JEEP
09-01-2011, 09:17 PM
As told here (http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?464-One-of-those-weekends) my fiancee surprised me with a new axe this weekend; a Hultafors large hatchet (H 099 SV) (http://www.hultafors.co.uk/www/live/gemensam/iframe.aspx?TreeID=23980).
I have been eying this particular axe for quite a while. It is a classic American style axe, with a slightly heavier head than the Scandinavian style normally favoured by the bushcrafting community.
I grew up on a farm with wood-fired heating. From when I was a kid, till last year, when my parents got a stoker fired boiler, I have been harvesting and chopping wood in my parent's forest every autumn. I have chopped countless of square meters of wood and used several diffrent kinds and brands of axes over the years.
The best axe I have ever used is a no name American style large felling axe, probably of Scandinavian origin, definitely hand forged and around a hundred years old. It has been im my family for years and was given to me by my father. I still have it, awaiting that I get around to have i re-handeled.
The only axes I have ever handeled that came just slightly close to this axe in both shape, handling and quality are Hultafors' American style axes.
I realize that the bushcrafting community as a whole favour the Scandinavian style axe, due to it's ability to be both a "splitter/feller" and a "carver", while the American style axe being more solely a "splitte/feller", but a much more effective splitter than the Scandinavian.
When I am out and about I carry either my Strömeng leuku or Øyo viking axe (a classic Scandinavian style axe) for carving, both perfectly adapted for that task and for chopping kindling aswell. But, when it comes to splitting larger logs; I'll take the American style axe any day.
As I know that someone is going to ask; why not a Granfors (aside from the fact that I was after an American style axe); there are three "big" Swedish axe brands; Granfors (http://www.gransfors.com/htm_eng/index.html), Hultafors (http://www.hultafors.co.uk) and Wetterlings (http://www.wetterlings.com/). Years ago, before Granfors was "discovered" by Ray Mears and the bushcrafting community, the three brands were similarily priced and regarded as being of equal quality.
I have handled and used axes from both Granfors and Hultafors (I don't think I have ever used a Wetterlings actually) - and aside from the fact that Granfors axes comes with much nicer leather edge protectors than Hultafors', I am having a hard time seeing exactly what justifies the price difference between the two brands. I realize though that such statements may be blasphemy to some :)
I have been eying this particular axe for quite a while. It is a classic American style axe, with a slightly heavier head than the Scandinavian style normally favoured by the bushcrafting community.
I grew up on a farm with wood-fired heating. From when I was a kid, till last year, when my parents got a stoker fired boiler, I have been harvesting and chopping wood in my parent's forest every autumn. I have chopped countless of square meters of wood and used several diffrent kinds and brands of axes over the years.
The best axe I have ever used is a no name American style large felling axe, probably of Scandinavian origin, definitely hand forged and around a hundred years old. It has been im my family for years and was given to me by my father. I still have it, awaiting that I get around to have i re-handeled.
The only axes I have ever handeled that came just slightly close to this axe in both shape, handling and quality are Hultafors' American style axes.
I realize that the bushcrafting community as a whole favour the Scandinavian style axe, due to it's ability to be both a "splitter/feller" and a "carver", while the American style axe being more solely a "splitte/feller", but a much more effective splitter than the Scandinavian.
When I am out and about I carry either my Strömeng leuku or Øyo viking axe (a classic Scandinavian style axe) for carving, both perfectly adapted for that task and for chopping kindling aswell. But, when it comes to splitting larger logs; I'll take the American style axe any day.
As I know that someone is going to ask; why not a Granfors (aside from the fact that I was after an American style axe); there are three "big" Swedish axe brands; Granfors (http://www.gransfors.com/htm_eng/index.html), Hultafors (http://www.hultafors.co.uk) and Wetterlings (http://www.wetterlings.com/). Years ago, before Granfors was "discovered" by Ray Mears and the bushcrafting community, the three brands were similarily priced and regarded as being of equal quality.
I have handled and used axes from both Granfors and Hultafors (I don't think I have ever used a Wetterlings actually) - and aside from the fact that Granfors axes comes with much nicer leather edge protectors than Hultafors', I am having a hard time seeing exactly what justifies the price difference between the two brands. I realize though that such statements may be blasphemy to some :)