Which mini axe or hatchet ?

[Xunil]

Some thieving scoundrel lifted my GB Wildlife and Mini axes last month.

Every time I try to get on one of the group buys for one of Cegga's axes I never manage to make the list and I have too much on over the next few months making knives to take time out to forge a new mini axe, so...


... which would you good folks suggest and are there any that compare with or even trump the GB wildlife or mini ?

 

[bb07]

My sympathies on the loss of your axes

I've never used any of these but they are different from what most people seem to have.
http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/images/367-9456-lg.jpg
(Mueller-Austria)

And some more
http://www.gedore.de/en/products/gr...6&oe_opt[list_set]=28362,118950,104521,104526

 

[Samon]

Why not try a 'Hults bruk'? or the tough as nails 'Estwing' ? I'd like to know what you buy though mate, I'd deffinately like to hear more about the hults bruk axes..they seem shadowed by the GB fad. Estwing is just a tough bit of kit, probably not ideal for 'bushcraft' though.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Have you tried the GB outdoor axe? See here
punches well above its weight and is often the one i choose to take over wildlife hatchet or small forest axe. i think of it as a tomahawk and it covers almost every need i have when out and about, light enough to be packed for almost any trip but rugged enough to do the work of bigger axes.
(no connection etc etc just really impressed)

 

[jimfbte]

PM sent.

Jim FBtE

 

[British Red]

Carlsberg don't make mini axes.

But if they did.........

 

[robin wood]

I think wildlife is good and good value. The husqvarna hatchet looks even better value though I have not had one yet. I have a cegga I would be prepared to pass on at cost though it is pretty well used and not as shiny as it was. My favorites are mostly old axe heads I have picked up for a couple of pounds and rehandled, not because they are particularly better but they are as good and have individuality. If I fancied this but didin't have time I would buy one of Hegehogs beauties. http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70397&highlight=hedgehog

 

[salad]

I have the gransfors outdoor axe and I am very happy with it, I do a lot of treking and its a good size and weight for sticking in your pack, not to heavy but with enough weight and balance distribution to be a useful trail tool.

I have included a photo of it next to a small forest axe for size comparison

 

[Wayland]

I'm pretty happy with my Trail Hawk

Cheap, light but very effective.

 

[Xunil]

I have a Trail Hawk (love it to bits) and I have several mid-size axes including the GB Scandinavian (makes the Small Forest Axe look like a toy by comparison) and a couple of rehandled Elwell heads, which are great.

Just to be an axe tart (British Red started it ) I also often use the Damascus and Cocobolo mini-hatchet I forged for my longbow making:

This is not a general working mini axe though - it was deliberately made with a long head so that I can use it kind of like a plane, as well as for roughing out, which gives it a peculiar balance in normal axe terms but it works exactly as I intended for longbow making.

I haven't any small Elwell or Brades heads lying around so the little Husqvarna has been winking at me this last few days.

That'll teach me to take a bunch of mates out - they disobeyed the fundamental 'fight club' rule: never talk about bushcraft. A few of them talked to some of their mates, who spoke to some of theirs and before I knew it a dozen or so complete strangers turned up when it was supposed to be five or six of us. That's when my axes (among other things) wandered off to pastures new...

 

[Retired Member southey]

Carlsberg don't make mini axes.

But if they did.........

Only five months to go!!!!!! How excited am I....Um I dont suppose you would happen to have any other pics in that vein laying around to keep me calm for a bit?


Xunil screw a working axe I think a hunters Hawk and a set of pliers, then move through your friends toe nails till you find the friend of a friend who has your kit. I'll do it for you for a hand made long bow

 

[British Red]

Which one? The belt axe, the double bit or the tomahawk? All in maple naturally!

Red

 

[Retired Member southey]

Double bit please!

 

[Everything Mac]

Xunil - What will you use this axe for?

The tool which jumps out for me is the GB swedish carving axe. - It is one of the best axes I've used. If I could only have one hatchet it would be one of those.
http://www.wealddown.co.uk/Gransfor-Bruks-Axes/Large-Swedish-Carving-Axe-Both-Side-Bevel-475

Pricey but very good.


Outside of that I assume you aren't simply going to replace like for like?

The Husquvarna hatchet is reportedly very good, not used one myself.

Andy

 

[Xunil]

Xunil - What will you use this axe for?
...y

It's a smaller hatchet or mini I want for tucking into my jacket pocket or game bag when out and about.

I have mid-range axes and a couple of carpenters axes (GB and Wetterlings) but I particularly want something small and quite compact.

It will mainly be used for some carving and generally for harvesting young Hazel up to a couple of inches thick from coppiced woods, processing kindling now and again and that kind of thing. A general purpose pocket rocket

Do I need one ?

No

Do I want one ?

Obviously

Anything the size of a GB SFA/Cold Steel Trail Hawk or over is out of the question for my purposes. Pocket sized or a small belt axe at the outside is where I am aiming here - I find you can do an awful lot more with a small axe than most realise and I only ever take a larger axe out if I intend doing a lot of serious work (helping the woodsmen on a local estate in exchange for harvesting bow staves, for example) or if I am going on a long trip.

 

[ex member coconino]

I really like my Husqvarna, it's a good, cheap no-fuss hatchet. If I was buying an one now, I'd probably get one of the Roselli wildlife axes.

 

[Hoodoo]

I would get another wildlife or mini or both. But I would also consider getting one of those mini Wetterlings. You get the heft of the wildlife but in a smaller package. GB makes an almost identical hatchet as well. Hard to tell it apart from the Wetterling.

Used hatchet heads are really a great way to go as Robin said. If you can find a Norlund, either the head or the hatchet, you will have a nice little hatchet.

 

[Mojoracinguk]

It's a smaller hatchet or mini I want for tucking into my jacket pocket or game bag when out and about.

I have a husky and yes i like it....but i think I read the head weight is heavier than the hatchest you want to replace (I have not the time to check...sorry)

I do know that if the handle were to become damaged or broken on mine i'd make and fit one a good fist width longer at least as i feel it would still pack in my kit and the extra lenght would suit me and the head wieght more.....happy huntings

mojo

 

[Everything Mac]

It's a smaller hatchet or mini I want for tucking into my jacket pocket or game bag when out and about.

I have mid-range axes and a couple of carpenters axes (GB and Wetterlings) but I particularly want something small and quite compact.

It will mainly be used for some carving and generally for harvesting young Hazel up to a couple of inches thick from coppiced woods, processing kindling now and again and that kind of thing. A general purpose pocket rocket

Do I need one ?

No

Do I want one ?

Obviously

Anything the size of a GB SFA/Cold Steel Trail Hawk or over is out of the question for my purposes. Pocket sized or a small belt axe at the outside is where I am aiming here - I find you can do an awful lot more with a small axe than most realise and I only ever take a larger axe out if I intend doing a lot of serious work (helping the woodsmen on a local estate in exchange for harvesting bow staves, for example) or if I am going on a long trip.

I see - that one is a bit big then.

in that case I would stick with a wildlife hatchet personally. - I found the mini to be too small for me, but that's just personal taste.

As said the husky axe would be a good option.

Not a fan of Roselli axes.


You can always go the route of refurbishing an old axe head.

All the best
Andy

 

[Biker]

Xunil, I have a Sandvik hatchet axe head sitting on my bench in the basement. No shaft and no rust, the orange paint's a bit chipped off but it's sound. Want it?

Yours for a pay it forward, i.e. Free (Hopefully you're familier with the "pay it forward" expression.)

The snag is you'll have to wait a couple of weeks before I can get to the UK to post it to you. The P&P price from France is a bit of a killer.

Sorry to read some oik walked off with your axe. I wish him only bad luck using it, maybe one day he'll only be able to count to 9.