Gransfors Bruks Wildlife Hatchet #415
Last night I was thinking about writing a how to build a fire article for the blog. Yes, I know I’m obsessed. So, I was thinking of going somewhere close like Babler or Castlewood to take photographs. Anyway, to build a proper fire you sort of need an axe. It’s real easy the way we usually do it with some sort of fire starter or fluid because you don’t need tiny little kindling. Anyway, I was looking around at the Alpine Shop, Lowes and Sports Authority for a nice axe. They didn’t have any.
Snow & Nealley Penobscot Bay Kindling Axe
I pulled out the trusty iPhone and searched for “best camp ax” and found a few. They were in order of perceived coolness and cost: Gransfors Bruks, Wetterlings and Snow & Neally. The Gransfors are about $120 and the others between $75-50. Seems sort of ridiculous when you can get a crappy camp chopper from Home Depot for 20 bucks. But here’s the rub. These are not crappy camp choppers, rather, they are hand made tools designed to hew lumber and frighten trees.
Wetterlings Hunting Axe
The finer axes from Gransfors, Snow & Nealley and Wetterlings are hand forged by those crazy craftsmen types that wear plaid shirts and leather aprons in their catalog photos. According to axe lore a hand forged axe head is far superior to anything made by a drop forge or other modern method. Browsing the internet confirms this theory. This makes me wonder why I’d ever wield such an pitiful hunk of steel instead of severing trees like a samurai with a real axe.
I read an entire online book entitled An Ax to Grind: A Practical Ax Manual and started searching eBay for the axes it mentioned. It seems you can get some pretty good old hand axes or hatchets from Norlund, Kelly Edge Tools, Plumb and others for about $19.99. I didn’t see anything on eBay that came close to being as cool as the super axes I mentioned.
So, now I feel like collecting old or unique axe heads. Hopefully, this will be a passing fancy.
As soon as I get my hands on a proper ax or sharpen the one I have I’ll write up a proper fire building post.
If I get a really wild hair I’ll write a review of the Wetterlings, Gransfors Bruk and Snow & Nealley axes so you all can decide which is the best chop for the buck.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Does this mean you will be returning my axe anytime soon?
Most likely. It’s a little large for my purposes, I’m looking for something smaller.
hi, good day! We are shandong pangu tools co., ltd, we mainly produce ase, axe with handle, hammer, crow bar, wrecking bar, pick, rake and etc. If you have any needs, please tell me, thanks!
Just about any hatchet made out of “tool steel” as opposed to “stainless steel” really is the way to go. While stainless is a little more rust resistant, tool steel is easier to sharpen and holds an edge better. There are “cheapy” tool steel versions out there. One can usually be found at just about any of your basic tool outlet type places. Just make sure you ask someone or read the labels carefully.
Try, if possible to stay away from those fancy “OutdoorExpoTrendyBlahBlah” type places. You WILL pay WAY too much for a piece of crap.
Personally, I like to scrounge antique type stores. You’d be surprised at how many vintage type Camping implements you run into. Cutting or otherwise.
A good hatchet is an absolute must as part of any guy’s “Manley Collection”. But when you go what I call “real” camping, you’re gonna wish you had a good one.
Also, try and stick with “Made In The USA” if possible. Or Sweden/Norway-etc. (That whole “Viking” thing and whatnot. They still make kickass hatchets!)