Schrade SCAXE 10 opinions?

[DrHenley]

Anyone have an opinion on the Schrade SCAXE 10 camp ax? Has good reviews on Amazon.

 

[A17]

Apparently, no one does or no one on here has bought one. If people do take interest, prepare for a whole bunch of reasons why it's not as good as a regular camp axe, or why Estwings would be better.

 

[DrHenley]

Well, I'll operate under the "no news is good news" theory then.

I ordered one yesterday and it's coming in today from Amazon. The sole purpose for this is light splitting for my daughter's fire pit. It's in her back yard, so it's not like she will be heating the house with it, it's strictly recreational. I will be supplying her oak from my back yard that is cut down to about 18" long, all straight grained, and should be easy to split to whatever final size she wants.

I was just going to get something like a $10 Coleman camp ax, but the reviews where horrible. So I basically looked for the cheapest, simplest hatchet that had good reviews on Amazon. I didn't like the reviews of anything under $20.

 

[DrHenley]

I got it in and tried it out. It is smaller and lighter than expected, but actually works well for the intended purpose. The primary bevel is quite acute and the blade is very sharp and thin behind the edge, so it bites deep despite the light weight.

 

[Square_peg]

That type of geometry usually makes an axe stick badly.

 

[DrHenley]

That type of geometry usually makes an axe stick badly.

Yes, in larger pieces of wood that's true. But this is for short pieces of pre-split wood that just need to be split to final size. If it goes in deep enough to get stuck then it's already done it's job and doesn't need to be pulled out and swung again. It can be simply twisted to finish the split.

 

[Fmont]

I think the reason many would hesitate to recommend something like this is it's an unknown. I looked it up and it's made of 3cr13 stainless steel, and who knows how consistent their heat treat is. But it's cheap Chinese stainless steel. Apparently it can be made to work, but to achieve what I would call acceptable results seems like a more involved heat treat process then you're going to find in a $22 hatchet. It's easy to say things like Estwing or Vaughan because the track record is known. But who knows, maybe it will work nicely for the intended demographic. Never know, for the money maybe it will work well for somebody who might be prone to accidentally leaving it outdoors and won't expect it to hold a keen edge.