Estwing-love 'em or hate 'em

[bb07]

Either way, they will do the job. I have various other wood handled axes that are a pleasure to use. Balance, feel, a joy to use.
BUT, there's a lot to be said for Estwing axes and hatchets. Bombproof, extreme durability, price-all are good reasons for owning one(or more!)
Chances are that you'll use an Estwing for more 'demanding' work than a premium axe.
I wouldn't get rid of mine regardless of how many other makes of axes I accumulate.
They are great for very nasty weather where conditions would make some people want to keep their treasured wood handled axe under their pillow.
I carry the 26'' camper's axe on my quad in the summer and on my skidoo in winter. It gets banged around, rained on, and covered in snow.
I'll drive spikes with it when building docks or boat racks(to pull a boat up out of the water).
I wouldn't build a cabin with it, but it would certainly be on hand for some of the work.
This is not to say they don't have their bad points-they do-as do all tools. Yes, they do vibrate, but not enough to bother me as I don't use it for chopping for hours on end.
Splitting-they aren't designed as splitters so can't be expected to perform as such. However, when wood is frozen it splits easily, so splitting can be done if it's not too big.
Can't choke up on the handle? Nope, sorry, nothing is perfect.
Steel hardness? Nowhere close to GB or Wetterlings but good enough to do the job.
Here it sits all cleaned up for a change, posing for a pic. Note that I've wrapped that skinny little upper handle with(what else) hockey tape, to make it more comfortable to use when wanting a shorter grip.

The profile is very thin

Waiting to be used

I'll split this piece of jack pine

One good whack does it for this piece

A piece this size(black spruce) would be at the upper limit for splitting, but smaller is better

I used it to cut these poles for a helicopter pad as the chainsaw didn't want to run on a very cold day

I do have some other Estwing products, among others

So if an Estwing is what you've got, don't feel bad-they work!

 

[marcelxl]

I have 4 different "wing"claw hammers, a 16oz stacked leather, 20oz, 21oz weight forward & 24oz as well as a 4lb lump hammer and an axe all for work. Only hammers I have owned in 20yrs as a chippy.

Though about another axe for outdoorsy tasks too, as you say, if you can tolerate the blue vinyl - uber practical and bomb proof

 

[leon-1]

I have the Estwing 14a, they are a good enough piece of kit. They used to be on issue in the RAF survival packs and only recently got replaced. I personally like mine, as you say a good robust piece of kit that if used correctly does a good job.

 

[Tilia]

i'm not a lover of steel handles, no matter how strong they are
if the bend you cant replace them in the field and they pass on much more vibration to the body

love them or hate them?....hmmm ill have to go with hate then, do i don't like that negative emotion

 

[shaggystu]

i used to own an estwing, don't know the name of the model but it looked identical to the one in the picture with the stacked leather handle. one of the best tools that i've ever owned right up until some brain donor of a shopfitter "borrowed" it because he'd lost his crowbar, i had to be physically restrained from really explaining to him how annoyed i was that my axe had been bent almost double.

great tools, a favourite of uncle ray's too according to his first book.

stuart

 

[JAG009]

I have a leather handle estwing axe and it does most things well ,not the perfect axe for all things but what axe is !

Jason

 

[Toddy]

I love mine and I don't care that it's got the blue rubbery grip on the handle

Seriously, it's just such a good tool. I have a SFA and I don't use it these days. I have two other good axes as well, but that wee Estwing, that's mine and I do use it
Light, a great splitting profile, good for feathersticks too, utterly reliable, it suits me fine.
It's ancient, it kicked about in the back of a van for two years, it was a joiner's roughing out axe and was used for taking down partitions, howking out windowframes and the like. My bother gave it to me and Warthog1981 overhauled it for me and made a new sheath for it

Would I use it to chop down a tree ? No, that's what a bowsaw is for I do use it for limbing and trimming though and for roughing out timber for further shaping.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[flexo]

i don't own estwing,but my wooden handled ones aren't meant to sleep under pillow,they see daylight every day,hard use under rain snow or sun!

i really like the design,so don't hate them,and don't like steel haft,so don't like neither...

 

[pwb]

Nice pics and axes.
Always liked the look of Estwing axes and was recently given one by a bloke who used to serve with the Fleet Air Arm .
It had not seen much use but unfortunately had got damp in storage and the leather handle was crumbling.
I'm having ago at re-handling it with stacked leather and ,all gong well, look forward to trying it out .

 

[dancan]

Either way, they will do the job. I have various other wood handled axes that are a pleasure to use. Balance, feel, a joy to use.
BUT, there's a lot to be said for Estwing axes and hatchets. Bombproof, extreme durability, price-all are good reasons for owning one(or more!)
Chances are that you'll use an Estwing for more 'demanding' work than a premium axe.
I wouldn't get rid of mine regardless of how many other makes of axes I accumulate.
They are great for very nasty weather where conditions would make some people want to keep their treasured wood handled axe under their pillow.
I carry the 26'' camper's axe on my quad in the summer and on my skidoo in winter. It gets banged around, rained on, and covered in snow.
I'll drive spikes with it when building docks or boat racks(to pull a boat up out of the water).
I wouldn't build a cabin with it, but it would certainly be on hand for some of the work.
This is not to say they don't have their bad points-they do-as do all tools. Yes, they do vibrate, but not enough to bother me as I don't use it for chopping for hours on end.
Splitting-they aren't designed as splitters so can't be expected to perform as such. However, when wood is frozen it splits easily, so splitting can be done if it's not too big.
Can't choke up on the handle? Nope, sorry, nothing is perfect.
Steel hardness? Nowhere close to GB or Wetterlings but good enough to do the job.
Here it sits all cleaned up for a change, posing for a pic. Note that I've wrapped that skinny little upper handle with(what else) hockey tape, to make it more comfortable to use when wanting a shorter grip.

I do have some other Estwing products, among others

So if an Estwing is what you've got, don't feel bad-they work!

Nice review on the campers axe and I'm glad that it is a tool that works for some .
I had one (but not the hatchets you pictured) and found no love for it .
When I put my forestry hat on this is what works for me , an Iltis Ox-Head 24" forestry axe , I have others but it's my main user rain or shine .

If you don't hit things square on watch out for the angle of deflection and when you have to drive wedges to drop some trees the Estwing does not have the weight behind it .

This one got more wedges before it fell .

I found the shaft easier to bend than one would think , did not like how it felt in my hands and that steel shafted axes have no soul like wooden handled ones LOL .
Having said all that they are still a study tool and can take some abuse and will get the job done , I left it out in the rain for three weeks with only surface rust .

 

[bojit]

As a kid i found an estwing axe in the woods we played in (it was in the grounds of the local mental hospital)
Was a great axe till we snapped it practicing throwing it at trees (kids!)

Now as a joiner i use an estwing 20oz straight claw framing hammer , great tools .

Craig...................