Best budget camping axe?

[Garnett]

Hi there - I was wondering if anyone could help me select a budget axe for when we take the family camping.

We go a few times a year, but we're not heavily into bushcrafting - I just want something that'll do the job.

Is there a bare-minimum specification I should look out for?

Essentially I'm after the axe equivalent of the Mora Companion knife!

Thanks a lot for any help you can offer.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

Can't go wrong with a Fiskars X7.

 

[Damascus]

The cheapest, ha ha!

 

[Mr Wolf]

Essentially I'm after the axe equivalent of the Mora Companion knife!

Mora outdoor camp axe?
Personally I’d just get a hultafors

 

[Broch]

Second hand off a car boot fair

All these (and more) are from that kind of source. OK, you may have to re-handle it and sharpen it but it will do the job.

 

[swotty]

Depends what your price point is....Hultafors agdor axes are pretty good imo.

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Sent from Somerset using magic

 

[swotty]

Or as Broch says car boots are a good source of quality older axes....although unfortunately these sometimes seem to be going for silly money :-(

Sent from Somerset using magic

 

[crosslandkelly]

How about this?

MORA OUTDOOR BUSHCRAFT Camping AXE | BORON STEEL Used | eBay

Frosts of Mora / Morakniv axe. The axe head is made of black epoxy coated boron steel, very strong to last for many years. Material Boron Steel. Blade Thickness 6mm. Blade Length 115mm. SHEATH MISSING.

www.ebay.co.uk

Or this?

Vintage Whitehouse No2 Kent pat camping hunters firewood axe as found. | eBay

Item stamped Cornelius Whitehouse Cannock No2.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Garnett]

Thanks all - I had a look around and settled on the Fiskars X7 recommended by @MikeeMiracle - its 25 year warranty was what swung it.

 

[Broch]

Or as Broch says car boots are a good source of quality older axes....although unfortunately these sometimes seem to be going for silly money :-(

Sent from Somerset using magic

Luckily, it's still possible to find them around here for£2 to £5 but they are becoming more rare

 

[Herman30]

Essentially I'm after the axe equivalent of the Mora Companion knife!

In that case Fiskars X7 is the way to go. The handle does not rot and axe head do not rust thanks to the coating. No need for any maintenance except keep it sharp.

 

[Robson Valley]

If you're cutting something, yes, the axe edge needs to be sharp.
If you are splitting wood, a sharp edge is self-defeating = digs into the wood.
We use dull edges so that the wood actually splits just ahead of the edge for greater efficiency.
My carving adzes are better than razor sharp ( I cut wood, not hair).
My froe has an edge maybe 0.1mm wide if not more ( I don't care, really!).

 

[TLM]

In that case Fiskars X7 is the way to go. The handle does not rot and axe head do not rust thanks to the coating. No need for any maintenance except keep it sharp.

I think x10 has the same head and longer handle > easier and safer to use, prices are often same.

 

[Nice65]

I think x10 has the same head and longer handle > easier and safer to use, prices are often same.

Totally agree, more versatile than a hatchet.

 

[Robson Valley]

Once again: what is it that you will mainly do with it? I can fry eggs with dynamite to be sure they are cooked. Split firewood? Get a 6# splitting maul. Or buy a gas/hydraulic when you have 5-6 cords to split (see my avatar).

Thanks all for the discussion. I have several hatchets in the shop. Not exactly where. I have no need to swing an axe where a power saw will do. But, I like all my Fiskars vineyard tools so might just add the X7 hatchet to the others.

This is hilarious! I have a black/chrome one, a blue one and a yellow one.
That's how brand-sensitive I am.

 

[Garnett]

I think x10 has the same head and longer handle > easier and safer to use, prices are often same.

Thanks. I noticed this too, and really ummed and ahed over the choice - in the end, because I want to teach our children to use it, and thought the X10 more awkward to pack, and couldn't find the X10 in stock at a decent price, I went for the X7. It's arrived and feels smaller than I expected, and I can't help thinking the X10 would have been a better choice overall.

Ah well.

The X7 seems like a very decent tool which should comfortably do the jobs I want it to.

I took the opportunity to pick up a Bahco Laplander as well and they seem like a capable pair.

 

[Erbswurst]

@TLM
I think you are wrong, isn't it?

X5 is the too short handled one.
X7 is the right one.
Weight 645g.

X10 is too heavy for rucksack and youngsters. Isn't it?
I think it has another head.
Weight approximately 1000g.

 

[TLM]

It is a matter of taste to a degree but for me x7 is just too short handled too, I have really no idea why x5 was made. It seems you are correct of the present selection my memory track is from the original series some while ago.

Scouts here use the x10 almost exclusively.

 

[Erbswurst]

That perhaps has its reasons in the circumstances. German Scouts always carry hatchets with 600g heads.

That's pretty interesting.

I think that the handle of the X7 is a little bit longer than the old hatchet. But I am unsure about that.

 

[GreyDog]

The Husqvarna hatchet (the standard one with the heavier head) is good and cheap - can get it for about £25 from a few places.