Ray Mears goes to GRANFORS BRUK

You can buy them in Germany too, the only special thing on Rays one is the "cool" logo an that it lacks the extra leatherbag. :D
 
Doesn't do much for me. It's longer than the hatchet but lighter. Doesn't make sense to me. I know you wanna pack light but an axe needs weight to work well. So for me it's a balancing act of how little weight I can carry but still getting the most power out of my cutting tool. I personally think the wildlife would be still better. And you can always reprofile it if you need a different edge makeup. That being said I pack a GB Scandi. It's not that heavy and can be used one handed like a hatchet if need be. Plus it's got enough weight in the head to deliver some serious cuts.
 
Slightly confusing.

So if my math is correct the hatchet would be like 15 inches long and slightly less than 20 oz???

That seems like a really nice size to weight combo, but not sure how they are achieving that considering that it's longer and the head appears fatter than the Wildlife.
 
I actually have one since last summer.

I got the RM one because despite the infamous logo they sell it actually significantly cheaper than anywhere else I'm aware of, and as already said that's still pretty cheap compared to what most of us are ready to pay for a knife.

Figures are correct. Sort of Tomahawk.

This is actually what I had been asking for since a long time ago: light axe with small handle.

I've used it quite a lot and it is quite good. Of course not near the power of a full size axe or even hatchet but when it comes to chopping I'd still choose it other.
Very sharp
Very capable of chopping
The main problem I have is the cutting edge is small, which means chips are small.
Splitting is ok although profile is a bit thick.
I've stopped using it because the head has somewhat loosened and haven't have time to take care of it (fixing it is a bit more complicated than on you're average axe because of the steel collar and because it is so small.
The head loosening might be somewhat inherent to design thanks to steel collar.
The steel collar is useful mostly when splitting.

That said overall still not a bad idea.
 
Ravaillac,

So how is the light weight achieved??

Is the handle thinner and the bit shorter than like a Wildlife hatchet??

I have a Ft Meigs Nessmuk that Ragnar sold. It is 14" but only 15oz because the handle is thin and the bits are 2 7/8.

For the light weight it is a great chopper.

hatchetshc7.jpg
 
Ed Ricketts said:
What do you guys think of council tools axes/hatchets in general?
Click to expand...

There was a thread on this over in the Axe & Hawk forum. I noted that one of the cable tv channels ran a show featuring axe manufacturing at Council. I was pretty impressed with the production process, their quality control, and their testing. The main downside reported is that you can't get very confidence-inspiring hardness figures out of them. When a couple members called about overall head hardness and, more specifically, edge hardness, they didn't get very specific or encouraging responses from Council. You can probably find notes on the calls in the Axe forum.

DancesWithKnives
 
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The program that included a segment on Council was on History Channel, Modern Marvels, entitled "Axes". First aired 5/30/2008. Council appears about 6 minutes into the show. Been in business since 1886.

DancesWithKnives
 
I honestly wouldn't get hung up on the whole Rockwell thing with Council. I recall a fellow in the axe subforum got a Council axe to try out and he was more than impressed with it. If I ever get the urge to buy a new axe (that isn't an antique) I'll probably grab one from them. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I honestly wouldn't get hung up on the whole Rockwell thing with Council. I recall a fellow in the axe subforum got a Council axe to try out and he was more than impressed with it. If I ever get the urge to buy a new axe (that isn't an antique) I'll probably grab one from them. :)
Click to expand...

Yes, probably nobody outside of a knife/axe forum worries about that. On the Modern Marvels program, my recollection is that a power hammer operator forges the heads from steel heated to over 2,000 degrees. They didn't say what kind of steel. Later, just the bit portion of the head is heated to a little above 1,500 degrees and placed in a water-based quench to harden it.

I was impressed with the pull test shown on the head. Council requires the head to withstand 1,000 lbs of pulling force without coming off the haft. It took over 6,000 lbs of force to pull the head off the particular axe tested.

I have never had a problem with any of my Gransfors heads loosening so I hope that the metal collar on the subject axe does not lead to widespread problems like Ravaillac experienced. I would like to give it a try. I think a lot of straight-handle advocates will like the way it feels.

DancesWithKnives
 
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