Camping axe recommendations

Rockstarter

Rockstarter

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I know a decent amount about folding knives but not a thing about axes. The wife and I have recently gotten into dispersed camping and I’m in need of a reasonably priced camping axe. Some recommendations or any information would be appreciated.
 
Edit. I had to look it up. Dispersed camping is basically not at a camp ground.

Probably a fiscars is the practical boring option.

Light, fairly cheap and sharp enough to carve with.

The cover clips to a belt or a pack.
 
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I always assume people are watching pack weight camping, so first I'd ask myself if I needed an axe. If it's just for wood prep, then a borah 15 saw and a little hatchet (fiskars makes a nigh-near indestructable one) will take me further than a full-size axe. If you just want an axe, a council tool boys axe / flying fox / similar fits the bill for around sixty bucks.
 
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I love my GB small forest axe, but I have 2 Estwing (diff sizes) as recommended by W. They are very tough, rubber handles allow for great grip in all conditions, and take a nice edge. Good prices as well. Nice Silky Saw Big Boy is light to go with it as well!
 
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Rockstarter said:
I know a decent amount about folding knives but not a thing about axes. The wife and I have recently gotten into dispersed camping and I’m in need of a reasonably priced camping axe. Some recommendations or any information would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

What do you NEED an axe for? Cooking, building a shelter, staying warm?

Generally, I'm not a fan of hatchets but have been testing them out so my son has something to use. I like forest axes, hudson bay axes, or some thing in that range of 18-24" handle, 18" being about the bare minimum. Just a preference I suppose, I like a big fixed blade over a short hatchet and will just baton. I don't find small hatchets good for splitting wood at all and end up batoning with them anyway and there's just limitations, at least with my skill level.

Once we get to the longer handle and less risk of the edge coming back at me on a missed swing, I like axes a lot if heavy wood processing is needed. But it's a lot of weight to have if you're hauling it a long ways by foot.

The cold steel hawks are great place to start, IMO, as long as you're okay putting an edge on them. A council tool boy's axe or flying fox are also great tools. I haven't tried their Hudson Bay axe but so far I have been happy with the council tools axes I've used and they're priced well. The fiskars hatchet or chopping axe are good too.

If you don't need to do a lot of wood processing, something like a parang and saw are my preference.

For a lightweight, reasonably priced hatchet, I've been warming up to the mora axe. It's only a pound and packs really well, but it's not heavy enough to do a lot of work like a boy's axe or Hudson bay axe. It will chop better than most knives in that weight range and it is an axe.

In my area, the main advantage I see with a small axe/hatchet is it's not as easily called a weapon and is almost always considered a tool 1st. It's rare that, that matters, but people and authorities sometimes gawk at a large knife.
 
Condor Greenland Axe is pretty nice. Comes with a leather edge cover, nice wood handle, and can also be used as a large hammer.
 
First choice would be a boys axe, about 2-1/4 pounds on a 28” handle. Check Council tools. If you prefer a hatchet then look a Vaughan’s 1-1/4 pound camping hatchet. U.S. made 1080steel.
 
Estwing 26" Campers Axe is a good strong , versatile and inexpensive option . :cool: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I've used one for many years , primarily clearing along my walking trials trough the woods on my property .

Steel handle is a great plus for me , having tore up many wood handles previously .

estwing 26 campers axe review at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.
duckduckgo.com duckduckgo.com
 
Compromise is always going to be a gamble. Without knowing your location/egosystem, it's hard to know what is going to be a total non-starter, and what might be useful. I'd break things down into choppers and splitters. If you are commonly breaking down small diameter rounds in that chopping would be overall more efficient than a saw, then a long-ish handle and a thin profile blade would do well, the mid-size fiskars are good in that regard, but you can get nicer and lighter heads if you want to spend a bit. Basically, you'd get far more efficiency doing the same task a lot of guys would use a large heavy knife for. If more of what you are doing is splitting, and doing the bucking with a saw, then you want a much wider profile blade to get better splitting efficiency, the weight you carry in the head will make for less work when it's firewood time. But a full maul will likely be more than you want to carry (again the fiskars splitter is quite good, but you can look at other options)
Handles buy more than a mechanical advantage, a longer handle is safer than a short one, but again, at what cost? I'm not a fan of hatchets in general, and I've split more than my fair share of firewood with one (we had a wood-heated stock tank, so that was basically a twice-a-day task from 12 to 18 every winter.) But a real ax head on a stumpy handle shouldn't be overlooked as a batoning option, think splitting wedge with a handle. I'm going off memory, but I did a lot of work with a mid-sized (3-4lb) ax head on a straight 12-14inch handle. Not ideal to carry, but the mass made up for the short leverage. So that is something worth playing with, especially if you know what sort of wood you are going up against, and what your considerations are. While most backpackers would look at the weight of a full ax as a needless cost, if it means also not carrying fuel, is good enough to minimize effort at the end of the day (or is part of the overall goals anyhow) then there is no reason to suffer (and risk0 and hatchet, if a "real" ax will do the job.
But overall, your environ should be dictating the tools, not the good idea fairy on the internet.
 
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For a small axe I’ll second the estwing campers axe. I have used one the last 5-6 years on the farm and it’s indestructible.

I really like the fiskars axe the same size. I had one...until it disappeared out of my tracker. It chopped real good and was light. Darn it.

I have an estwing sportsman’s axe, the 14” hatchet. Well the handle doesn’t jive with my carpal tunnel but it’s a fine tool. I thinned my head and reshaped it some but, still, it’s a real nice offering if you don’t need a full or mid sized axe.
 
The longer the axe, the safer it is, with the logic that a short axe will bury into your leg, while a longer axe will hit the ground. If you just want to make kindling out of fallen branches, a hatchet is probably all you need. A boy's axe can bust up larger logs (or build a cabin) if that is what you're looking to do.

You can't beat Fiskars for a ready to use tool for a low price. I've been using my Fiskars hatchet for 10 years now, and it has always performed. It's a good starter because if you decide axes are not for you, then you haven't invested much. Council tool boy's axe is also a good value and will probably serve you a lifetime.

I like to share this video with new axe users because these are the skills that demonstrate the versatility of the axe.
 
dogstar said:
The longer the axe, the safer it is,
Click to expand...

I understand this flawed logic thinking but don’t agree with it, I think there are only dangerous people not dangerous tools. If you have a basic understanding then the most “dangerous” tool can be compensated for.
I’ve had this argument on a forum in a past life when it was claimed that lock knives were safer than slipjoints, that really only applies to folks who don’t understand slipjoints, by that logic friction folders should be banned!
How is it possible to
protect people from their lack of understanding of basic physics?
 
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How is it possible to protect people from any consequence of their choices?

Either you understand physics or you don’t. If you don’t, you can choose to study and learn it, or continue not understanding. If you choose the latter, you can also choose a combination of hardware that is more forgiving of your lack.

Of course, not everyone is sufficiently self-aware to know what they don’t know. The prudent will equip themselves with bandaids, just in case.

Parker
 
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