I am one of the lucky 10 to get a first production Cegga axe. Needless to say I was excited to get my grubby mitts on the said axe as soon as possible. The only problem was, it turned up on Monday after I had already set off to London for 3 days work. Frustration to say the least.
Anyway, today I did a little comparison between the Cegga and my GB Wildlife hatchet. Part 2 will be a more practical comparison between the two axes (hopefully this weekend).
The Cegga is on the left and the GB on the right.
As you can see there is a bit of a difference in size and structure (sorry don't know how to do a table):
Overall length C 38cm GB 34.5
Edge C 7cm GB 8cm
Shoulder width C 5 cm GB 4 cm
Edge to Poll C 13.5 cm GB 13
Throat C 3.5 cm GB 3 cm
Belly C 4 cm GB 3.5 cm
Weight C 650g GB 610g
Overall the Cegga is a little heavier and a little larger than the GB. This is not a problem however. It's all in the detail.
The GB (above) is a lot rougher in its finish than the Cegga (below).
Even down to the lanyard hole being less finished in the GB (below)
than the Cegga
The next 2 pictures just show a bit more detail of the two axes side by side with the Cegga being on the left of the photo in both cases.
Interestingly the grain of the handle has quite a different orientation between the two. The Cegga (left) has a much better 'vertical' grain than the GB which slopes at approximately 45 degrees.
When viewed from above both axes have a very similar profile thogh the Cegga (top one in photo) is less concave than the GB.
The last detail I have a photo for at the moment is the mask provided by Cegga. It is a lovely piece of work in soft leather. It took me a few seconds to work out how to use it though. Cegga's is below in this picture.
On the other side of Cegga's mask there is a loop of leather which can be used to feed a belt through. I haven't tried it yet (that is for Part 2
) but I can see that it might be awkward to offer up the axe into the mask once it is on a belt but I will give it a go later.
I have not had a chance to use it at all so far but my overall impression is of a superbly crafted piece of work. The finish is so much better than my GB, the handle is more comfortable and the balance in my opinion is far superior to the GB. This is of course all subjective. Out of the box the Cegga was hair poppingly sharp though I do remember the GB being pretty damned sharp when it arrived too. The balance point of the GB is approximately 7cm down the handle from the eye and for the Cegga it is about 9cm. This is due to greater weight in the handle. This does not seem to have any impact on the ease of use or balance of either axe when used full choked (by that I mean gripped just below the head).
I am overjoyed to have this axe as it appears to be of high quality workmanship, well made and well finished. Thank you Cegga for producing such a fine piece of work and thank you British Red for helping develop this fantastic axe and allowing us mere mortals a chance to have one. Both of you :You_Rock_
PS I hope to do Part 2 early next week!
Anyway, today I did a little comparison between the Cegga and my GB Wildlife hatchet. Part 2 will be a more practical comparison between the two axes (hopefully this weekend).
The Cegga is on the left and the GB on the right.
As you can see there is a bit of a difference in size and structure (sorry don't know how to do a table):
Overall length C 38cm GB 34.5
Edge C 7cm GB 8cm
Shoulder width C 5 cm GB 4 cm
Edge to Poll C 13.5 cm GB 13
Throat C 3.5 cm GB 3 cm
Belly C 4 cm GB 3.5 cm
Weight C 650g GB 610g
Overall the Cegga is a little heavier and a little larger than the GB. This is not a problem however. It's all in the detail.
The GB (above) is a lot rougher in its finish than the Cegga (below).
Even down to the lanyard hole being less finished in the GB (below)
than the Cegga
The next 2 pictures just show a bit more detail of the two axes side by side with the Cegga being on the left of the photo in both cases.
Interestingly the grain of the handle has quite a different orientation between the two. The Cegga (left) has a much better 'vertical' grain than the GB which slopes at approximately 45 degrees.
When viewed from above both axes have a very similar profile thogh the Cegga (top one in photo) is less concave than the GB.
The last detail I have a photo for at the moment is the mask provided by Cegga. It is a lovely piece of work in soft leather. It took me a few seconds to work out how to use it though. Cegga's is below in this picture.
On the other side of Cegga's mask there is a loop of leather which can be used to feed a belt through. I haven't tried it yet (that is for Part 2
) but I can see that it might be awkward to offer up the axe into the mask once it is on a belt but I will give it a go later.I have not had a chance to use it at all so far but my overall impression is of a superbly crafted piece of work. The finish is so much better than my GB, the handle is more comfortable and the balance in my opinion is far superior to the GB. This is of course all subjective. Out of the box the Cegga was hair poppingly sharp though I do remember the GB being pretty damned sharp when it arrived too. The balance point of the GB is approximately 7cm down the handle from the eye and for the Cegga it is about 9cm. This is due to greater weight in the handle. This does not seem to have any impact on the ease of use or balance of either axe when used full choked (by that I mean gripped just below the head).
I am overjoyed to have this axe as it appears to be of high quality workmanship, well made and well finished. Thank you Cegga for producing such a fine piece of work and thank you British Red for helping develop this fantastic axe and allowing us mere mortals a chance to have one. Both of you :You_Rock_
PS I hope to do Part 2 early next week!
