskis as well, but i suspect they are of an older date. for that matter, we have a few kelly flint edge double bits with "USFS" stamped on them, as well as a vaughn and some true tempers.
as far as the manufacturers, i assume that barco holds the contract for now. generally, the USFS purchases mostly US made stuff, and again, i assume that is by mandate. then again, i have seen some Hyundai rigs toting the USFS shield on them as of late...
so basically, i don't know the answers to your questions. Moosecreektrails might know, however. i do know the answer to your last question, luckily!
as far as axe use goes-- yes! apart from the widespread use axes get as felling wedge pounding devices in the firefighting world, trail crews must use non motorized tools in the wilderness. My trail crew uses axes often to clear the trail, chopping thru logs <18" or so. too much bigger, and it is often time effective to get out the crosscut saw.
as far as the axes the various crew members used this year, (no photos, sorry) we have: 3.75# norlund single bit hoosier pattern, 3.5# kelly michigan double bit, 4# warren axe swamper, 4.75# collins legitimus jersey, this 6# chinese racing axe c*cksucker thing, 5# hytest trojan, and a couple 4lb kelly vulcan double bit, western pattern. honorable mention: a pulaski with the adze end ground off. it chopped like a sonofabitch until the user used it to chop an abandoned aluminum jetboat hull into scrap small enough to fit into his volvo beaterwagon.
as far as the manufacturers, i assume that barco holds the contract for now. generally, the USFS purchases mostly US made stuff, and again, i assume that is by mandate. then again, i have seen some Hyundai rigs toting the USFS shield on them as of late...
so basically, i don't know the answers to your questions. Moosecreektrails might know, however. i do know the answer to your last question, luckily!
as far as axe use goes-- yes! apart from the widespread use axes get as felling wedge pounding devices in the firefighting world, trail crews must use non motorized tools in the wilderness. My trail crew uses axes often to clear the trail, chopping thru logs <18" or so. too much bigger, and it is often time effective to get out the crosscut saw.
as far as the axes the various crew members used this year, (no photos, sorry) we have: 3.75# norlund single bit hoosier pattern, 3.5# kelly michigan double bit, 4# warren axe swamper, 4.75# collins legitimus jersey, this 6# chinese racing axe c*cksucker thing, 5# hytest trojan, and a couple 4lb kelly vulcan double bit, western pattern. honorable mention: a pulaski with the adze end ground off. it chopped like a sonofabitch until the user used it to chop an abandoned aluminum jetboat hull into scrap small enough to fit into his volvo beaterwagon.
idaho_crosscut- Great reply! My favorite line, "...this 6# chinese racing axe c*cksucker thing." That cracked me up. Anyway, you actually answered all my questions sufficiently. You guys have an impressive collection of axes, and it's nice to know they are getting used for what they were meant for. It's kind of a throw back to the old black and white pics you see of men logging with their bare hands; axes and two man crosscut saws. I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of that family of axes someday. Thanks again for your responses.
FSS stands for "Federal Supply System" in regards to the tools we are talking about. it can also stand for Federal Supply Service in other contexts.
Love it. The fashion-expensive and titanium-indestructible survival weapon-wannabe crowd should be alerted to this. It's not your ordinary forestry tool that can called upon to pull off an "incidental" stunt like this! Sheesh there might even have been Zombies in there.