Pack Axe - Wildlife Hatchet or SFA?

[Roe Ring]

I'm looking at buying my first 'proper' axe for bushcraft, but cant decide between the GB Wildlife Hatchet size or the GB SFA. The axe will need to be small enough to carry in/on my pack, but not so small as to be restrictive in terms of its basic capabilities.

I only intend to use it for basic camp duties, so I'm drawn to the hatchet because its small and handy and could even fit inside my day pack, but watching the Ray Mears video clip on the Woodlore site, the SFA looks quite small in the hand too.

Has anyone handled both and if so, which do you think would be better as a pack axe?

Thanks in advance.

RR

 

[Xunil]

SFA

No contest, if you want a more flexible and all round tool.

But if your work will be limited to kindling and carving then the Wildlife Hatchet is a great little axe, even if you can do more with the SFA.

That said, unless you envisage ever needing to "do more" then the Wildlife Hatchet may well meet your needs in full.

It's a tough call to make because we all use axes differently and for different workloads.

My only axe for a long time for shorter trips was a GB mini hatchet, which is a true pocket rocket. It was great for kindling, fuzz sticks, carving replacement tent pegs or triggers for traps and whatnot.

Keep in mind that you can probably achieve a lot more with a good folding saw and a knife. Saws cut across the grain faster than any axe and knives are more efficient for feather sticks and whittling.

I only carry a larger axe on longer trips of a week or more - they just don't get used if you go out for a weekend.

Start with an honest requirements analysis exercise - what do you intend using your axe for ?

Once you can establish that you can narrow down your best fit choice.

The majority of bushcraft axes just don't get used. At all. In the right hands and circumstances though, they are a superb tool. UK bushcraft weekends aren't generally ideal candidates for a lot of axe work though...

 

[Roe Ring]

Thanks Xunil,

An honest analysis at this stage would be short trips away with basic camp duties, preparing kindling etc. I have a folding saw and a good knife, so perhaps the smaller hatchet is the best option. Also, a smaller axe would be easier to carry and less likely to be left behind when needed most.

Any other thoughts or opinions?

RR

 

[Twodogs]

A folding saw and a knife maybe the way to go if its for small fires ,
I couldnt get on with the SFA and now use a Scandiavian forest axe for camp duties as It seems a lot safer to use for me, axes are a very personal thing try to get you hands on some and see what suits you.

Twodogs

 

[sandbender]

The chaps over at Natural Bushcraft have posted a youtube video which shows them making a bowl with what must be a new edition the Gransfors range, 'the Hand Hatchet or Kubben'. It looks quite handy, small but with a heavier head than the 'Mini Hatchet'.

Worth a look perhaps.

[video=youtube;19ncMNDMl2E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19ncMNDMl2E[/video]

 

[Xunil]

My thoughts are simply that if you already have a saw and knife I would suggest that an axe would just be needless additional weight to carry unless you plan on doing some quite specialised trips that would validate humping an axe around with you.

Go to any bushcraft meeting where a bunch of like-minded folks gather. Gasp in awe at the sheer number of Granfors Bruks axes gathered in one place. Gasp in even more awe at the number of them that have sliced some paper to test the edge, whose masks are unmarked and unblemished, never having been carried in weather or used in anger. That is not a reflection on the owners, merely that a lot of folks part with their hard earned with every intention of giving their shiny new GB axe a long working life, and then they promptly struggle to find work for it.

That said, I'm a complete hypocrite because I currently own 2 GB axes, half a dozen restored vintage axes in various sizes and a couple of my own make in Damascus

Axes are very useful tools in the right circumstances - my own opinion is that about 99% of currently owned bushcraft axes are unnecessary weight to carry and that probably >90% of axe owners have to find work for them to do that could just as easily be done using more efficient, convenient and lighter-to-carry tools.

The vast majority of my axe use is in gathering bowstaves and working them down into roughed out longbows, where I am effectively limbing trees or felling young trees up to 6 or 8 inches or so in diameter and removing a lot of excess green material to allow the almost-bow-sized green wood to season faster. If I wasn't gathering bowstaves I can honestly say that an axe would never even make my kit list for general bushcraft trips. At best I would add a larger knife to the knife/saw combination I mentioned earlier. The exception would be the few canoe camping trips I've done in Canada for a couple or more weeks at a stretch, when the axe begins to make itself useful. If I planned a prolonged stay or trip somewhere, the axe would be right up there back on the list of must-haves.

I honestly think that the majority of bushcrafters could very easily never own an axe for their entire life and not miss it. I am soon going to be selling or swapping my GB mini hatchet and Scandinavian Forest Axe (which makes the SFA look like a box of crayons by comparison) purely because for over two years now they have had precisely zero use. Carried often - used rarely.

The Scandinavian Forest Axe is, to my way of thinking, a truly useful camp axe. The SFA is just too small for the big stuff and a little too heavy in prolonged one-handed use for the smaller stuff. That is why I ended up with a mini-hatchet and a Scandinavian Forest Axe - my SFA went the journey within 48 hours of buying it while the mini-hatchet did a lot of short trips and worked great for firewood, kindling and carving work while the Scandinavian Forest Axe did proper camp duties wonderfully, which the SFA struggled with by comparison.

Ask yourself what you plan on using one for that your current setup has not been able to do for you. Fuzz sticks are much, much easier with a knife. Tent pegs, triggers for raps or cooking pot hangers can all easily be whittled by sawing and then a bit of knife work. So, what is your grand plan for said axe ?

If you can find a use for one then you can probably narrow down the best choice of the two you mentioned for yourself. I can't help wondering whether your indecision is due, in part, to any uncertainty regarding its intended use.

Axes - a lot of fun and very efficient tools if you have the need. A waste money to buy and of energy to carry for the majority of outdoors folks.

Just my opinion, for what it's worth.

Good luck with whatever you decide

 

[Roe Ring]

Thanks again Xunil, I appreciate your honesty. To be truthfull, I do have a tendency to convince myself that said shiny bit of kit is an absolute requirement, however, in this case, I have been looking for an axe for some time. Having worked outdoors and lived in houses where a woodburner was my only source of heat; owning an axe seems natural to me. I think my indecision comes from the fact that all my previous axes have been old, knackered full sized felling axes, which were way to big for any job I ever had for them, but they make the hatchet look tiny. I'm therefore a bit nervous about spending a substantial amount of money on something that looks so small. I'm trying to drop the big axe train of thought and match the axe to its most likely use. So far its looking like the Wildlife Hatchet is the one for me.

Cheers

RR

 

[robin wood]

For a pack axe the wildlife hatchet would be the one for me. I don't like the handle length of the SFA, it is too long to make it good for one handed use and too short for safe two handed felling and splitting. Hatchet is useful if you have permission to cut wood wherever you are going. Most of my camp stuff is either not far from a car in which case I have a carving axe or I have walked a long way in which case I travel light and certainly don't carry an axe.

 

[Xunil]

Ah, that changes things more than a little. If you do a lot of processing for a wood burner then you really should look to the larger of the two at the least.

Processing any serious amount of firewood with a Wildlife Hatchet quickly gets old.

I assumed we were discussing a bushcraft-type trip scenario.

If I was planning to process a lot of fuel for a wood burner and use the same tool for the odd trip out and about I would be looking much more closely at the slightly larger axes, which make easy work of a large wood pile.

Heavy felling axes are awful for this sort of work - they are overkill, tiring and a true hammer/nut solution to the problem. If you have quantity to process then you will be at the opposite end of the scale with a Wildlife Hatchet. It's OK for small runs of processing but you really need something with just a little bit more if you have a lot of wood to get through.

This is where the 'requirements analysis' comes into play.

If attacking your woodpile with a fairly light hatchet appeals and makes sense then the Wildlife Hatchet is on the table. If you want to be able to process quantity more easily and use the same tool for trips out and about then I think you will need to up your game a little.

Ask a dozen outdoorsy folks and get at least that many different answers in return...

 

[Neumo]

Lots of good advice here. I was in a similar position 6 months ago & went for a GB Wildlife Hatchet after thinking what I was really going to use a new Axe for. In my case it was for:
- splitting a small amount of firewood while out walking or biking. If I am car camping then I would bring a bigger axe or more likely a maul
- carving & shaping wood. The Wildlife Hatchet is pretty good for the amount of this I do & I dont do enough to justify getting a carving axe
- cutting small sicks & limbs (up to 1" thick). I do a lot of this for practicing making pot hangers, parts for traps, etc..

I like the idea of a SFA but would not want to carry it every time I go out, whereas my Wildlife Hatchet goes out with me most times & gets used nearly every trip I take it on. Small is good for me. You just need to decide how much big axe work you are going to be doing when out in the field; if you car camp it all the time then big is better IMHO.

 

[Roe Ring]

Thanks for all the replies. I dont think one axe is going to cover all my needs, so I'll probably end up with two.

As far as a pack axe goes, I think the Wildlife Hatchet fits the bill. But for heavier work I'm not so sure now that the SFA is enough, but I'll leave that decision for another day. In the mean time, is anyone looking to sell their Wildlife Hatchet? I'll post a thread in the wanted section.

Thanks again.

RR

 

[Everything Mac]

I've wanted a larger axe for some time but when I'm away camping I can't honestly say I've had the need for it.

My argos axe has done all that I have ever required and more. - Check out the husqvarna axe and older kent pattern axes on ebay. - Seems to be a growing trend to re-handle an older axe at the moment.

I strongly suggest you have a look into the Swedish carving axe - a fantastic axe if ever there was one.
I'm like you - I like the idea of a larger axe - but is rarely needed.

Atb
Andy

 

[demographic]

For fire wood around the home a maul is a far better prospect than any axe as I already have a couple of chainsaws so never really do any crosscutting with an axe.

After using multi-purpose and felling axes for years when splitting firewood on the farm I found a maul a revelation and can't see me getting another large multiporpose axe in the foreseeable future unless that are really seriously cheap.
I got a little Husqvarna hatchet a while ago and its quite nice for pottering about with but even for kindling I reach for the maul and just hold it right by the head with one hand instead of the hatchet.

I honestly don't understand why so many people want thin headed axes for splitting wood at home when wide headed mauls do the job so much better.
I can just about get my head round using a lighter axe for camping (as long as you actually own or are allowed to chop the wood where you are camping) as they are better to carry but round the home there's no competition.

 

[rg598]

You may want to take a look at the Husqvarna Hatchet. It has a head weight that is right betweent he SFA and the Wildlife Hatchet. It also cost a lot less.

Other than that, if you plan on felling trees, get the SFA. If not, the hatchet is easier to use for smaller tasks like carving and building fires.

 

[Squidders]

Scandi forest axe for me... I have the wildlife hatchet but it rarely comes out. Can't beat a full size axe.

 

[Tiley]

The Husqvarna hatchet is a useful piece of kit - certainly better than the equivalent Gransfors hatchet - and very good value when compared with some products. If you do wish to go for something a little more substantial and perhaps versatile, have a look at Ray Mears's take on the bushcraft axe. It is a very good tool and offers just that bit more than a SFA. There's something of a storm raging about it on another thread here but, thus far, I have been very impressed with mine.

However, despite all I've said, I side with the 'go-light-be-happy' brigade: think about just taking your saw and knife and batten the wood you need to split. It means that your pack will be lighter or you have room for one or two little luxuries for your journey; save the axe for a more 'camp-based' sort of trip.

 

[Roe Ring]

Thanks for all the replies. I've decided to go for the Wildlife hatchet first and see how I get on, with a view to getting something bigger at a later date.

Thanks again.

RR