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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 46
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 46 |
I think this year I am going to purchase a Gransfors ax I am leaning more towards the wildlife hatchet as opposed to the mini. I am not to concerned with ultralight hiking as most of my trips are overnight or two days at most. Also any recommendations on a aftermarket sheaths. I plan on buying two one for a gift I invested in a small forest axe.Fits in my pack and handles most large tasks well
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 315
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 315 |
I like the Small Forest axe,I find the mini to small to be of any real use Tim
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 32,243 Likes: 2
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 32,243 Likes: 2 |
For most people, a saw is a safer tool if cutting wood is your primary intended use. I have a couple Gransfors and Wetterlings and think that they are excellent. The Gransfors have more finish to them, but we're talking axes to be used, not hung on a wall and admired.
If you want to spend a lot less money for what looks like it would be a sturdy little axe, Council Tool's twenty-eight ounce Hudson Bay style specs out very close to Wetterlings' Small Hunting Axe, but it isn't hand-made and it isn't Swedish.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 4,474
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 4,474 |
If owning just one I'd say the small forest axe is it. Small enough to carry and will still do big work if you need it. I also have the Scandinavian forest axe and probably use it more around the house, but the small forest is the best do it all in my opinion. I know Dan Adair and EdT have a newer model that is like a hatchet with a metal handle guard. Don't know the name but it would be worth a look to.
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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 927
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 927 |
Get the Husqvarna. It's made by Hultafors and it's about a 90% GB but for HALF THE PRICE. Mine was perfectly helved and the bikini mask it came with is my preference. I've had 3 GB's and a Wetterlings but the Husky is my favorite. It took about 5 strokes on each side to get razor sharp. I'm going to get a couple more...
Last edited by alukban; 04/05/13.
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,228
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,228 |
If I could have only one GB ax, it would be the Small Forest ax, but beware, GB's are addicting. I have something like 6 or 7 with several more on the want list.
Ed T
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,343 Likes: 34
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,343 Likes: 34 |
Cold Steel Trail Hawk here. The head can't fly off of it. Now that's funny!
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,363 Likes: 15
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Apr 2006
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It seems like anymore, the wetterlings are so close in price to the Gransfors, you might as well get the Gransfors. I didn't know about the huskys, I'll have to look into them.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 30,303 Likes: 4
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 30,303 Likes: 4 |
Nice thread, engaging opinon's, etc. Hatchets are great tools, I've got several...
But who actually carries a hatchet backpacking?
“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,327
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,327 |
Nice thread, engaging opinon's, etc. Hatchets are great tools, I've got several...
But who actually carries a hatchet backpacking? I don't. Maybe for an overnighter but realistically, I have no real need for one. Unless it's an essential piece of gear I'm not carrying the extra weight. Of course, I'm still sorting out what is "essential". My GB is a nice little toy for me that is mostly used in the backyard around the firepit.
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!As far as gear goes.. The poorer (or cheaper) you are, the tougher you need to be. gpopecustomknives.com
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 859
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Oct 2004
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 315
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Sep 2008
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doubtful very far in a backpack but pretty likely in a canoe or kayak
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 429
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 429 |
I take my Gransfors Hunters axe everywhere when I am out and about on the snogo. Keep it in the boat during the summer months.
You can piddle with the puppies, or run with the wolves...
Better living through chemistry!
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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I carry a gransfors mini alot on day hunts. Between it and the neck knife I can do anything needed.
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,573 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,573 Likes: 1 |
For my outdoor use, a hatchet and a big knife are sexy, a saw is a must. Leaving them at home let's me justify carrying a Mystery Ranch pack (really been lovin' my G6000). I have the GB mini and the Hunter. Don PS I've found that my Trioxane tabs will overcome poorly dressed firewood, to make a nice campfire in almost any situation
Last edited by docdb; 04/06/13.
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 7,191
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 7,191 |
If owning just one I'd say the small forest axe is it. Small enough to carry and will still do big work if you need it. I also have the Scandinavian forest axe and probably use it more around the house, but the small forest is the best do it all in my opinion. I know Dan Adair and EdT have a newer model that is like a hatchet with a metal handle guard. Don't know the name but it would be worth a look to. Brad and Ed are spot on the money... The Small Forest is a bad ass all arounder, and I carry mine a lot. Especially when I bowhunt in The Burns, standing dead Lodgepole is about all you're going to find to make fire of any kind there and the SF's ability to split that better than a true hatchet is why it goes along. Plus, on longer trips I take it just for use around camp. You give me an axe, rope (or 550 cord), and whiskey and I can build anything you can imagine with an axe. It's hard to find much cataloged about the new "Outdoors Axe" that GB is making, but it's light years better than any hatchet on the market (including their other 3) The handle is just enough longer that it "can do some damage" as EdT puts it. Anyhow, digging through my archives on Photobucket, I found this pic of EdT's axes brother. From our Fireworks thread a while back. GB's are addictive. I'm up to 3 of them, and already eyeballing a splitting maul The Husky Hultafors Brux axes are a good value. I'll admit it. They too are forged and can be nice and sharp. They make 3. The Carpenters Axe (which sees tons of use with local loggers) The Multi Purpose Axe, which is pretty much a GB Scandanavian Forest axe and a great "truck axe" Then they have the Hatchet, which is a pound and a quarter and has a 15" handle, it's also the most ill handling blocky piece of [bleep] they catalog. The Husky axes are a good value, but they don't feel near as good in the hands as the GBs, not even close. The most handy in the group is the Carpenters axe, and I keep one in the truck. It's a pig at 2.2 Lbs, but you can do lots of cool [bleep] with it and a pile of driftwood when the flyfishing sucks.
I'm Irish...
Of course I know how to patch drywall
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 7,191
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 7,191 |
Nice thread, engaging opinon's, etc. Hatchets are great tools, I've got several...
But who actually carries a hatchet backpacking? I never go anywhere overnight without an axe along of some variety. But then I "grew up" different than you in the outdoors order of things. I started out living in wall tents, and packing [bleep] into Deckers on mules. I just made "essential" gear lighter and less bulky in my kit. I'm not a "geeked out" backpacker kind of guy. Plus, I have a woodstove in my tent
Last edited by DanAdair; 04/06/13.
I'm Irish...
Of course I know how to patch drywall
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 30,303 Likes: 4 |
Dan, only you could take a legitimate question and turn it into a pissing match.
“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 859
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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GB's are addictive. I'm up to 3 of them, and already eyeballing a splitting maul Don't just eyeball...buy without reservation. They are awesome!
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