I had a guy in AK tell me that Estwings are popular there because wood handles get brittle in extreme cold. I know that's true (as it is for metal also) to some degree, but is it a real issue?
I've always heard that really hard steel, like the face of a claw hammer or a file, could shatter in something like "Delta Junction/ -50F cold" but that estwing isn't made of anything that brittle.
