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Thread: Ok folks, help me chose a new small camp axe/large hatchet.

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by cornstalker View Post
    However... If I was looking for a one-and-done tool, I would buy this. It is indeed heirloom quality, but it's all about utility. Capable of all chores from carving to felling within reason.

    https://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/pro...ll-forest-axe/

    This is based on research, but not first-hand experience. Seems to be a tool of choice for many wildland firefighters and bushcrafters.
    I had an Small Forest Axe, and I found it to be a very awkward length. Too long for easy one hand tasks and too short to properly use two handed. I much prefer either a hatchet with a 16-18" handle or going to a Boy's/Multipurpose/Scandinavian Forest Axe with a 25-30" handle.

  2. #22
    Site Supporter Totem Polar's Avatar
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    This is a killer thread.

    I’m happy to report that @Cookie Monster, who works in the forests, has hooked me up beyond all belief. Thanks to his incredible generosity, I’m GTG with enough Ochsenkopf traditional German enginerring to split a lifetime of wood.


  3. #23
    Site Supporter Maple Syrup Actual's Avatar
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    I have been using a wetterlings large hunter for many years; I tuned it a bit when I first got it but it is perfect for that kind of work.

    Although depending on the type of wood, it can be useful to have a small splitting maul. They're generally cheap and ugly but if you have really knotty wood to deal with, they're a much faster way to split stuff. I think my little maul has a 4lb head on a short hatchet handle (yes, bit/hung/helve... nobody talks like that) and for smashing up arbutus it's very useful.

    But for easy-splitting softwoods, I like about a 19" handle and a pound or little more head with a bit of belly in the leading edge.

    We used to use a Hudson's Bay double-bit with a 24" handle for this when I was young...it was handy to have a splitting edge and a cutting edge just a flick of the wrist away. But they'd be expensive nowadays, I bet.

    Actually, for an all-around handy axe, a Hudson's Bay standard is about perfect. They're almost a 3/4 scale axe with a bit more length to the handle. Definitely a two-hander, though. Although sometimes that's a good thing: my grandfather developed the habit of cutting off his left thumb once every decade or so with a very sharp hatchet.
    This is a thread where I built a boat I designed and which I very occasionally update with accounts of using it, which is really fun as long as I'm not driving over logs and blowing up the outboard.
    https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....ilding-a-skiff

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Totem Polar View Post
    This is a killer thread.

    I’m happy to report that @Cookie Monster, who works in the forests, has hooked me up beyond all belief. Thanks to his incredible generosity, I’m GTG with enough Ochsenkopf traditional German enginerring to split a lifetime of wood.

    Gonna need an in depth review of the Ox Head!! Oh, and pics, damn it!

  5. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by joshs View Post
    I had an Small Forest Axe, and I found it to be a very awkward length. Too long for easy one hand tasks and too short to properly use two handed. I much prefer either a hatchet with a 16-18" handle or going to a Boy's/Multipurpose/Scandinavian Forest Axe with a 25-30" handle.

    Good input, thanks!

  6. #26
    Site Supporter Totem Polar's Avatar
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    @Maple Syrup Actual
    I thought of you while dealing with this knot the other evening, due to a past comment about everyday ECQC Joes acting as little knots in society's soft wood. Or something.
    Attached Images Attached Images  
    Last edited by Totem Polar; 08-06-2020 at 11:38 AM.

  7. #27
    I bought a Hults Bruk Salen several years ago and I love it. We heat with wood primarily so I use it for kindling. I also use it for smaller trees on the property where I don't want to bust out the chainsaw.

    The head is 4oz lighter than the Aneby but it's $50 cheaper. It also doesn't have the rounded skinning poll of the Aneyby, but I've never used a axe or hatchet to skin game and don't plan to any time soon.
    I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.

  8. #28
    Site Supporter Totem Polar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cornstalker View Post
    Gonna need an in depth review of the Ox Head!! Oh, and pics, damn it!
    Here’s one pic:
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  9. #29
    Site Supporter Maple Syrup Actual's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Totem Polar View Post
    This is a killer thread.

    I’m happy to report that @Cookie Monster, who works in the forests, has hooked me up beyond all belief. Thanks to his incredible generosity, I’m GTG with enough Ochsenkopf traditional German enginerring to split a lifetime of wood.

    Oh that's nice stuff. Love the oxhead felling axes.
    This is a thread where I built a boat I designed and which I very occasionally update with accounts of using it, which is really fun as long as I'm not driving over logs and blowing up the outboard.
    https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....ilding-a-skiff

  10. #30
    Site Supporter Maple Syrup Actual's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Totem Polar View Post
    @Maple Syrup Actual
    I thought of you while dealing with this knot the other evening, due to a past comment about everyday ECQC Joes acting as little knots in society's soft wood. Or something.
    Oh, I forgot about that metaphor - I will have to recycle that. I am back to working on fiction, actually, and in need of all the imagery I can get.
    This is a thread where I built a boat I designed and which I very occasionally update with accounts of using it, which is really fun as long as I'm not driving over logs and blowing up the outboard.
    https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....ilding-a-skiff

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