Axes sutable for small Scouts

[Freds Dad]

I am a Scout leader and part of the training is the use of Axe, saw and knife. The trouble is finding a suitable hand axe at a reasonable price that is small/light enough for a 10 to 14 year old boy or girl can use. the ones on general sale are too heavy and of poor quality and do not hold an edge very long. the boy Scouts of America do a small felling axe but they are too far from suffolk Uk to drive and get one. Any have any ideas? the grunfors bruks 'wildlife hatchet' is the sort of size but where you buy them from in the UK is is beyond me....and so is the price.

 

[Bob]

Just a thought but have you considered an enquiry to Scout HQ? They may know of a supplier who will give a discount to a Scout group, or may even consider purchasing a number for loan or as a bulk buy for resale onto the groups.

Failing that a direct personal approach to a supplier may gain a discount.

Good luck.

Bob

 

[Toddy]

Try looking for Hatchet in the search engines; joiners, roofers, etc., use these for roughing out. They're usually small, robust, cheap, can take a good edge.
I haven't tried these ones, but they're under a tenner, and if they're no good Screwfix'll do a refund.

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp;jsessionid=PJ5VKVPMQLA54CSTHZOSFFQ?id=61771&ts=15718

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[ilan]

Hi suggest a visit to the local boot fairs may unearth a few cheapies . To be honest i found those ckn or similar cheap ones good enough (with a wooden handle ) as with the best will in the world they get misused , sharpened on an electric gind stone etc left out over night . Also unless you are lucky many sites offer pallets or off cuts for fire wood (a logging maul breaks those up best )

 

[Longstrider]

You could do a lot worse than looking at the axes made by Fiskars and sold under various brand names such as Wilkinson Sword and Gerber. I picked one up for a reasonable price at one of the sheds (I think it was Homebase) in the gardening section. They have a plastic handle that is all but unbreakable, are quite light, take a good edge and seem to hold it pretty well too. They even do a mini, short handled version for the really small folk.

Both can be seen here...... http://www.spservices.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/79

... but they can be bought much cheaper from the gardening section of some of the big DIY places.

 

[QDanT]

I am a Scout leader and part of the training is the use of Axe, saw and knife. The trouble is finding a suitable hand axe at a reasonable price that is small/light enough for a 10 to 14 year old boy or girl can use. the ones on general sale are too heavy and of poor quality and do not hold an edge very long. the boy Scouts of America do a small felling axe but they are too far from suffolk Uk to drive and get one. Any have any ideas? the grunfors bruks 'wildlife hatchet' is the sort of size but where you buy them from in the UK is is beyond me....and so is the price.

£20 from http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/6/product-Vaughan-Hatchet-20445.htm
Superb small axe. cheers Danny

 

[QDanT]

get Alan Wood to make you a batch

 

[andyn]

When i was a wee scout 10 or so years ago we used small hatchets and double handed chopping axes without much problem. Mind you they were so blunt that you would be better off getting Chuck Norris to split it with his pinky finger.

 

[laurens ch]

wetterlings do axe called the small hunter it has a 1 1/4 lb head. Unfortunately I can't find a British site, which sells them. Don’t forget if your buying in bulk you may be able to negotiate a lower price. If you’re interested the axes cost 20 quid each (not including shipping).
I should add that some of wetterlings other axes apparently perform to the same level as those from gransfors.

 

[sargey]

hiya fred's dad, welcome aboard.

to be honest, nearly all new axes require a fair bit of work setting them up with even bevels &c to make them safe for use without glancing. it also helps if you can pick them out to ensure that you get the best possible head to handle alignment. that applies even to the famous gransfors bruks axes. all of which gets very boring and very laborious very quickly, especially if you're trying to get several useable hatchets.

by far and away the best solution as already suggested, is to get the fiskars plastic handled hatchets from homebase for seventeen quid. they're not the best balancing axes in the world, but they are ready to go out of the box. sometimes a very light touch up is wanted before starting, but that applies to most gransfors stuff too.

 

[sargey]

you could just keep rooting round car boot sales and so on for really cheap hatchets, but there will still be alot of work involved. and thats assuming that you have a source of replacement handles.

check out old jimbo's place for more info on setting up hatchets from scratch.

cheers, and.

 

[Jon Mawer]

Granfors axes are great, but I can appreciate that they might be a bit expensive try www.survivalschool.co.uk for them, or alternativley have a scour of ebay, you never know what you might pick up!

 

[Lurch]

Outdoorcode for Gransfors, EOG for Wetterlings.

...but I wouldn't set a bunch of little 'uns loose with either myself.

 

[leon-1]

I agree with sargey, the fiskars axe is a good one, I have one and it is pretty good in use. one of the other guys mentioned that they are nearly indestructible, I can't remeber who it was that posted that they had actually been trying to destroy one for years and in the end gave up.

 

[OldJimbo]

Kids and sharp tools can be a tough combination to supervise these days since it seems every year fewer kids have actually used tools at all. With axes I made up some with light (1 3/4lb) heads on long handles so that when they started they couldn't get hit.
The Fiskars are the cheapest axes that really work and and can be put into shape by hand. The hatchet (600 series) would be OK if there is a rule that it is only used two handed. This is pretty vital since the more obtuse bevel makes it prone to glancing - and there's no fix. With shorter tools, the instructor has to be particularly vigilant and rules have to be followed at all times by everyone. Teaching sharps is a tough job!

 

[hilltop]

Hi suggest a visit to the local boot fairs may unearth a few cheapies . To be honest i found those ckn or similar cheap ones good enough (with a wooden handle ) as with the best will in the world they get misused , sharpened on an electric gind stone etc left out over night . Also unless you are lucky many sites offer pallets or off cuts for fire wood (a logging maul breaks those up best )

found my estwing at a boot sale 6-7 years ago, been used in my job as a joiner and for T.G.O almost constantly, its a fab bit of kit, my 9 year old lad uses it under my watchfull eye with no problems,

 

[hilltop]

found my estwing at a boot sale 6-7 years ago, been used in my job as a joiner and for T.G.O almost constantly, its a fab bit of kit, my 9 year old lad uses it under my watchfull eye with no problems,

forgot to say, i paid £3.50 for it