What I like about the Fiskars axe

[Laurentius]

You can abuse it to buggery and not worry about the cost.

I have been using mine as a cold chisel to chop through rusty nails today. I would not use a fancy axe for that.

 

[Tommyd345]

Surely it damaged the edge?

 

[Harvestman]

What I like about the Fiskars X5 is that it is a damn fine little hatchet

 

[Laurentius]

Surely it damaged the edge?

Nothing a file won't fix and even then you could still chop wood with a few nicks. It's not as bad as you would think.

 

[British Red]

I keep two tools referred to as the "ditch hatchet" and "ditch axe". They are cheap and nasty, synthetic handled axes used for chopping out tree stumps in stony soil, cutting underwater in ditches and other edge ruining tasks. Periodically they get sharpened on the belt sander.

Ditch Axe by British Red, on Flickr

Working ditch axe by British Red, on Flickr

Its worth having tools like these and a pick and mattock for those really nasty jobs that would ruin tools with more finesse

 

[bigbear]

Totally agree, its another example of you need to have a lot of stuff to love cheaply, if you see what I mean. No need to worry about a hat het getting all dinged up if its a grotty one kept for that role.

 

[British Red]

It does indeed take a lot of stuff to live simply. Of course in established farms, tools are handed down through generations. Starting from scratch either takes a long time building upand restoring bargain tools or costs a lot.

 

[MrFrido]

To me, a Fiskars axe is too pricey to be driven through nails or soil, there are cheap 5€ chinese axes for that...

 

[Wayland]

I like my Fiskars axe because I know I can lend it and get back something that is still useable.

Tough mother that is very capable as well.

 

[sunndog]

Rough old axes are awsome tools for chooping roots out of trenches, light demolition, or just generally smashing things up......theres no way i'd do it with a primary wood chopping tool though
Agree with mr frido, the cheaper the better for those tasks

 

[John Fenna]

My Fiskars lives in my workshop for rough work ... it is still razor sharp and I often use it to rough out things such as spoon blanks - but it is primarily used for jobs I would not risk one of my better axes on, such as chopping wood I suspect of concealing nails chopping wood from the beach that is full of sand and gravel and other edge wearing tasks.
It gets sharpened on the belt sander - the others get better treatment

 

[trade axe]

I use the Fiskars when going out to the lake and splitting the piled wood. Parks employees saw up the dead/damaged trees into rounds, then dump them off a truck. They end up full of earth/pebbles, whatever..............And the lifetime waranty certainly doesn't hurt.

 

[Wayland]

That is the splitter I have.

Did you know you can store a bowsaw blade in that straight handle?

 

[sandbender]

I use the Fiskars when going out to the lake and splitting the piled wood. Parks employees saw up the dead/damaged trees into rounds, then dump them off a truck. They end up full of earth/pebbles, whatever..............And the lifetime waranty certainly doesn't hurt.

Your just showing off with that pic.

I also have that Fiskars splitter and a cheap Chinese splitter too.

 

[tsitenha]

It is the ax (hatchet) of choice for my beginner students. Along with a red handled Mora, for the price and functioning ability they stand alone. If they keep on with bushcraft later they can as their purse allow get other makers.