View Full Version : Axes....
Right....i need to know.
As for knives i have a Lapp Puukko, WS micarta, and a Mora.
As for heavy chopping i have a Bill hook (which i puchased from axminster and is actually useless)
But what axe, gransfors are a bit pricey, and after having a bad Axe-ident (sorry) with a wooden one about four years ago when i was chopping and the head flew off and hit my foot, i would like a metal one-piece axe.
Any suggestions....i want to spend around £20, am i being stingy?
Cheers,
Jake
Wetterlings are a bit cheaper than GB, but probably more than your limit
Probably your best bet is ebay, e.g. I found this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=23 88379324&category=3186) very quickly, but dunno if its any good!
Given that an axe is so useful, yet potentially so dangerous, maybe it'd be better to save up and ask all your relatives to give you money instead of socks for your birthday :lol:
Any suggestions....i want to spend around £20, am i being stingy?
yes :-P
It is unlikely that the head of a Granny B or Wetterling would fly off unless the axe had been seriously abused. I'd get a descent one and avoid anything "cheap and cheerful".
yes :-P
good point, well made!
I suppose i am. I might just go for a wetterlings. It wont exactly break the bank. Its just i didnt want to abuse a good axe as i dont have *any* knowledge of them, except the can scar your foot! The reason i wanted a one-piece metal one was it is unlikely to come off in the middle of a swing.
But axes are different to knives, maybe i shouldnt apply the same logic. (learn with a cheap one).
Your right boaty, i do have a lot of socks.
Cheers,
Jake
Go for a GB mate! You get what you pay for - excellent quality!
stuart f
23-03-2004, 23:19
You,ll not go wrong with a Granny B,but if your unsure about using an axe try a folding saw,i always carry one aswell as my axe and knife whenever i,m out and about. CHEERS STUART F.
ChrisKavanaugh
23-03-2004, 23:28
You will find all metal axes have their own drawbacks. Most noticeable is the extreme hardness throughout the unit. Estwings, for example are drop forged. There is no differential tempering to absorb repeated impacts. This translates into potential chipping or shattering and increased vibration in use. Axemanship is no great mystery. Mors Kochanski's BUSHCRAFT and the Granfors booklet ( free on request) cover the basics. A tool like an axe tends to inspire Saxon visions of mowing down Norman knights, mushrooms, sucker branches etc. In other words, sometimes an axe should be laid aside for a saw. Safety over speed.
If you want to save a few bucks, the Wetterling is a good way to go. The make pretty good axes, imo. There's also a Russian line that looks interesting and might save ya some bucks. Can't find the link but maybe someone here knows.
Wood handles are so much more comfortable if you do a lot of chopping. Properly installed, you should not have to worry about the head coming off.
ChrisKavanaugh
24-03-2004, 04:48
www.sovietski.com stocks the russian axes. I asked Ragnar of www.ragweedforge.com about these some time ago. He said they were grossly overpriced at the time. They are decent axes, but nowhere near even Wetterlings in quality. If you find a source elsewhere, compare the cost vs the swede offerings.
Chris, after looking at them again, I have to agree. The wetterlings are a much better deal. I have one wetterling but I really need more. :) BTW, all the rumors are that GB is backlogged and the prices are going up. If you want a GB, now might be the time to get one.
I'll check out those sites. I actually remeber buying the axe that flew off and hit my foot, i bought it in a cheap hardware store for about £13 six years ago. Still got the scars today!
I'll probably go for a wetterlings, they seem trustworthy.
Cheers for the help guys (and gals?)
Jake
mojofilter
24-03-2004, 18:40
I have a Wilkinson Sword / Fiskars axe, and it is really very good. It is of similar construction to the gerber axes, fibreglass handle moulded round the bit. They are about £25 from B&Q and come in various sizes and come very sharp.
I would ideally rather have a GB SFA but I got this before I knew about them and dont see the point in getting a GB when this one performs so well.
We've reviewed the Wetterlings axe and they're good, not quite the same standard of finishing as the GB's and you may need to give the edge a touch up but they are worth the money and they will last.
I'll hunt out the review and get it up on the site :oops:
You will find all metal axes have their own drawbacks. Most noticeable is the extreme hardness throughout the unit. Estwings, for example are drop forged. There is no differential tempering to absorb repeated impacts. This translates into potential chipping or shattering and increased vibration in use. Axemanship is no great mystery.
Estwing has "solved" that problem in more recent years by leaving their one-piece axes so soft that they tend to roll and bend at the edge in very ordinary use. As a result, they are not well-regarded here.
I'll try to get to B&Q tomorrow.
I'd like to see that review tone :-D .
Cheers,
Jake
Whatever you get, proactive with it at home if possible before venturing out with it. Out in the wilds is the last place you want to have an axe-ident! :shock:
Adi dont worry, i know what bad axes spell. A week of limping.
Adi dont worry, i know what bad axes spell. A week of limping.
I thought a bad one meant a lifetime of limping ... if you're lucky! :shock:
We've reviewed the Wetterlings axe and they're good, not quite the same standard of finishing as the GB's and you may need to give the edge a touch up but they are worth the money and they will last.
I'll hunt out the review and get it up on the site :oops:
Good point Tone has made there.
We distribute for both GB and Wetterlings and the sales ratio is 3-1 in Wetterlings favour. But to pick up on Tone's point the finish of Wetterlings isn't that of GB.
I get on better with the Wetterlings because it fits better in the hand than the GB.
Out customers like the cost of the wetterlings and lets be grown up about it, RM ran with the GB so it is going to have a better name!
For me, if you can put an edge on an edge tool then the Wetterlings is the axe for you, but if you can't.......(then should be let lose with a blunt tool) than a GB is your axe...but I hope you can sharpen it!!......and that isn't brain surgery!
But then, the sales ratio of Billhooks is 6-1 of Wetterlings........your choice.
For me, if you can put an edge on an edge tool then the Wetterlings is the axe for you, but if you can't.......(then should be let lose with a blunt tool) than a GB is your axe...
And they can buy a new one each time it gets a bit blunt! :-D
Quality is quality adn not necessarily a single brand thing. The thing is, most of us get so likttle opportunity to try out different brands that we either feel that what we have is awful or the best. The best tool I've always found is the tool you have on you at the time you need it!
Andrew Middleton
25-03-2004, 10:40
With reference to the W/S or Fiskar axe: I too bought one prior to my GB SFA and they are impressive. I bought the smallest one available and it is extremely handy about the garden and takes a fantastic edge. Very light for carrying in a rucksack as well. However, I bought the SFA on the justification it was larger (like I needed a larger one!) and that I am an undenaible kit-freak (no point in trying to hide that fact from my wife any longer).
I always walk past them in B&Q and have noticed that they don't do them anymore. B&Q are selling their own brand in similar colours, but nowhere near the quality. If you want to grab one of Fiskars, then check out B&Q quickly before they sell current stock.
It was a good point Jack just made, about the kit Ray Mears uses.
OK Jack, i could go for a bill hook, but Ray doesnt use one, so i wont either (just kidding).
Best bet would probably be a wetterlings. I can put an edge on tools (i think)
Cheers,
Jake
MartiniDave
26-03-2004, 08:44
While I'd love a GB SFA I make do with a Spear and Jackson hatchet and a larger Bahco Sandvik axe. Both wear leather covers made from my old school satchel. Both were impulse buys seen in garden centres and bought for the correct grain direction of the handle. Half an hour sorting the edges and an hour to make the covers. Total cost about £35 the pair.
O.K., I know they aren't GB's but my wood pile doesn't.
Maybe we need a "frugal bushcrafter" section :-D
Dave
Maybe we need a "frugal bushcrafte" section :-D
Dave
Is there any other type of bushcrafter?! :?:
Maybe we need a "frugal bushcrafter" section :-D
Dave
OK - but people who's signature reads "My other car is a Land Rover too!" wouldn't be allowed in! :lol: :lol: :lol: :biggthump
MartiniDave
26-03-2004, 13:24
Adi,
That no fair! Besides, its the landies that keep me frugal!
Cheers
Dave
Adi,
That no fair! Besides, its the landies that keep me frugal!
Cheers
Dave
Talking about landies, I heard of one today with a Jaguar V12 engine in it from an XJ12 ... :shock: ... guy must be a pop star to be able to run that one!
MartiniDave
26-03-2004, 16:09
I hope he's done something to the brakes, especially if its series based! :shock:
Dave
I hope he's done something to the brakes, especially if its series based! :shock:
Dave
And hopefully the steering, suspension ... bigger fuel tank ...
No idea if he has though ... hope he has if I ever meet him coming the other way!
Sometimes I feel the same about the V8 Stage 1 ... are drum brakes really good enough ...
when did they put breaks on them ?,emergency stop? throw the anchor out the back, in fact forget the emergeny bit.
[quote="boaty"]Wetterlings are a bit cheaper than GB, but probably more than your limit
Probably your best bet is ebay, e.g. I found this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=23 88379324&category=3186) very quickly, but dunno if its any good!
[quote]
Look a lot like the ones I saw on Chesterfield market for £3.99 last week!
David
Look a lot like the ones I saw on Chesterfield market for £3.99 last week!
David
Ah, don't you just love ebayers? Will pay over the odds for some old tat just because they can do it from the comfort of their chair. Though sometimes you get a great bit of kit for next to nothing!
FJS90-91
08-04-2004, 08:16
I really prefer axes with wooden shaft so they can be reshafted easielly..
the naughty boy
13-04-2004, 11:58
i got a gransfors axe in the post today but according to the accompanying axe book it should have an axe guarantee card with it.
needless to say i didnt get one.
advice please guys :cry:
Send 'em an email. I would go to their website and email them from there.
My guarentee card was stapled into the very back of the book. If I hadn't actually gone through the entire book the chances are I wouldn't have found it.
the naughty boy
14-04-2004, 20:58
well i never thought i would say this but next time im in the woods im leaving my kukuri at home and bringing my gb axe with me instead.the kuks a great tool but the axe is more usefull.
maybe i should just get one of the littleuns,the ones that look like toys?
or else get a bigger rucksack and bring em all!!!
by the way i came across this while taking a detour away from the public paths in castlewellan forrest park
http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v135/thenaughtyboy/knife_037.jpg
someone had the same idea as me,wonder if they stayed overnight?