Help with choosing the right axe for my needs

[Leiflet]

Well, there's always the Mora 220 splitter. Designed for the job. Not that much use for anything else.

Cheers,
Leif

 

[Emil0509]

At the moment i am buying alot of stuff. I will wait until ive raised a bit more monet in my Bushcraft account

So that greed wont bite me in the bottom.

 

[dwardo]

Its a great axe the Scandinavian - it has a slim profile more designed for cutting than splitting - but I have found it splits just fine! Big enough to use two handed, light enough to use one handed - you won't go far wrong with a Scandinavian Forest Axe


Good angle by British Red, on Flickr

I use my Scandi axe for roughing out bows even though i have the GB hatchet. There is too much swing needed for the hatchet to make it accurate enough for a decent amount of control. Agreed if the round is a bit knotty or a little green with some interlocking grain then you do have to get behind it a little or finish it off with a mallet. No better all rounder in my experience and the extra length handle just finishes of the pacakge.

 

[rg598]

For an all around axe my choice would be what we here in the US call a Boy's axe. It has a handle of about 26-28 inches and a head weight of 2-2.5 lb. My favorite production one is the Council Tool Boy's axe.

That being said, if I am going into the woods alone, I usually bring nothing, or at most a hatchet. I find that I keep my fires small, which requires very little wood processing, making the weight of the axe hard to justify. If however I was going to be in a camp with other people, the the above axe would be my choice.