Who has had problems with Hudson Bay heads coming loose?

Dunner

Dunner

Registered User
Joined
Jul 24, 2004
Messages
1,425
I like the looks of the Hudson Bay and for bushcraft/pack axe use it is a good shape and comes in the right weight range. They don't have a ton of eye/haft contact though and I have heard of them being more likely to come loose. What is your experience with them staying put or not with extensive use?
 
I've had one of the new Snow & Nealley's start to loosen up after just a short period of moderate use. I was limbing some downed trees. I have no doubt that the factory hafting wasn't up to par with what some of the guys here are doing. A well hung HB should be fine for moderate use, limbing, chopping, light splitting, etc.

If the primary use of an axe was going to be chopping and splitting then I'd choose an axe with a full length eye. An extra inch of choke-up isn't as important to me as an extra inch of eye.

For your stated purpose of a bushcraft/pack axe I think an HB is a great choice. It has a long history of proving it's worth in that sort of setting.

I think a boy's axe comes close to matching an HB's bushcrafting ability while holding up to chopping work a little better. The differences are subtle. The quality of the hang job is more important than the length of the eye.
 
Last edited:
That helps and it makes sense that it comes down to how well it is hung. It probably wouldn't have been such a popular pattern over time if people couldn't keep it on a stick. I agree that I will need to add a dedicated chopper to my arsenal. AND some good hanging/maintenance skills.

I just (finally) bought the CT Velvicut Hudson Bay axe. I haven't heard anything bad about them but I couldn't help second guessing. I might get the bigger one later but am interested in finding old axes to fix up. Inspired by this forum like many others.
 
Unfortunately, Hudson Bay axes are inherently problematic, because of the small contact area with the handle, coupled with the large bit, which leverages a lot of torque onto that small area. I love the looks and the wide cutting surface of a Hudson Bay, but I've moved away from them for serious axe work. If you're doing light camp work and it is hung really well, a Hudson Bay would probably be ok. Otherwise, the standard head patterns are a better bet.
 
Last edited:
Reuben (Bearthedog) recently experienced repeated issues with his Council (non-Velvicut) HB.
 
The in case of the Hudson Bay, it seems best to let this tool do the work. Putting too much power behind a swing, expecting it to perform like a full size axe, or expecting the same results from a larger axe would be a problem. The short handle limits the power, but you just can't take on the big jobs.
Besides, it's so short, you are safer to work on your knees, use smart techniques to split firewood and not power swings.
Ray Mears demonstrates some of these safer smarter techniques....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5W6r5U7yBE&feature=player_embedded
 
Maybe. But I think its the design, not the size. A good Swedish axe or something like a Jersey pattern in a smaller size would not suffer the same issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top