Estwing Hatchets...

[SR69]

I'm about to purchase a hatchet for camping. I'm going with what I know.
Before I do however, I'd like to hit you guys up for your opinions on my buy
and see if there are any better alternatives for in the $40. range.

Estwing Camper's Axe

The Camper's Axe has a great striking surface without a doubt. It easily doubles for a good hammer.
The rubber handle does a far greater job of insulating the user from the shock of a strike.

This is for wilderness survival and camping.
I have care more that it would last a lifetime if necessary.
With that, I'd have to give the nod to the Camper's Axe.

You NEVER throw an Estwing away. You just find something else to do with it.
I've never tossed one out. They've either been stolen or I gave them away.
While I use Titanium California Framing Hammers & Roofing Nail Guns now mostly,
I still have an Estwing Roofing Hatchet and a straight claw hammer (both are about a decade old).

And for the record, as someone who's made his living swinging full steel 2lb hammers
an average of 10,000 swings per day, learn to live with a full steel handle or make sure
you know how to source and create new handles for your wooden handled hatchet if it's
your one and only hatchet.

I currently own a Kobalt Hatchet that I picked up for $10. at Lowe's to do ONE job and considered it to be a
throw-away tool. I've put it to hell and it's still going. But, an Estwing Camper's Axe is in my immediate future.
I'm going to do my best to put an edge on it and use it as a guinea pig to do some mods (strip the handle,
make a custom grip, etc...).

Kobalt Hickory Hatchet

 

[scruffuk]

I've seen some of those lovely Norlund Hatchets/Tomahawks available on that auction site, going for/within your price range....

....then there's the Fiskars X7 Hatchet too, for just over $25.

 

[OutdoorEnvy]

for that price range I would go with a husqvarna hatchet or a Condor Greenland pattern hatchet

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

My personal favorite is the Rigger's Axe. I use one for all kind of crap around the farm. Fixed a down fence the other day using mine. Cut old sun-damaged fence rails into support stakes, chopped points on them, drove them into the ground, and nailed them to the sagging posts. Even used the beard as an extension of my arm to grab the fallen fence length and pull it all up nice and neat. Solid as a rock now, and I only needed the one tool to do it all. :thumbup:

 

[Square_peg]

My personal favorite is the Rigger's Axe.

I think that's a good choice. Also look at carpenter's hatchets.

I always keep a few galvinized nails in my camping kit. Handy things to have in camp - provided you have a way to drive them and a way to pull them back out (leave no trace).

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I think that's a good choice. Also look at carpenter's hatchets.

I always keep a few galvinized nails in my camping kit. Handy things to have in camp - provided you have a way to drive them and a way to pull them back out (leave no trace).

Make them duplex headed nails and they'll be easy to pull out and they'll give you an additional lashing point as well!

 

[cattledog]

Make them duplex headed nails and they'll be easy to pull out and they'll give you an additional lashing point as well!

Thanks Good tip I am going to get some duplex nails!

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

They're like Superman's thumbtacks.

 

[M3mphis]

I have used the estwing hatchets and axes many times. In my opinion, a well-profiled, sharp, vintage American axe on hickory is FAR superior in wood processing duties...better performance in chopping, splitting, carving...less fatigue in the hands and arms, you can choke up on them all the way to the head, the handle is easily replaceable and shape-able, you're not carrying around a heavy handle that does not aid in chopping, they bind much less, throw chips better, much better looking...so on and so forth. The Estwing's are tough as hell, though, but if the other guy on the outing is using an estwing, I'll chop him under the bus.

Just my very direct two cents worth.

ETA: I would personally suggest looking at the Council Tools boy's axe or a vintage piece.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I'm not as big of a fan of their standard axes/hatchets but they have their place. Personally I have no problem choking up on my Rigger's Axe, even right up under the head, but I have small hands so maybe that plays a role. I agree that for doing either "advanced" wood processing and for bushcraft duties etc. but for what I use it for there's no better tool than the Estwing. It's my "chop, smash, hammer, and pry" tool. I consider it as being a multi-tool built around the axe, rather than an axe in its own right. It does a little bit of everything, so I can carry just it out to the site. If I was doing dedicated "axe tasks" though, I'd be right there with ya!

 

[wildmike]

I have the Estwings campers axe the OP showed a pic of. It is a great tool, even in comparison to my GB's. I think it to be a great value and a fine performer for the price.

 

[markv]

i have to second what M3mphis says in comparing Estwings and conventional axes/hatchets. without quoting him here.

Estwing quality is pretty darn good. i have several of their tools both small hatchets the twelve and the fourteen and i've used the camp axe as well.
Estwing hammers are a favorite around these parts

buzz

 

[SR69]

I'm a big time Estwing fan myself.

I've made my living with Estwing tools.You can't kill an Estwing piece of steel.
I once heard someone say they bent one, but when I asked him for details, all I got was crickets chirping.

 

[Square_peg]

I've made my living with Estwing tools.You can't kill an Estwing piece of steel.
I once heard someone say they bent one, but when I asked him for details, all I got was crickets chirping.

I'm also an Estwing fan but I have seen their tools fail. I had one of their I-beam prybars that I used hard for 10 years. I truly considered it indestructible and treated it accordingly. I was doing a lot of framing work and concrete work back then and I worked that thing hard. Then one day it just snapped while pulling a 16 penny sinker out of a knot. I went down and bought a new one and have used it for the past 17 years - though not as hard as I used the first one.

I also had an Estwing framing hammer that I used for about a year. Framing hammers have straight claws and a carpenter will often pull a nail sideways - you get more leverage that way - the fulcrum is closer to the work. Anyway, after a year of use the neck of the Estwing framer was badly bent and the balance was shot. I swapped it for a Vaughan framing hammer that I still have to this day - it's been re-handled a few times.

I still keep an Estwing 20 oz. straight claw in my tool kit. Those 20 ouncers are a mainstay of commercial carpentry work. Almost every commercial carpenter in the Pacific Northwest owns one. I also have an Estwing rock hammer. Rock hammers get abused and the one-piece Estwings hold up the best.

So while Estwings are indeed very durable they aren't quite indestructible.

No crickets...........

 

[SR69]

I'm also an Estwing fan but I have seen their tools fail. I had one of their I-beam prybars that I used hard for 10 years. I truly considered it indestructible and treated it accordingly. I was doing a lot of framing work and concrete work back then and I worked that thing hard. Then one day it just snapped while pulling a 16 penny sinker out of a knot. I went down and bought a new one and have used it for the past 17 years - though not as hard as I used the first one.

I also had an Estwing framing hammer that I used for about a year. Framing hammers have straight claws and a carpenter will often pull a nail sideways - you get more leverage that way - the fulcrum is closer to the work. Anyway, after a year of use the neck of the Estwing framer was badly bent and the balance was shot. I swapped it for a Vaughan framing hammer that I still have to this day - it's been re-handled a few times.

I still keep an Estwing 20 oz. straight claw in my tool kit. Those 20 ouncers are a mainstay of commercial carpentry work. Almost every commercial carpenter in the Pacific Northwest owns one. I also have an Estwing rock hammer. Rock hammers get abused and the one-piece Estwings hold up the best.

So while Estwings are indeed very durable they aren't quite indestructible.

No crickets...........

After 10 years? I'd say you got your $15. worth, hey?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I also have an Estwing rock hammer. Rock hammers get abused and the one-piece Estwings hold up the best.

I have one of the long-handled rock picks. Nothing better for chipping your way through the ice in the water trough in the middle of winter.

 

[Square_peg]

After 10 years? I'd say you got your $15. worth, hey?

I bought another one right away.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I really need to pick one of those up. I keep eyeing them but I always seem to be in front of one in a shop at a time when it would get me in trouble with my other half. I love how they have the striking face on them.