Newbie needs help chopping

rickppoole

rickppoole

Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Messages
290
I want to pick out a tool to take camping that will be used (mostly) for chopping and splitting wood for cooking and campfires. I live around a lot of fairly hard woods (oak etc.) My budget is $60.00 (or less) and I'm looking for:

1. Effectiveness
2. Reliability / Ease of maintaining an edge etc.
2. Size and weight (as small as possible while still performing).
4. Durability

Would you be so kind as to recomend a manufacturer and model? I don't want to have to split wood with a survival knife (unless it's a question of survival).

Much thanks!
 
The GB axes work well and may be the ticket you are searching for. Gerber makes a sweet line of smaller hand axes which are also a decent value and high on performance when properly sharpened.

You could also venture out to a local army navy store and see what they have available. Some of the old axes in such shops need to be reprofiled but they are a good value for the buck. A simple file and a few minutes of work will transform an old warhorse into a great tool.
 
Thanks for the reccomendations!

If I were to pick up a Wetterling or a Gerber, what would be the ideal size?

I would be camping / hiking and hopefully spliting more wood than chopping. It's been almost 10 years since I used a hatchet and I remember the job taking far longer thanI wanted it to...

Hmmm... maybe I should start with learning better technique?
 
rickppoole said:
I want to pick out a tool to take camping that will be used (mostly) for chopping and splitting wood for cooking and campfires. I live around a lot of fairly hard woods (oak etc.) My budget is $60.00 (or less) and I'm looking for:

1. Effectiveness
2. Reliability / Ease of maintaining an edge etc.
3. Size and weight (as small as possible while still performing).
4. Durability

Would you be so kind as to recomend a manufacturer and model? I don't want to have to split wood with a survival knife (unless it's a question of survival).

Much thanks!
Click to expand...

Excellent. I'm in the same boat, but not concerned about size or weight. Already have a little coleman hatchet

I looked at the mentioned brands and was wondering if people recommend wood/metal or all metal axes. Seems like the all metal would be stronger, but I'm wondering what the drawback would be.
 
Serrinon said:
Seems like the all metal would be stronger, but I'm wondering what the drawback would be.
Click to expand...

Wooden handles are lighter and absorb shock better. Better for your wrist/elbow/arm. Properly fitted, they hold up well, the biggest thing to avoid is twisting the handle sideways, as when it gets stuck or you are trying to split off a slab. Then the danger of breakage is highest in my experience.

That said, I have an Estwing sportsman's axe (leather handle) and it is tough. I've done things with it that I would probably never do with my older Collins hatchet, but the Collins holds an edge a lot better. The Estwing is rather soft, so I've put on a convex edge to get the most from it I can. It's a decent axe, I don't have any real complaints about it and for most people, the shock thing really shouldn't be much of an issue unless you are doing a lot of chopping.
 
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