Looking at this stuff, I remember the Mythbusters where they tried to get a hammer to shatter. They couldn't get a new hammer head to shatter, so they tried an old one, and still couldn't. I forget the context, but I gather it would be very hard. I've dropped some very hard steel. I dropped a freshly heat treated knife blade on the cement floor more than once, and have never shattered or chipped one. An ax head would not be so hard. I can guarantee my Estwing ax is much softer. I sharpen that puppy with a 400 grit belt in a couple minutes. The metal doesn't put up as much fuss as sharpening a lawnmower blade does. It goes away fast. I put up the little video there from Ray Mears. I've got to say, I kind of made my own GB ax out of an old one I had in the garage. I ground about a pound off it, reshaped the head, and I stuck a 19" handle on it. I'm doing a bunch of brush clearing with it. I agree with Ray Mears that the shorter the ax, the more dangerous it is. I kneel down to use the little ax when I can or chop on the opposite side of the tree/log... I've had big felling axes and you have that distance from the big long handle. The little ax, you don't.
