Plastic is lighter, stronger and cheaper. And it's actually easier to rehandle if broken. Please, please watch this video (both parts):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OegHqDUPfQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OegHqDUPfQA
Does it bother you to "go plastic" ?
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I'm kind of the other way round with that and there's no way on earth I would walk around clad from heat to foot in traditional gear unless I was being paid to do so (in which case, all bets are off).
I'd look like a right old "Hey Nonny Nonny" re-enactment type yoghurt weaver.
ROFL! Well, around here re-enactment guys are American Civil War or Fur Trapper/Mountain Man/Western Scouts so I'm not sure how much yogurt weaving would get done around the fire.
Traditional bushcrafter style, in my personal dictionary, mostly means wood, wool, leather, canvas, brass, & carbon steel. I'd leave the modern rifle and handgun at home and bring the lever-gun and revolver. Same with the alcohol burning stove, trade it for a wood stove and tin pots all the way. Do a canvas tarp and bed roll with a wool blanket instead of my nylon hammock. That sort of thing. Not really going to rock the buckskin loincloth, know what I mean?
It probably doesn't help that my degree is in history and I spent too many years working at a museum. If it wasn't period, it was right.
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Probably not. But the blade would be so much easier to rehandle. Split a stick and lash it around. I believe Fiskars is the Mora of the axes
Probably not. But the blade would be so much easier to rehandle. Split a stick and lash it around. I believe Fiskars is the Mora of the axes
Wouldn't work - the split would open and the head would fall out. It would be nearly impossible to make a decent permanent replacement - whereas its simple with a wooden handle.
Look a little closer
http://houz.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/stone_axe.jpg
Those heads are not held in "split sticks". A lot of wood is removed and the handle shaped to accept the head. Even then it is far less secure than a socketed head.
If you like Fiskars, thats fine, but until I see a handle replaced on one (in a manner that I would consider safe to use), I maintain that they are not easily replaceable. If you don't agree, thats fine too, but because some bloke in a video says it can be done, and then fails to do it, does not make it doable in my book
Nope no issues using a quality plastic handle axe such as a fiskars. The downside for me is the plastic handle can't be replaced but for that price point they are wicked cutters and a fine carver to that said give me a wood handle any day
We are playing semantics.
http://www.survival.org.au/images/axe.jpg
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Uploads/Images/26092/Hafted axe TLF_big.jpg
My main point was that it would be easier to diy something in a pinch with what was left from fiskars. Especially when you have no other tools to carve a nice handle and a wedge.
And in real life it makes no difference because a new Fiskars is not that much more expensive than rehandling a GB.
And I'm not a fan boy. I simply like how cheap Fiskars is and how well it works. And a little opposition against the myth of syntetic handle=crap.
http://www.survival.org.au/images/axe.jpg
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Uploads/Images/26092/Hafted axe TLF_big.jpg
My main point was that it would be easier to diy something in a pinch with what was left from fiskars. Especially when you have no other tools to carve a nice handle and a wedge.
And in real life it makes no difference because a new Fiskars is not that much more expensive than rehandling a GB.
And I'm not a fan boy. I simply like how cheap Fiskars is and how well it works. And a little opposition against the myth of syntetic handle=crap.
If you read my original post I said I have no problem with synthetics. I own a number of synthetic axes and mauls
23) Axe splitting by British Red, on FlickrThe difference is that I can replace the handles if they fail. What I object to in the Fiskars is the stupid (in my view) way the head is attached to the handle. I don't want to have to buy another axe because the handle is damaged - I want to maintain my tools. That's just me though. If your argument is that Fiskars are cheap and effective, we agree - I just don't like the design, but I don't like much about the "throw away" society.
I didn't say anything about them beeing disposable. The main point in the videos is how hard was it to destroy the axe. I strongly believe that unless you run it over with a tank or use the HANDLE to chop rocks you will never ever have to worry about replacing it.
What you said was
To me that a Fiskars is cheap compared to a GB is not the point. I own axes cheaper than a Fiskars that can be rehandled. I prefer the ability to maintain a tool and I don't believe that is possible with a Fiskars handle. That's my point in a nutshell - I think it is a bad handle design.
You like them, I don't. Thats okay - we disagree. Lets leave it
To me that a Fiskars is cheap compared to a GB is not the point. I own axes cheaper than a Fiskars that can be rehandled. I prefer the ability to maintain a tool and I don't believe that is possible with a Fiskars handle. That's my point in a nutshell - I think it is a bad handle design.
You like them, I don't. Thats okay - we disagree. Lets leave it
Yeah. Didn't mean to get in to an argument.
And at the end of the day if you know how to use an axe you won't break it and the material won't matter.
Just a vote from me that there are decent plastic ones out there
And at the end of the day if you know how to use an axe you won't break it and the material won't matter.
Just a vote from me that there are decent plastic ones out there
I'm not as experienced in these matters as most on here, but I bought a Mora knife with a part-orange handle and an orange scabbard and a Fiskars axe in similar colours for the simple reason that they will be easier to find if I put them down somewhere in the grass or woods than if they had wooden or camouflaged handled. So convenience and safety ...
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