Picked up an Estwing hatchet...

M

Magnum22

Joined
Jul 6, 2006
Messages
1,562
...for a couple reasons. first, they've been coming up on the forums. second, they look damn pretty. third, i'm a sucker for a "made in USA" sticker.

impressions? well, i'm hopin to try it out tonight, might wait on that for daylight, but it feels good. next to my old wetterlings hatchet (which i no longer own so i can't do a side by side for you guys) the edge was less sharp, but thinner. the wetterlings came with a decently sharp, but pretty thick edge. it still needed a little work. it was also very good looking, but this aint a beauty contest.

one thing about the full steel hatchets is the weight distribution. doesn't seem to be much of an issue on this piece, no clue why. maybe there's more steel packed at the business end than appearance indicates. will need some edge work, but it's pretty close and nicely thinned from the factory.

another issue, you can't choke up on it for use as a knife. if you want to reduce leverage for more control, you either deal with the leverage from the front of the stacked leather grip, or deal with discomfort. this, however, is bladeforums. we will all, at all times, have a knife, so that's not really an issue. if it's your one tool, you'll want wood or plastic, so go with the more popular gb, wetterlings, fiskars, or buck.

all in all, looks good, feels good, thin edge, and heavy up front. that's the "good axe" checklist. well, looks are not a priority, but it's a pleasant bonus.
 
Mag, I have a Estwing and love it! I am not saying its the greatest chopper, or the best there is, but its high on the list and its definitely indestructible.
 
I have an old one with the stacked leather handle. Its chopped a jillion times its weight in fire wood over the last twenty years. I also Have the Estwing Ax. Great quality tools all the way. We heated our home for 40 years with just wood so I have chopped and split wood with every kind of wood cutting tool made. As a kid my dad and I cut down a lot of big dead trees with the old two man cross cut saws and cut it into chunks to haul home then cut it up with the tractor buzz saw then split it all with axes and spliting wedges and mauls. You burn a lot of wood up here in the Dakota's.

I think you will enjoy your new toy.:D
 
Never used an Estwing axe, but their rock hammers are pretty much the industry standard :D
 
just went to the yard to try it out. wood's frozen, but it took some respectable bites before i decided to wait till daylight to really give it a shot. i had some chopped wood piled up in the back and i figured i'd light a fire since i was out, but i left my kit inside. cool, try it without it.

what a devastating failure.
 
Ok, my wife is a metallurgical engineer. Her boss toured the Estwing production line at their factory, and spoke with their metallurgical engineers when they wanted steel. Turns out, they are one of the few hammer manufacturers that makes sure the grain in their hammer head faces is NOT endgrain. Hence they become super durable, and like k-spar said, they became the industry standard. Estwing is all I buy now, simply because they care about the steel quality more than the industry standard. Her boss was impressed, and he is the head of QA at her plant, that means something to me. And FWIW, I have the ax too, and although there may be sharper choppers available, I haven't found one I consider to be more durable.
 
I have an Estwing stack leather hatchet. I love the classic look and they function great- there is little more I can ask for. My only major quarrel with it is the vibration- it does vibrate a bit more than a wood handle hatchet. However, I've found that's only an issue if you spend all afternoon chopping with it. It can be used like a knife, sort of. The head is a little to big to get the best feel and efficiency, but it is doable. Grasp the steel handle, just under the had, thumb against the flat rear face (curl tip over the top) and diagonal index finger up and over the head. This will give you some scraping and cutting ability- though a real knife would be infinetly better- for cutting and scraping.
 
I like Estwings, i have a Estwing Camp axe, good axe!
Someday i'm going to get a leather handled Estwing hatchet as well.
Before i bought my Estwing i was a "big knife is better than an axe" guy.
The Estwing was the first axe i owned with a good thin easily-sharpened cutting edge.
I think many people are under the impression that knives are better cutters than axes because a lot of the axes commonly found in hardware stores have an insanely thick cutting edge!
Thankfully the local stores around here are carrying Estwing and Fiskars/Gerbers now as well. Lately though even some of the cheap axes seem to be more thinned down and useful.
 
I have a stacked leather Estwing hatchet that I got as a kid with green stamps:). Anybody else remember those? Its still going strong 30+ years later.:thumbup:

BTW that reminds me of how the world has changed -- not a whole lot of 8-10 year olds these days have their own hatchet with their parents knowledge and permission.
 
tholiver said:
Someday i'm going to get a leather handled Estwing hatchet as well.
Before i bought my Estwing i was a "big knife is better than an axe" guy.
...
I think many people are under the impression that knives are better cutters than axes because a lot of the axes commonly found in hardware stores have an insanely thick cutting edge!
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i was actually at home depot and i figured i'd check the tools section for a wonder bar or vaughan. looked to the left and there were the stacked leather estwings for $33. most of them were not in very good condition, damage on the poly over the leather or ugly edges. i checked every one and picked the best overall. the sheath is really nice, too.
 
The first Estwing I had contact with was made before I was born [a LONG time ago] Been using them ever since...The old days ?? I recently had to prove it [they wouldn't believe me ] but I roofed a house with cedar shingles using a hatchet at the age of 12 !! I have various Estwings now but the most used is a neat splitting maul ,14" long which I use regularly in wood stove season....BTW is anyone familiar with their new Geo-Paleo [?] tool ? looks like a short mattock and I wonder if it could be used in a small garden etc. My full sized mattock has always been a usefull tool .
 
Ive got an old Estwing hatchet that I picked up at a flea market for 2$. The stacked leather was rotted and it was rusty. After removing the handle, cleaning on a wheel and convexing the edge I wrapped a handle out of 550 cord, making it a little thicker at the butt of the handle. --A Mora, my Estwing and a Leatherman and I,m ready for days in woods. Bladewise anyway!--Theyre great choppers! KV
 
XMP said:
I have a stacked leather Estwing hatchet that I got as a kid with green stamps:). Anybody else remember those? Its still going strong 30+ years later.:thumbup:

BTW that reminds me of how the world has changed -- not a whole lot of 8-10 year olds these days have their own hatchet with their parents knowledge and permission.
Click to expand...
Green Stamps! Holy Moley! I remember those! Seems like ages ago! (Probably because it was!:D) Wow, brings back memories....the world was much different back then....you could say whatever you pretty much wanted to. To sue somebody was a pretty rare thing. Anyways, I remember it was real easy to get carried away with those things.(the stamps)
 
troutfisher13111 said:
Not to hi-jack the thread, but what is a green stamp?
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"Green stamps" were stamps (there were other colors; brands, of stamps) that you used to receive from merchants when you made a retail purchase, like gasoline, etc.....all kinds of stuff. You stuck them inside of books designed for that purpose; when you filled up X amount of books, you redeemed them at designated locations for merchandise. All kinds of stuff, you name it; good stuff, too. I tell you what, it was a great idea. You used to buy things just to get the stamps! It was crazy.
 
OK, for all you "choppers", I've owned an Estwing hatchet for over 25 years. For me it's indespensible for dressing deer. Our deer camp relied on me having mine and of course I was called upon (being the senior member of camp) to do the heavy work with it. I decided to hand hone the bit to shaving sharp one year, and completely skinned, cut up, and deboned a large buck with it. Though the deboning would have been more comfortable with my knife, it did a very respectable job especially on the skinning part. I didn't cut through the hide at all. It still had a very sharp edge when I finished....a testimony to the quality of steel I thought.

I grew up in a family of carpenters, and used an Estwing leather stacked hammer until I was old enough to swing a 20 oz. one. They are truly fine pieces and I highly recommend them to anyone. I don't use mine for firewood, but there are plenty of other chores for it at camp.
 
jackpot??!?!?!!!!?!?!

you can talk steel...with your wife. dinner conversation, pillow talk, in the car...
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Yeah, if I need a hardness test. . . wait, that came out wrong.

Seriously, we do talk about steel, but how much can you talk about body centered cubic vs face centered cubic, grain boundaries, carbon precipitates, and TTT curves? I guess a bunch.

oh well, at least she's not an Aerospace Engineer like her sister. those chicks are nuts, with their carbon fiber unmanned drones and crap.

later
xdshooter
 
Speaking of green stamps, how about disney E tickets? LOL

I posted a week about Estwing vs GB, etc. Most recommended fiskars/geber, etc. for economy, but I went with the made in USA product and picked up a leather stacked one from HD. I haven't used it yet, but will likely touch up the edge a bit and try it this weekend. Glad to hear the positive feedback from others.
 
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