Williams blade design bearded axe ?

[Logan5219]

Has anyone tried out this axe , cause i am thinking about getting it but can't seem to get any info on how it performs/handles.

 

[wickettedge]

I just ordered one! Anyone else?

 

[EngrSorenson]

Inspired by the axes of the Vikings, this bearded axe is equally at home in the wild or on the battlefield.

I think the pictures of the guy in his full tactical getup tells you who they’re really trying to appeal to. I see no benefits of this design over tongue-and-eye style traditional axes/hatchets, which can be had for far less money and be much more effective tools… and by the way… who exactly is proving the “battlefield” effectiveness of hatchets, tomahawks and axes these days?

I do see one issue though: unlike traditional axes which have an eye that makes a pronounced wedge shape, that axe has no wedge shape to protect those wooden handle slabs from getting beat up. It wouldn’t be an issue if the handle slabs didn’t extend so far up. They’re actually behind the cutting edge, which is a tremendous oversight. Once those break on you, you’ll have a heck of a time replacing them, compared to hafting a traditional axe.

 

[wickettedge]

EngrSorenson oh that's a good point. I ordered the one with micarta slabs, so they should be a little more stable, but still a good point on slab placement behind edge.

I have a blue ridge Winkler knife which I really enjoy so the axe appealed to me, but won't be my main splitter/chopper.

 

[EngrSorenson]

wickettedge micarta or G10 gives you a fighting chance- I think the mora axes would suffer similarly, but the synthetics they use take a beating. I think aesthetically it’s very handsome, but I’ll be interested in your evaluation. To me it looks more like a knife than an axe.

 

[DallasSTB]

Not sure if you guys are aware, but Winkler / Williams axes have a full tang, meaning that the blade metal extends through the handle to the butt. The handle slabs might move or crack under extreme use, but that 3/16" metal won't.

 

[EngrSorenson]

Not sure if you guys are aware, but Winkler / Williams axes have a full tang, meaning that the blade metal extends through the handle to the butt. The handle slabs might move or crack under extreme use, but that 3/16" metal won't.

Yeah, the full tang isn’t functional. No one will be swinging that thing holding on to the 3/16” tang once the scales are destroyed. Axes with wood hafts have been put through the ringer for generations. Though wood will be replaced from time to time, it’s not often for a moderately skilled user and can be done relatively easily.

Estwing makes legitimate axes with solid steel construction. You’ll notice that they have features that this bearded axe doesn have; features which make for a more useful tool. My only complaint with Estwing is that, by virtue of solid steel construction, the user works harder than they would for a traditional axe of equivalent weight. It’s be interesting to see a review of this axe against Estwing’s camp axe, wickettedge .

I suspect that “extreme use” for this axe will be the 5th time you cut too close to a knot and the raised knot scalps the handle slabs. Or maybe when you try splitting kindling from a log. Perhaps for some people “extreme use” will be when they find they are locking axes in a battlefield duel… but then I guess those Vikings were killing people just fine with wood-hafted axes…

They made a 5” knife with a 16” handle.

 

[mb>]

I’d almost be willing to fund sending EngrSorenson one of these just to see if you could intentionally destroy the handle. Lol cmon man. I’d bet you (something) that your cardio would be the first to go.

I had one of these and passed it along. They are well made, but I found the grip to be a bit thin for me. It’s an aesthetically appealing design. Enough so that while my head struggles to comprehend the pricing of full tang hawks/hatchets, I still like them.

Don’t be so quick to discount their effectiveness. It is hard to find testing videos. Who wants to wreck a $300-1000 tool? The best I could find in my searching were Ed Calderon‘s old posts here back when he was carrying and using Winkler hawks for breaching, lock breaking and people breaking.

 

[EngrSorenson]

This is mostly just for the fun of argument, so please don't take anything I say too seriously.

I’d almost be willing to fund sending EngrSorenson EngrSorenson one of these just to see if you could intentionally destroy the handle. Lol cmon man.

I've only seen wood-slabbed handles, though Wickettedge says he's got one with micarta coming. Micarta will probably last a long time, but how many impacts do you think those brass pins can stand before they bend or sheer? The wood handles aren't going to hold up well, and that's a guarantee- I've seen too much random, casual damage on my own hafts on real axes to believe otherwise. I'd feel differently if those scales were about 6" shorter.

ESEE knows what they're doing: the Gibson doesn't have scales anywhere near the head.

I had one of these and passed it along. They are well made, but I found the grip to be a bit thin for me.

no doubt they are well made- winkler does good work, from what I've seen.
one thing you can do on a typical axe that you can't to on this winkler is rehaft it.
I bought a new haft from House Handle company for ~$15 once I found that my flying fox factory handle was a little too thin.

It’s an aesthetically appealing design.

Agreed, and I think that's the only superlative thing about it. They supersized a knife and made it look like something a Viking would recognize. 10/10 for Instagram photos.

Don’t be so quick to discount their effectiveness. It is hard to find testing videos.

There's nothing about this design that makes it practically any different from a large knife designed for chopping.
As such I'd expect it to work like a knife, and not like an axe/hatchet.
I am very quick to discount their effectiveness as an axe tool because the only resemblance to a proper axe that I see is the side profile.

Now, maybe I'm under-informed and this axe is somehow a superior melee weapon: better at breaking things or killing people than a regular axe/hammer/whatever... but I'm not sure who's running these tests or how they're adjudicating them... or who really thinks they'll be hacking someone to death. Fleshy man parts won't hurt those scales very much. Maybe bone fragments or teeth could gouge up the wood, but at that point you'll probably be buying a new one anyway since the old one will be in an evidence locker.

 

[mb>]

This is mostly just for the fun of argument, so please don't take anything I say too seriously.

Now, maybe I'm under-informed …

Agreed!

I think an epoxied/pinned micarta handle could take more abuse than you could dish out.

It’s kind of apples to oranges comparing these full tang hawks to regular axes or hatchets. Different intended uses. Apparently the military had a need and appreciation for them. That’s why they enlisted the help of Mr Winkler. So it’s not just a fantasy item…until us old farts enter the picture! Haha. Kind of going down a
semi-off topic hole here so I’ll leave it at that.

Maybe we can start a general full-tang hawk thread. Like I said earlier, the pricing has baffled me. But I do find them interesting.

 

[mmarkh]

It looks like it could lop a limb or two off. Not the tree type.