gerber/ fiskars/ wilkinsonsword axes.

[sargey]

i've seen these advertised on the net for fourty quid,

i got one with a wilkinson sword badge and an orange tipped handle for 18 quid in homebase this afternoon

they also have the funky brush/bill hooks too. but at 25 quid you could get a real one from woodland organics. the more sensibly sized hatchets ( GB wildlife, size/weight ) are also going for 18 quid. not everyone's cup of tea, but they work right off the shelf, without the need for hours of expert reprofiling.

must have more toys!
:-D

cheers, and.

 

[Hoodoo]

sargey, you keep talkin' about those and I'm going to have to buy one to see what all the fuss is about. Jeff Randall likes 'em too. That little shorty would be handy to have in a day pack but I've already got a couple nice small hatchets... :shock:

 

[sargey]

right, it might be fair to say that they're not as good balance wise, or as attractive as a GB. but i reckon they're a much under rated tool. if one of the plus points with a scandi knife is easy sharpening, why can't we apply the same plus point to axes? yes i know that geometry is arguably more critical in a higher stress application like chopping. but so many axes need so much setting up from new, and so many people don't have the skill to do it. so for many, most? people, out of the box performance is a major issue. compared to my gb wildlife that had an edge rolling all over out of the box, the fiskars unit is way ahead. every fiskars hatchet has the end of the helve in line with the edge, no need to hand pick them for handle alignment or woodgrain.

i was playing with this one against the gb mini in the garden this afternoon. only for 1/4 hour or so. the usual pattern appeared. the thinner GB cuts and penetrates much better. but it cuts and cuts until you separate your chip from the log. the fiskars unit doesn't cut as deep. this is very apparent if you just chop straight down at 90 degrees. the fiskars axe does break chips out that would just remain attached with the gb cutting round them.

net result, you need to be that little more accurate with the mini than with the fiskars. in all fairness the fiskars is substantially heavier. 12 ounces vs a pound on the kitchen scales. in this one instance it doesn't balance very well. the handle just wants to be an inch longer.

the question is do you want to pay 100% more money for only about 10% more performance? (after the extra fine tuning) perhaps i'm too much of a philistine to appreciate the difference, or is it a case of the emperors new hatchet? :shock: :-D but when independant sources like chad and ben mcnutt come out with very similar comments, i wonder if i'm missing something.

i might loan 'em all out to a bunch of folks who don't know better, and get them rated marks out of ten. that'll happen at the end of the month.

cheers, and.

 

[sargey]

if i was hanging out in very wet places like jeff does i'd definately stick with the fiskars. IIRC he uses 'em round the ranch too?

cheers, and.

 

[The General]

I use the Sport axe by Gerber and it works a treat, though I find rust and pitting a real problem in the wet Welsh hills. I am pleased with its ability to take a razor edge with ease, its a light axe so this can make using it feel a little strange, but the saving in weight really is noticable when you are humping the gear.

 

[leon-1]

I bought one of the fiskars splitting axes from homebase about two years ago, it is quite a good cutter, I found the metal that the head was made out of was quite soft, but easy to sharpen.

The head is also quite heavy on this model (it is noticably heavier than both the GB SFA and hunters axe).

I found it very easy to use (very swingable and quite accurate), but it needed a reasonable amount of maintenance after a short time in the field with quite heavy use.

Generally for the money it is very good and appears to be very corrosion resistant. They are very good for anyone who is thinking about getting an axe and have little experience with them, they are a lot more forgiving than the likes of the wetterlings and GB axes.

I quite like it and still use it, but the majority of the time I tend to use a hunters axe nowadays.

As sargey said the cost bonus is exceptional two years ago this cost about the same as sargey paid for his hand axe.

 

[TAHAWK]

Funny thing over this side of the pond, but the identical axe branded "Fiskars" costs much less than if branded "Gerber" (Well, the Fiskars is orange with black trim vs. black.)

 

[leon-1]

TAHAWK, this is exactly the same as over here, we just pay more tax, we understand this (altough we envy you).

In the end it is how You use it,not what youv'e got (this has no sexual conotations whatsoever or is not supposed to have).

You can beat somenone in a cutting test through enthusiasm,as long as the tool you are useing is comparable to the one that your oponent is using.

 

[leon-1]

Sargey You have opened a real can of worms on this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But It is Good to be part of.

 

[leon-1]

Another thought is get onto the BB forum, they have some marvelluos axes there, but they ain't cheap, they are exceptionall and worth looking at.

My apologies, don't want to lecture. I have big respect for everyone that posts on this site.

Sargey Hope to see You in Wales, if I think you are who you are. Neil1 would like to see you as well if both he and yourself can get away for it.

 

[Tony]

i've seen these advertised on the net for fourty quid,

i got one with a wilkinson sword badge and an orange tipped handle for 18 quid in homebase this afternoon

they also have the funky brush/bill hooks too. but at 25 quid you could get a real one from woodland organics. the more sensibly sized hatchets ( GB wildlife, size/weight ) are also going for 18 quid. not everyone's cup of tea, but they work right off the shelf, without the need for hours of expert reprofiling.

must have more toys!
:-D

cheers, and.

What are they like when being used to hammer things, wedges, pegs etc? Due to the design the heads are not as stable as say the GBs....I have not got one but I seem to recall that they are more of a wedge shape that stays securely in place as long as you are using the cutting edge. One of the great things about more traditional axes is the broad use they can be put to.

 

[leon-1]

Tone if they are anything like the splitting axe that they make, they are ROBUST, they are very broad bladed and you can hammer the hell out of one. You can be pretty sure that it will be in use again within the next so many minutes.

Tone your site has just been compared to Pringles :yikes: :biggthump

Once you start you can't stop

 

[bushblade]

What are they like when being used to hammer things, wedges, pegs etc? Due to the design the heads are not as stable as say the GBs....I have not got one but I seem to recall that they are more of a wedge shape that stays securely in place as long as you are using the cutting edge. One of the great things about more traditional axes is the broad use they can be put to.

I have heard this too, that the head is wedge shaped with its strength in the direction of blade to poll. So any large forces applied to the poll (hammering stakes and wedges, or used with a maul) would work the head loose?
I've also heard that if you use it like this you void your warranty?

How would you split large logs wihout using the poll?
I've also heard of problems with the sheath, what are they like? I remember them being big plasticky things?

the question is do you want to pay 100% more money for only about 10% more performance? (after the extra fine tuning) perhaps i'm too much of a philistine to appreciate the difference, or is it a case of the emperors new hatchet? but when independant sources like chad and ben mcnutt come out with very similar comments, i wonder if i'm missing something.

To me this seams to equate to 100% more money and 100% more performance, or am I missing something?

 

[leon-1]

I cannot talk for sargey on this as I don't honestly know, but the sheath for the Fiskars that I use is a large plasticky thing with an incorporated carrying handle.

The model that I used on the fiskars website is the splitting axehttp://www.fiskars.com/en_US/garden/lookupItem.do?cat=1&itemNumber=24294

I have had no issues with the head becoming loose in 2 years and it has been used a lot. It has been used for splitting and to be honest it's very good (probably why it is called a splitting axe) for that purpose.

It could be a one off, but the likelyhood is that it is not because they are still being sold (normally the likes of Fiskars and Gerber would have withdrawn any item that is faulty because it would not be good for thier reputation).

They are very good for the money that you pay, in fact I would go out on a limb here (no pun intended :-D ) and say they are excellent value for money.

 

[Gary]

I have a gerber which came in a cordura and velco sheath.

I think the biase against them often stems from the same source and in a similar fashion to the re-harshed garbage you often find in military survival manuals - a case of Monkey see, Monkey say.

I have tried to bust mine, as described, so I could use it as a demo peice and as yet the head hasnt popped loose - but I will keep trying maybe age will weaken it!

Although, having said that, personally, I would still opt for a traditional axe purely because the Hollow handle tends not to offer any counter weight to the head and as such (in my opinion) this makes it slightly more dangerous.

 

[sargey]

if you shine a torchdown the handle you can see a sort of locating lug in the bottom of the head. there's no danger of the head popping out, i've used my big fiskars as a sledge hammer to demolish brick retaining walls.

as for the money issue? even with the gransfors you have to choose carefully to get a good one, not always possible. i chose my wildlife hatchet from a selection of about a half dozen. within minutes of using it for the first time the edge was noticeably rolled in places. other brands of hatchets and axes can be worse, some of the spear and jackson or draper axes found in shops here are potentially lethal with outrageously uneven grinds.

with the fiskars, you get a reliable useable product everytime. for best results run the edge down a fine sharpening stone for a couple of strokes just to deburr the edge and you're ready for action. this is opposed to several hours of work by an at least semi skilled person to get any of the other axes into a useable condition.

as for performance? bring your best racing tuned custom hatchet, i'll bring my fiskars, and we'll have a little chop off. loser buys the beers.

of course most bushcrafty types will say they're ugly, possibly with reason, i think they look pretty cool. there are the two balance issues, which can be detected if you know what to look for. one is significant in some ways, the other is also an advantage.

so fiskars or arty tarty high grade hatchet? if you need to ask the question, there is no question, you need the fiskars. shock:

do i take the fiskars out instead of my granny b? of course not! ): if i was going to do things the easy way, i'd buy a gas barbeque, stay at home and look at nature through the discovery channel.

i think this debate is mirrored in nessmuk's book, he discusses the virtues of fly fishing against other types of so called fishermen.

leon-1, hoping i can make wales too, serious negotiations with swmbo are currently taking place!

cheers, and.

 

[leon-1]

Will be good to see you there if you can escape.

If anyone hasn't tried a Fiskars axe and would like to give one a bash/chop then I am more than willing to bring mine down to the Wales meet for people to heft it and give a swing, see what they think.

I think a reasonable way of putting it is they are cheap, cheerfull and will do the job (probably better than most people would think).

 

[Stuart]

I think the biase against them often stems from the same source and in a similar fashion to the re-harshed garbage you often find in military survival manuals - a case of Monkey see, Monkey say.

this is a good point, Has anyone actually seen one of these break????

 

[leon-1]

Try asking,

have the people that own these axes had any problems with them? So far I haven't met anyone that owns one that has had a problem.

 

[OldJimbo]

These sure show that the practise of axe use doesn't always follow the theory! I got a Paxe and a couple of Fiskars 600 hatchets just because of all the email I get asking if they are any good.
I didn't get along well with the Paxe so it's waiting until I have time to really see what it's all about. The one striking point is that the sheath isn't very good. It allows part of the blade to be exposed and that's going to lead to problems with a sharp hatchet. A sheath that attaches to the belt is also going to lead to cuts, no matter what sort of hatchet is in it. Many will doubt that, and I hope that a few slices while unsheathing and sheathing happen before taking a fall while carrying a hatchet in a belt sheath. Gluing yourself up sure beats sewing yourself up.
Getting the Fiskars with the plastic holder makes sense as the price is great and it's easy to make an edge cover for a hatchet for carry. A few scraps of heavy leather or sheet aluminum, and a pop rivetter will have one ready in no time.
The heads on the Paxe and Fiskars 600 are the same. The longer handle on the Fiskars is far better suited to the head weight and I'm sure that a lot of people will end up using it two handed on wood that's harder and bigger. Well they will after the first twenty minutes - it gives better accuracy for the unbalanced head, as well as being less tiring.
The hatchets have some issues:
1. The bevel is ground on a wheel and is concave. You'll soon be horrified if you begin with hard wood when the edge rolls. About five minutes with a garden hone will fix that. Half an hour's honing will fix the problem forever.
2. The edge is straight and lacks shearing capability. I did some tests against other hatchets with thick profiles and which have curved edges. Except for a bit more shock, which the handle absorbs well - the Fiskars does fine. Perhaps more than fine - it'll have axperts in wonder.
3. The balance is wrong with the blade being far too heavy for the poll. Mike Stewart is grinding one with a concave blade - so I guess I'll know soon if a properly balanced Fiskars is any great advantage. The original works well enough.
4. The wrap around handle protrudes out too much around the head. I figured I might have a destroyed hatchet after splitting hard wood, but it's holding up fine.
5. Expect a few blisters from use at first until your hands toughen up. It's not that big a deal - far less than with varnished hatchet handles for some reason and the textured grip is good.

All in all from whittling fuzzies through dropping small trees to sectioning and splitting really hard wood - no problems. Most of the other options in hatchets involve far more expense or far more setting up - so a Fiskars sure has its place.