Wanted your advice on a good axe

H

harrybobble

Joined
Oct 5, 2006
Messages
76
Hey all,
I am looking for a few items right now I havent found any threads on and was hoping for your opinions.

The first is a good forrest axe I can pack around with me when out camping and hiking. I am starting out again in my passion of the great outdoors and have recently moved to BC in Canada.

Anyways, the one axe people always mention is the Gränsfors Axes from Sweden. What do you think of these axes and is there any other you would recommend ?
 
Wetterlings LHA. You wont be disapointed. I'll try and post some pictures later when I get home.
 
gransfor buks from what I hear are the the end all be all....I don't own one however (a little pricey for me) I only own 2 axes and both of them are the fiskars 14 inch. variety I bought one, liked it so much I bought another....Folks can get real particular about superior edge geometry of one axe verses another,,,and for advanced applications they are right..I get out a fair deal and use my fiskars everytime and it gets me poles for the shelter and wood for the fire... thats what I need it to do and for 20 bucks....that's money well spent in my mind...but again it all depends on your level of expertise,individual taste etc.
 
Maybe a cold steel tomahawk? The trail hawk is cheap and there are a zillion ways to mod it. I just got a frontier hawk and am in the process of stripping the head and putting a good edge on it. I also found a sheath at a website called dixie gunworks that is made of leather and will fit the frontier hawk.
 
I just went through this and everyone was a big help. No one mentioned the Mora Erickson green hatchet.
 
bear I look at that one for a while almost bought the combo set when it was being sold w/ the m2k but couldn't find enough reviews unlike the fiskars.
 
For my money you can't beat the Iltis Felling Axes. Mine is the Ox-Head. They have been made in Germany for about a zillion years and are an absolute great ax and not quite as expensive as the others, not cheap though. Kevin had one on our second winter trip this year and I was so impressed and talked about it so much that my wife bought me one.
Just google Iltis and it comes right up. You won't be sorry.
Oldman/Marty
 
I have a Estwing ax and hatchet. If they have a down side, I have not found it in the 30 years that I have been using them, and I do mean using them. HARD
 
I like Snow and Neally. The "Our Best Axe" is nice. I carry the Pen Bay Kindling Axe in my pack.
 
Noshtero said:
I like Snow and Neally. The "Our Best Axe" is nice. I carry the Pen Bay Kindling Axe in my pack.
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I like the Snow & Neally axes but I found that you have to pick them out. I was in Kittery Trading Post before last Christmas and we went through about 7 before we found a good straight grained handle with good fittings. When you get a good one you get a realy good one.
Oldman/Marty Simon
 
I bought both a GB and a Wetterlings. They both arrived at about the same time and for the price difference, Wetterlings blows GB out of the water. Heck my Wetterlings out of the sheath was hair shaving sharp the GB wasn't. I know you don't need that in a hatchet, but I think that it just goes to show you that Wetterlings pays a little more attention to detail.
Also, I could have bought another 2 Wetterlings for the price of the GB alone!
 
Can't go far wrong with any of the recommendations in this thread...I am a BC guy, definite axe man, lots of experience felling and limbing, and I don't think I saw a single axe mentioned in here I wouldn't use.

My hiking/camping axe is a Wetterlings with a 50cm handle, believe it's called the Long Hunter. But Gransfors makes a similar one that it aslo good, as does Snow and Neally. I don't know whether Iltis makes one that size but my best full size axes have been Iltis Oxheads, love them to death. The Fiskars don't turn my personal crank but they are solid performers as well.

Main thing is to look over the handles if you can and get one with a good grain. The axe heads can generally be ground to perform well as long as they are made of a decent steel, which everything mentioned in this thread qualifies as!

So I would see if you can handle a couple and see what you like.

One slight Wetterlings/GB difference: the GB is a very thin grind. It bites deep but I find the Wetterlings is a better all-around profile if you need to both chop and split. I also find my Wetterlings to throw chips better from the cut, but that's pretty subjective and anecdotal!

Let us know what you decide on! And welcome to BC!
 
I have two GB's. The Wildlife hatchet is a phenomenal hatchet.

I've got others too. The only one of note is a custom by Cegga of the Nessmuk variety that is bad ass!
 
An interesting link by the USDA Forest Service on their "Ax Manual." http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fspubs/99232823/toc.htm

When choosing an axe, I consider what specifically I will be doing with this axe. This will determine the length and type of handle, and the design of the axe head. Does little good to have an axe with an inflated or deserved reputation if it is not the tool for the task at-hand. I have owned my own forest for many years, do a bunch of logging and tree maintenance, have most of the axe brands mentioned here (and then some), but I try to choose the correct axe for the job rather than looking at who made it (avoid cheap hardware store brands). I do no less when going into the tool barn looking for the right chainsaw with all of the different sizes and flavors (Stihl, Husqvarna, Echo).

Any axe brand that you choose will need to be conditioned before heading to the woods. If the axe doesn't come to you shaving sharp, no big deal. One needs to learn how to properly profile and sharpen the axe head anyway. Seems most of the axes I see in the woods or around camp these days are dull and not profiled or sharpened correctly.

Don't forget a compact Nicholson combo file when you purchase your axe. The file should have a double cut on one side, a single cut on the other. An 8" or 10" is fine for most axes. Have a combo stone; one side course, one side fine, to get rid of the burrs and marks left by the file. I keep my edges fairly polished and always very sharp. :)
 
I was just checking out some wetterlings axes at the store today, and the fit and finish is very far behind the GB. The heads aren't uniform, the grinds are all over the place, and they were rusty, guess they didnt get oiled.

If youre ordering online or through a catalog dont get a wetterlings, you'll want to hand pick a nice one.
 
Hit the garage sales and flea markets and look for a good used Kelly , Collins or a Plum Boy Scout axe. I like the old ones, the steel is better and I like the fit of the handle and the finish of the blade better than any of the new axes I have seen.

-Yooperman
 
sketchbag said:
I was just checking out some wetterlings axes at the store today, and the fit and finish is very far behind the GB. The heads aren't uniform, the grinds are all over the place, and they were rusty, guess they didnt get oiled.

If youre ordering online or through a catalog dont get a wetterlings, you'll want to hand pick a nice one.
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Generally thats a good idea with any axe, but some of us have no choice but to buy things mail order/online. And i've heard a few here say that they have occasionally encountered Gransfors Bruks axes with less than exemplary profiles/grinds.
I bought my Wetterlings online. the grind wasn't perfect but that was fixable with a file. Its a great axe and because of its much cheaper price i don't mind putting a little work into it. Now i would love a Gransfors but considering the price i would have been miffed if ordered one and it wasn't ground and profiled right.
Actually if you can live without a wooden handle the Fiskars axes are pretty consistent in quality and are even less expensive than the Wetterlings.
 
I favor big axes. If I can't carry it, I go for the saw.

I have the 35" 3.3 pound head Gransfors single bit axe, American style. It goes through seasoned 10" hemlock and fir faster than any saw. It's amazing. I love it.

I'm not a fan of smaller axes. More dangerous, less efficient, and yes easier to carry. The latter is not enough for me.
 
sketchbag said:
I was just checking out some wetterlings axes at the store today, and the fit and finish is very far behind the GB. The heads aren't uniform, the grinds are all over the place, and they were rusty, guess they didnt get oiled.

If youre ordering online or through a catalog dont get a wetterlings, you'll want to hand pick a nice one.
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Generally I have found that to be true myself...not just with Wetterlings. I will only purchase an axe through the mail if the seller on the other end of the phone knows his tools. Most don't, so you need to ask. A friend of mine was a Gransfors dealer as part of his store. He and I would often sort through his new shipments looking for the better handle and head combinations. Always he had to send three or four axes back (shipments of 20 or more) to his source because of poor workmanship (these numbers are not too bad). Some dealers would have just sold these axes to the public and probably no one would have known the difference.
 
tholiver said:
Generally thats a good idea with any axe, but some of us have no choice but to buy things mail order/online. And i've heard a few here say that they have occasionally encountered Gransfors Bruks axes with less than exemplary profiles/grinds.
I bought my Wetterlings online. the grind wasn't perfect but that was fixable with a file. Its a great axe and because of its much cheaper price i don't mind putting a little work into it. Now i would love a Gransfors but considering the price i would have been miffed if ordered one and it wasn't ground and profiled right.
Actually if you can live without a wooden handle the Fiskars axes are pretty consistent in quality and are even less expensive than the Wetterlings.
Click to expand...

That was me who also got the sloppy GB axe. For those who have to mail order, and cant afford a GB I'd definitely recommend getting something thats drop forged, like an Oxhead Itis. There's just too much variation in the wetterlings to go by the luck of the draw, for me at least. Even the nicest ones I saw could use some modifying.
 
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