Do I NEED a small forest sized axe?

[seraphim]

Hi all, question for you bushcrafters. If I carry a laplander saw, battoning knife, bucksaw kit and hand hatchet, what will I be missing out on without a 'small forest axe' type tool? I'd rather avoid the expense if a good hatchet will do!

Ps looking at a hults bruks rather than a granny B! Any good? Better than a husqvarna hatchet?

 

[Samon]

hults bruks is said to be equal to the grans bruks, I reckon it looks better and you won't look like a mears clone

any good hatchet will be fine though buddy, shape the edge so it's finer if you want to improve its carving/cutting ability!

 

[locum76]

You'd be missing out on another 1.5kg in your pack.

 

[Lee Wright]

I'd be inclined to drop one of the saws too

 

[seraphim]

In addition to original question then, is there any task I would have to have the bigger axe for, other than it's just a nice thing to have! Would I benefit dropping the hatchet and one saw for the 'SFA' type? Would I LOSE any capabilities this way?

Thoughts?

 

[Limaed]

I think it depends on what you want to do and to perhaps the conditions you go out in. For most of the year the hatchet will be fine for producing kindling, shaping wood and any other task you ask of it. I do think however in the winter a bigger axe is more sutible (combined with a bucksaw) as to produce dry wood for fire you have to cut and split timber.
Quite a few Bushcrafters don't like the small forest axe as its not big enough for serious work yet too big and heavy for smaller tasks.Their choice would be a hatchet and a large axe.
As with any tool the more skilled you are the more you can do even with a poorer or inappropriate tool. Don't underestimate getting some training which might influence your descion on whether to buy or not and consider that an axe is potentially a very dangerous bit of kit the SFA particularly so.
Don't be influenced by consumerisum and celebrity endorsement, ask yourself if you really need an it.

 

[Everything Mac]

Between a hatchet and the SFA, there is very little difference.

I'd ditch the bucksaw tbh. And unless you specifically need to fell trees or do work requiring a larger axe then no you don't need the SFA. Even then I would suggest the Scandinavian axe for that kind of work.


The longer handle has an advantage for splitting, but this is countered by the very thin profile of the head.


I favour a hatchet for all splitting jobs. (Right tool for the job in'nit ) And I don't feel disadvantaged at all.

Andy

 

[Hoodoo]

The bucksaw and larger axe would be useful if you had to cut a lot of wood, delimb large trees, or remove windthrow across back roads in heavy forest (I keep a full-sized axe in my truck at all times). Also useful for winter camping where wood is essential for warmth or canoe camping in wet weather in northern climates where standing dead wood has to be felled for fire starting and dry firewood, a situation that could be essential after a tipping your canoe over in an ice cold northern lake after a few days of rain. If these sound like likely scenarios for you, then you might consider the larger axe and keeping the bucksaw. Most of the time, however, a knife, small saw, and hatchet should more than cover your needs and you can get by with less and your aching back will thank you.

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

How often have you found yourself needing the extra size of the sfa. If not dont bother also which saw do you use the most, if its the laplander and only use the bucksaw occasionaly, ditch it.

 

[Retired Member southey]

What do you get upto when you go camping? do you fell trees or process logs? and just out of interest what's a battoning knife?

 

[Siberianfury]

if your comfortable with the tools you use now then theres no reason to change.
i have a couple of gransfors axes, both the wildlife hatchet and the SFA, they are both great for what they do (splitting, shaping, felling, limbing ect) but they are by no means essential, you can get by on a fixed blade knife and even use it with a batton to fell trees.

 

[JonathanD]

In the UK, a Laplander and a knife will cover most things. No real need for the hand hatchet or SFA sized axe.

 

[vizsla]

personaly i dont worry about weight as usualy its a couple of mile tops to were i set for the day or overnight, i was up in the woods today and i took both my small forest axe and my pocket hatchet also my buck saw and laplander and knife. i didnt use the hatchet nor the laplander but there that small why worry about taking them unless your treking for miles.
however if im just niping out for an hour with the dog il just take my knife and laplander just for a handful of fire wood
cheers ash

 

[seraphim]

Wow, an active forum, brilliant!

I use a maul to split wood for the home stove and a cheap (see abused) £5 hatchet a la wilko's, but it holds an edge like a piece of soft cheese!

I know the problem, I WANT an SFA type (seen it too many times on the tellybox!,) but in reality, I can get by as easily with a smaller hatchet.

I can't see myself ever wanting to fell a tree (and to be honest, my Stihl would do a 40" tree in about 30 seconds anyway!)

If the hatchet will do the job of cutting in an 'emergency' and the saw and knife will also cover some tasks, then I'd better control my purchasing urges!

 

[Xunil]

I've said it before and won no friends in the process but here it comes again, so brace yourselves:

The SFA is neither fish nor fowl. It doesn't do anything as well as alternatives. It is too big and heavy to do hatchet work and too small to be of use as a 'proper' axe. The GB Scandinavian Forest Axe is a much, much better option if you intend doing regular axe work. Axe work is not the same as hatchet work though, and I reckon the vast majority of SFA's are well loved and very, very little used.

Unless you do a lot of regular wood harvesting and processing then a saw and knife is hard to beat as a combo. A saw, knife and small hatchet is a great do-it-all outfit which offers a degree of flexibility and backup in the event of one of your pieces of kit failing spectacularly.

I only use my larger axes when processing a lot of timber, usually when helping some of the woodsmen on a couple of local estates, in exchange for which I get to process some of the cleared lumber for longbow staves. If it wasn't for that I wouldn't ever use an axe larger than a small hatchet for anything. I'd still buy and own a few though...





A pocket rocket hatchet (everyone please note; I refrained from posting my favourite little hatchet pictures ) take almost no room and brings no noticeable weight penalty to your pack or jacket.

Given how much a mid-size axe costs I would rather see more people make a more informed decision when they buy one. The SFA was promoted as the bushcraft axe for years but it fails the brief in my opinion and has now been superseded by Ray's slightly longer, slightly heavier signature axe, which is now being pushed as the axe for bushcraft.

I think the SFA is good, but I certainly don't think it's anywhere near as great as some would have you believe.

That could possibly be said for GB axes in general - I guess much of the underlying publicity is because yes, they are good, and because most folks tend to have little or no basis for comparison, since axes haven't been a mainstay tool for a long time in the UK.

You should also keep in mind that all of the GB axes are great on softwoods and pretty good on hardwood. If you will be working mainly with hardwood and processing a lot of timber it makes sense to look at something more appropriate to that workload unless you enjoy spending more calories than you need to.

On a final note, also keep in mind that many small hatchets are basically a splitting axe head which is far too heavy a head on far too short a handle. You can't carve well with one (if you have a mind to) and they become a chore pretty quickly unless you are splitting a lot of sawn logs for a woodburning stove, which is where they come into their own.

Look at your needs and gear up, or down, accordingly.

Once you have what you need you can then take another look at what you want, funds permitting.

I'll get my coat, again...

 

[Everything Mac]

...and just out of interest what's a battoning knife?

quite a sharp one of these
http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...y8QOx_pmEBQ&ved=0CG0Q8wIwAg&biw=1280&bih=675#

 

[Steffen]

2,7kg ??!!

 

[seraphim]

What do you get upto when you go camping? do you fell trees or process logs? and just out of interest what's a battoning knife?

Irony is, I don't HAVE anywhere to wild camp Leicester seems pretty devoid of anywhere to camp wthout incurring the wrath of a farmer or the national forest people!, I just enjoy tinkering round with stuff! I use a relatively thick bladed scandi knife, like a workmans Mora but cheaper! (non full tang BUT cheap as chips ad I won't cry if I lose it or ruin my other finer blade for neater work)

 

[spiritwalker]

i agree with xunil i recently got rid of my GB wildlife hatchet and replaced it with a gerber paxe axe. The reason being well the weight factor and the fact i only really use and axe to split wood and the camp axe does a nice job of that for me however at a push as mentioned above knife and folding saw will do all you need. I love my gerber axe though for splitting kindling and small logs even if it does look modern and techy compared to a GB but at the end of the day it works and is light and easy to sharpen

 

[mrcharly]

I've split a 10ft log with a GB mini hatchet . . .

10 minutes to make a few wedges and a maul, one whack with the GP to open a small crack and get a wedge in, then a few minutes with the wedges and maul. Maybe 20min tops to split a substantial seasoned log using a tool weighing less than many 'bushcraft' knives.

Two weeks ago I cleared a large fallen branch from a fence. 8" diameter branch (where I cut it). I used an Opinel saw.

Unless you are doing a *lot* of limbing, I'm struggling to think of a reason for carrying something like a SFA. If I needed something for heavy work such as slamming in stakes and splitting large logs, I'd take a £25 axe I bought from the local hardware.

For backpacking, the lighter the better IMO.