24hourcampfire.com
24hourcampfire.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 342
S
sns2 Online Content OP
Campfire Member
OP Online Content
Campfire Member
S
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 342
Hey fellas. Gonna get me a quality axe. Small forest size. Have been trying to decide between Hultasfor or Gransfors Bruk. However, I am certainly open to a premium axe made in the USA.

Axe will be in my truck on hunting and fishing trips primarily as a fire starter if I’m being brutally honest. I just don’t want anymore disposable stuff. Only buying stuff my son will use after I croak.

Any suggestions? I’m all ears.

BP-B2

Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 18,925
Campfire Ranger
Online Content
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 18,925
There’s a guy that posts on IG.

“Officialcoucildealer” or something similar.

Sells council axes.

Different lines. From everyday hard use axes to the nicer, higher end line.


Dave

�The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.� Lou Holtz



Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 8,963
F
Campfire Outfitter
Online Content
Campfire Outfitter
F
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 8,963
Originally Posted by sns2
Hey fellas. Gonna get me a quality axe. Small forest size. Have been trying to decide between Hultasfor or Gransfors Bruk. However, I am certainly open to a premium axe made in the USA.

Axe will be in my truck on hunting and fishing trips primarily as a fire starter if I’m being brutally honest. I just don’t want anymore disposable stuff. Only buying stuff my son will use after I croak.

Any suggestions? I’m all ears.
Buy a vintage used axe on eBay, select a weight and pattern that meets your needs best, watch a couple YouTube vids on installing a handle properly and you will have an axe that you cannot buy from modern production, made with the finest steel from a time when men made their daily bread with an axe. And still come out cheaper but better. You can still get Kelly Works, Keen Kutters and so on pretty cheap...with a quality that will never be equaled. Don't get an axe that is too far ground down from original size...the temper changes as you move in to the eye. Very old axes were quite hard on the business edge...loggers commonly carried a round stone to touch them up...a file would just slide over them.


Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 4,997
C
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
C
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 4,997
Originally Posted by sns2
Hey fellas. Gonna get me a quality axe. Small forest size. Have been trying to decide between Hultasfor or Gransfors Bruk. However, I am certainly open to a premium axe made in the USA.

Axe will be in my truck on hunting and fishing trips primarily as a fire starter if I’m being brutally honest. I just don’t want anymore disposable stuff. Only buying stuff my son will use after I croak.

Any suggestions? I’m all ears.

https://www.bnctools.com/pages/axe-making-in-maine

Don't know anything more than what is on the website but might be of interest to you.

Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 4,225
L
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
L
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 4,225
Gransfors gets a lot of work done here.

IC B2

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,640
jpb Offline
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,640
Originally Posted by sns2
Hey fellas. Gonna get me a quality axe. Small forest size. Have been trying to decide between Hultasfor or Gransfors Bruk. However, I am certainly open to a premium axe made in the USA.

Axe will be in my truck on hunting and fishing trips primarily as a fire starter if I’m being brutally honest. I just don’t want anymore disposable stuff. Only buying stuff my son will use after I croak.

Any suggestions? I’m all ears.
Hi

I too have grown to prefer fewer, but higher, quality goods over the years - just a bit more satisfying! grin

I've toured the Gränfors bruks factory here in Sweden, and met nothing but friendly people who seemed very passionate about what they were doing!

The company offers courses (in Swedish and English) in basic forging, forging axes, forging knives, timber framing, log building, etc - if I hadn't been just passing through the area, I would have signed up right then and there!

Every ax/hatchet head is stamped with the initials of the smith who made it and if one ever comes back cracked, they get razzed by all the other smiths. I saw the last returned hatchet still hanging on the "Vägg av skam" (Wall of Shame), with the blacksmith maker being so humiliated until another axe or hatchet was returned and took its place. smile

Husqvarna and Hultafors hatchets & axes are very good too, but after seeing MANY of both in the local hardware stores here (I'm in Sweden), I've become rather certain that the quality control regarding grain flow is more strict at Granfors Bruks so I imagine that they break less.

I like my Gränsfors Hunters Axe. I have used the rounded flay poll to skin moose and it works. The rings machined in the handle (look closely below) really do improve grip with bloody hands, but they are not hard to clean like checkering is.

[Linked Image from gransforsbruk.com]

When a fellow hunter forgot the SawsAll, I have also used the blade of my Hunters' Axe to chop down the spine lengthwise to split a bull moose carcass. That is several FEET of bone ! However, the axe was still quite sharp at the end. To be honest, it was not shaving sharp any more, but it was still sharper than a north American axe would normally be. The edge on a Gränfors Bruks axe is quite hardened, and I've been assured by friends who have Hultafors and Husqvarna axes that the cutting edges of both brands are also harder than "hackspett läppar" (Woodpecker Lips) laugh

Every time I use my Hunters Axe, I think of the elderly friend who gave it to me. I enjoy killing a moose with one of my handloads more than store bought ammunition. I also find it satisfying that I met the blacksmith who made my axe head (there are only about fifteen of the smiths over the last several decades because the company has nearly zero employee turnover, apparently Gränfors Bruks AB is a nice place to work).

I seem to be getting old and sentimental... smile

Cheers from Sweden,
John

Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 32,029
Campfire 'Bwana
Online Content
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 32,029
I have a Gransfors Bruk small forest axe and think that it is the best axe that I've yet to own. Before I got the GB, I used a Norlund Hudson Bay axe and still like it, but it doesn't have the balance of the GB. I also have a Wetterlings hunter's hatchet, but find it to be too small to be of much use.

Buy the GB in the style that works best for you and don't look back.

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 11,609
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 11,609
I have a GB Wildlife Hatchet and Small Forest Axe. I am certainly no expert but I don't know what would make an axe better than one of those. Especially for my casual uses.


Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 85,964
Campfire Oracle
Offline
Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 85,964
I used to think that an axe is an axe, until I borrowed a pard’s (bearhuntr) small forest axe.

The weight, balance, length, blade shape and profile, are unmatched. There are a number of second-place axes, but only one first place.


If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli

American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 13,747
J
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
J
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 13,747
Originally Posted by ironbender
.....The weight, balance, length, blade shape and profile, are unmatched. There are a number of second-place axes, but only one first place.

I have very little experience with axes. What you mentioned on the fit/feel has been something I've thought a lot about. Kinda like rifle stocks....especially if, like me, someone is inexperienced.....I wouldn't know until I'd spent some time using one.

IC B3

Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 21,125
J
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
J
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 21,125
I’ve got hults and granfors, both are great, hults gets the nod for finish and a little cheaper. You won’t be sorry with either. 👊🏻


Ping pong balls for the win.
Once you've wrestled everything else in life is easy. Dan Gable
I keep my circle small, I’d rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies.

Ain’t easy havin pals.
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 32,129
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 32,129
Gränfors Bruks

I bought my first two in Uppsala in 1999. They're works of art.


Originally Posted by 16penny
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 19,158
B
Campfire Ranger
Online Content
Campfire Ranger
B
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 19,158
I have a Gransfors Bruks and a Wetterlings. The Gransfors is the better of the two in a couple ways. First, the handle is smoother and better fit/finished. It doesn't shrink in the winter causing the head to be loose. The Wetterlings does. Second, the Gransfors head is of thinner profile and out cuts the Wetterlings by a considerable margin. The combination of the thin profile and hardness causes the Gransfors edge to chip pretty easily on bone however. To be perfectly honest, I also have an Estwing that out cuts the Wetterlings and cuts damn close to as well as the Gransfors for a fraction of the price of either. If looks, function and heirloom quality is paramount, get the Gransfors. If cutting/functionality is the main concern, get the Estwing and save a bunch. Hell, get two Estwings and still save.

Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 930
D
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
D
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 930
Different head/shapes for different jobs/wood.


What if Jessie's girl is Stacy's mom, and her phone number is 867-5309
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 930
D
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
D
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 930
If you're using it mostly for splitting wood etc type chores, I want an axe with cheeks, not a thin Swedish head.


What if Jessie's girl is Stacy's mom, and her phone number is 867-5309
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 22,844
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 22,844
yep.

Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 5,213
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 5,213
Originally Posted by sns2
Hey fellas. Gonna get me a quality axe. Small forest size. Have been trying to decide between Hultasfor or Gransfors Bruk. However, I am certainly open to a premium axe made in the USA.

Axe will be in my truck on hunting and fishing trips primarily as a fire starter if I’m being brutally honest. I just don’t want anymore disposable stuff. Only buying stuff my son will use after I croak.

Any suggestions? I’m all ears.

I have a Gransfor Bruks with all original literature, sheath, and shipping box. I've used it a couple times but it's all but new. Send me a PM if you want it.


The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. Albert Einstein
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,638
P
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
P
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,638
Originally Posted by Dave_Spn
If you're using it mostly for splitting wood etc type chores, I want an axe with cheeks, not a thin Swedish head.

Splitting isn’t what we are talking about here. The Swedes make splitters as well.

Last edited by pathfinder76; 10/30/22.
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 930
D
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
D
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 930
Originally Posted by pathfinder76
Originally Posted by Dave_Spn
If you're using it mostly for splitting wood etc type chores, I want an axe with cheeks, not a thin Swedish head.

Splitting isn’t what we are talking about here. The Swedes make splitters as well.

What are we discussing ace, since you didn't start the thread.


What if Jessie's girl is Stacy's mom, and her phone number is 867-5309
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,638
P
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
P
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,638
Well Dave, not splitting.

Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  RickBin 

Link Copied to Clipboard
YB23

Who's Online Now
683 members (12344mag, 160user, 12308300, 1234, 163bc, 06hunter59, 69 invisible), 2,708 guests, and 1,256 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums81
Topics1,187,617
Posts18,398,496
Members73,817
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023


 







Fish & Game Departments | Solunar Tables | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA
Hunting | Fishing | Camping | Backpacking | Reloading | Campfire Forums | Gear Shop
Copyright © 2000-2024 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.3.33 Page Time: 0.115s Queries: 15 (0.002s) Memory: 0.8993 MB (Peak: 1.0546 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 14:42:54 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS