Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Anyone use a Gransfors Mini-hatchet #410?

This sub pounder hatchet looks like it has a great variety of uses. Wondering if anyone has one and what they think about it?

No but thanks for the heads up I’ll get one, be handy for elk and moose.

I have a Gransfor Bruks small splitting axe, 23" handle, 2.3 lb head.

Quality and just the right size for my purposes. Bought it at LL Bean 25% off sale.

How much smaller is that than the Wildlife Hatchet? I have a Wildlife Hatchet and really like the size, not too small - not too big. I would like a Small Forest Axe for the truck.

I got one of the 410's not too long ago. I've used it for fire prep in the woodstove.

It's a neat little tool. Very small/light. Only 12 oz on my scale.

Here's a couple pics that give some sense of scale.


With a USMC KA-BAR




With the Gerber Back-Paxe II

I owned one for a while . I used it alongside a GB Wildlife hatchet that weighs 9 ounces more and has 2" more handle length.

What I found is while the #410 Mini is beautfully crafted and cute as hell its simply not as usefull of a chopping tool as the Wildlife hatchet.

In my mind the ONLY advantage a small hatchet or axe has over a stout large bladed knife (Like say a Becker BK-7 @12 oz) is it's chopping potential.

The Mini simply lacks the mass to be a much- if any- better of a chopper than a good large bladed knife of the same weight.

For a truly effective small hatchet for serious trail use, the smallest I can go is the GB Wildlife hatchet. It pretty much spanks every other hatchet in the sub 1.5lb weight class .

I do think the Mini is beautifully made and unique .Every axe nut should own one to at least see for themselves if it works for them.

Damn. That is tiny.

(That's what she said)

I might need one of those but I don't know why.




Travis

These are hard to not like for a small hatchet

If anyone is interested in an alternative to the high priced Gransfors Bruk line, you might try the Hults Bruk. I think they are a little better quality than Wetterling,though I haven't had an increased price Wetterling since Gransfors bought them. Hults Bruk is the oldest manufacturer of axes in the world.

I just signed up for a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation membership and they sent me a Browning hatchet and knife for free...

RH-
Have you actually owned enough of both brands to really compare them?

I have and I would not use Hults Bruk in the same sentence as Granfors Bruk in terms of quality.
O
And that is based on owning SEVERAL Hults bruks Axes in the last few years and using comoaring them side by side to my GB stuff. Off centered blades.,poorly hafted handles -you name it..

And that was their supposedly handforged "Classic" line - all of which cost within 10% of what a Granfors does. And really , in terms of the whole "oldest forge" deal, Hults started as a GENERAL iron forge(chains and other iron goods). Hults has not been making axes much longer than Weterlings did (Since the mid 1800's)

Hults Bruk is owned by the huge Swedish tool conglomerate Hultafors, who bailed them.out of near banckruptcy about 20 years ago.. Hults Bruk in my opinion is the "Remington" of Swedish axe makers. Basically coasting on their name here in the US and selling overpriced mediocre stuff at high prices.

Having said all that there ARE Hults Bruk max aces being sold in.the US that ARE bargains , but they are not Hults Bruk marked. They are the Husqvarna brand axes that HB makes. The ones I have had through the shop have been very well put together and better fitted iverall than even Hults line at twice the cost. The heads are drop forged and dead steaight and well hafted. Apparently Husgvarna's QC people are doing their jobs.

The problem with the Husky line is there is only three models,-Hatchet, Carpenters and Forrest axe. The Hatchet and Carpenters axe are pigs - both are too heavy. The 26" Forest axe is a winner at about 2.75 lbs and $53 shipped from Amazon it is a bargain and when compared sude by side , puts the Hults Bruk branded stuff to shame.

Yes I have used both it and the #413 on game. Think I probably prefer the 413 a bit more for game. Both good hatchets though.

Maybe I've just been lucky then. Mine are hafted with properly aligned grain and I paid less than half what a similar sized Granfors would cost. I've not done any rockwell testing or bashing cinder blocks to test but they take and keep an edge quite well. I suppose it's sort of like the custom knife thing of diminishing returns. I just feel Granfors are ridiculously priced.

Yes,I own and have owned both Granfors and high end knives,and made and sold high end knives. Both are over hyped and over priced. I have a cheap China made hatchet that will chop right along with a Granfors of similar weight. Maybe China just got the temper right on that one sample.

The Granfors are great tools though,which I would certainly choose over some others if they didn't cost 5 times as much and only work 1/5 better. Just my opinion. It doesn't make you wrong.

I chose the 410 when I was looking for a light tool for driving tent stakes (ultralight nylon, not wall tent), and processing firewood for a small titanium stove.

I don't use the hatchet to fell trees. But I pair it with a Silky 210 folding saw, and a smaller fixed blade knife like a BK-11, or Mora Companion. Those three tools cover a lot of ground, and combined weight less than 2 lbs.

The saw cuts well on stuff up to 5 inches or so, and the hatchet is a great splitter, especially used in a batoning method, and great for making tinder curls or feathersticks..

The 410 is kind of a niche tool, and just a nice example of quality and craftsmanship that is enjoyable to use, within its limitations.

1 lb, 8.9 oz.

The Gransfors Bruk axes are Best Quality tools, but we knew that already :-) I use the small Forest Axe in my travels. Can appreciate where a #410 could be a useful addition to the kit.

Ordered one from Lehmans out of Ohio - still had a Veterans Day sale going on. Not too many retailers in the US. Plan on this as an addition to the elk pack trip coming up after XMAS.

I have one. Well balanced, holds an edge and touches up easily. I used it to take apart a cow elk a couple of seasons ago. Worked very well.
Otherwise, I use it around camp for splitting kindling and other day to day tasks.
When I am out hiking it resides in my day pack where it takes up no space.
I also have the Small Forest Axe. I find that for my uses, the two complement each other well, along with a Charlie May Slitter and Wyoming
Saw. Top notch tools IMHO.
I need to add a GB Felling Axe to the wood processing tool box!

The GB mini hatchet is one of the finest tools ever devised by man. Wicked sharp, light and handy, and the advertisement that sold me on it:
"It's small, light and perfectly balanced. It can sharpen a pencil, slice a tomato paper thin, and shave the print right off this page. It will frizz sticks for tinder; cut fine kindling and split small logs. It will fillet a fish, skin a moose, tenderize a steak, turn your pancakes, spread jam and peanut butter; pound tent stakes and chop vegetables. And it will ride as lightly on your hip as the average hunting knife."-Cliff Jacobson, Tactical Knives

I've used mine for all kinds of camp chores and even filleted halibut with it. Coupled with a light fixed blade or a Trapper makes a terrific combo.

I have used this little Wetterlings ax on a hundred camping trips over the past 25 years or so. The ax, the Sven saw and the Tim Olt knife have helped me make uncounted fires. The little ax was used two weeks ago to split the chest of a nice White Tail buck. It is every bit as good as any other brand out there. Takes and holds a great edge. you can carve wood with it, chop wood, split wood or bone.