estwing camp axe or council tool

B

battboy

Joined
Feb 21, 2011
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ive been looking for a good axe/hatchet for a while and have narrowed it down to the estwing 16 in campers axe and the council tool 18 in hudson bay axe. i like that the estwing is one piece of solid steel but wish the head was a bit thicker for splitting. which do you prefer? thanks
 
I am going to trade a friend of mine a vintage boys axe and hatchet for his Estwing campers axe.

Because friends don't let friends swing Estwings.
 
I love my wood handles best but there is a place for Estwing axes. And some of their other tools are quite good, too.

The handles are nearly unbreakable and they're immune to the effects of wet freezing climate unlike wood. Their I-beam pry bar is the best pry bar made. Their 20 oz. straight claw hammer is a mainstay for commercial carpenters and form setters. Their rock pick and mason's hammers are also great.
 
Square_peg said:
I love my wood handles best but there is a place for Estwing axes. And some of their other tools are quite good, too.

The handles are nearly unbreakable and they're immune to the effects of wet freezing climate unlike wood. Their I-beam pry bar is the best pry bar made. Their 20 oz. straight claw hammer is a mainstay for commercial carpenters and form setters. Their rock pick and mason's hammers are also great.
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I agree that you would be hard pressed to find a more durable striking tool than those made by Estwing. But that durabilty comes at a steep price. The balance is awful. The handles are uncomfortable and transmit shock like a broken bat. They are very heavy. All the weight is where it does not belong. Just go to their web site and try to figure out how much them things weigh. They don't even want to say. Or try to figure out head weight. A more ineffecient striking tool would be hard to make.
If it was me, I would just learn how to change a handle. When I pick up a tool it should be a pleasure to use. I look forward to it. That will never happen with an Estwing.
 
These size axes can easily be used with way too much power behind the swing. I was guilty of it in my past, luckily I still have both my legs. The Estwings seems like the more durable choice when considering an overswing. But, consider taking more time to be good with the tool and let it do the work it's capable of. Overswings rarely happen when more control is used, and the tool stays withing it's power limitations. It's then that a wooden handle is a joy to use and seems very durable.
I've only swung my Council Tools HB Velvicut a few times, and it's very nice to use. I've owned all the Estwing sizes of axes/hatchets and they just don't compare. The weight of the head and a wooden haft is the way it should be on these mid length axes.
 
I have to admit that I'm pretty impressed with the new Estwings. Not sure if it's because they've been reading the forums or not, but their new profiles are comparable to Gransfors Bruks, believe it or not. Convexed and quite thin on all the models I've seen recently. The little 12" hatchet is actually quite a nice tool.
 
battboy said:
how do these compare to a fiskars and huskvarna?
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If you don't mind synthetics and a less balanced axe, the Fiskars/Gerber axes/hatchets are awesome performers. Just make sure to sharpen before use to remove the excess/soft metal from the edge that forms during the manufacturing process.
 
do the fiskars/gerber have a stainless steel head? i thought i had heard this a while back but now on the website it just says " forged steel". and also i have heard the fiskars is prone to chipping is this true? thanks
 
Like Coloradowildman says, you have to file off the initial edge that comes on the axe. For some reason the axe comes from the store with a layer of soft metal on the bit, which is extremely prone to chipping. Once you file all of that off and get to some harder metal though, it is said to be pretty good.

As for the metal of the head, I'm not entirely sure. It doesn't seem like stainless steel, as it has sort of a matte finish rather than being shiny, but that is a pretty ignorant answer at best! I'm sure someone else has more info!
 
I have an older gerber. I took the paint off the head and it doesn't rust, so I think its probably stainless. I thought it was an absolute piece of crap for a long time. I just used it as a beater because the edge would roll so easy. One day I decided to work over the edge (BTW the old ones like mine came with an edge that looked like a poorly ground cross peen hammer. I kid you not, it was that blunt), after taking off probably 1/8" of steel to get past the rolls/chips I encountered decent steel (I didn't know it at the time because I was using a belt grinder and that doesn't give you much feedback on the steel you are working). I still use it as a beater but the edge holds up fairly well. It performs fine. I personally do not like the balance or the feel of the handle/construction in use, but it works well enough. It's one that I let others use without supervision...:D

ETA: I'd take the Gerber/Fiskars over the Estwing any day of the week. Don't hate me.
 
i think i have narrowed it down to the council tool and the fiskars. what do you guys think would be better for chopping and light splitting but would also hold up to abuse?
 
battboy said:
i think i have narrowed it down to the council tool and the fiskars. what do you guys think would be better for chopping and light splitting but would also hold up to abuse?
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At this point, the only Council Tool Axes I'd recommend to a new person would be the Boy's Axe FSS (Forest Service Edition) or the Velvicut. The reason is that the aluminum wedges that Council uses in all their standard axes is the worst material for a wedge anyone could ever conceive of. Aluminum wildly contracts and expands from heat and cold, and then stress cracks inside the eye. Almost every single Council I've owned with an aluminum wedge has done this, with pieces of the aluminum breaking off and falling out, leading to an axe that has to be rehung way before it should need to be. The Boy's Axe Forest Service edition uses a plastic wedge which is actually more stable, and the Velvicuts use a classic wooden wedge and metal pin.

The other thing is that Council's standard Hudson Bay axes are notorious for developing loose heads within days, weeks, or months of purchase. I've owned three, and yep, all of them came loose within this time period. To Council's credit, they did rehang the last one in a traditional manner and it held up well, but it was a huge headache to get to that point after dealing with everything.

I love traditional axes and own a large collection of them, but for someone new, get something reliable that chops well while needing minimal profile work. I think you're best bet is a Gerber Camp Axe II made by Fiskars in Finland. I've been testing one of these against a Gransfors and a Wetterlings for almost 5 months, and aside from less balance, it chops and performs fine work just as good as those other two brands and splits even better. Once you've had and use it for a while you'll itch for a nice traditional axe like a vintage American or Swedish axe. At that point, you'll have a better understanding of what you'd want out of an axe. Just my 2 cents :)
 
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