Estwing Review and Mod

[HunterJon]

Yesterday I did my first mod on my estwing fireside friend that I got at homedepot for around $30 something. I've had the hatchet for a few weeks now, but recently decided that I didn't really like the blue paint covering the entire product, and plus, I was quite bored.
However, after only a few weeks, I have to say that I love this thing. It's great for splitting firewood in your backyard or when camping. I've split up to 7 inch logs with no problem at all. It weighs 4 pounds, so of course I wouldn't take it on a hike or any such thing. But where I go camping, I get out of the car and have to walk a half mile to camp, it's great. Also, it's small, which is good when trying to fit it into a pack, but not too small so you can use it two handed. The hammer on the back is great too. It not only adds extra weight when splitting wood, but is great for pounding in wooden stakes for making shelters, or pretty much anything else. It's pretty much a tank, and can be relied on heavily.
Here are some pics of the mod that I did mainly for fun:
Before:

After:

Next one is the estwing next to it's brother, a little old hatchet that my friend gave me, and my KaBar Cutlass. With the cutlass and the fireside friend, and a folding saw, I am good to go for wood on any camping trip.

As said before, this mod was mostly for fun. I put the twine on their as best as I could, with some electrical tape for aesthetics and such. If it ends up coming off during camping, I have some twine for other purposes then.
This is my first mod, and I am actually really happy with the way it turned out, and figured I'd share it with all of you.

 

[DJG097]

Looks good. I've thought about picking one of those up but never did. Welcome to the forums as well!

 

[bearhunter]

That turned out pretty sweet !

Welcome to the forum

 

[MrLegitimus]

Do you own any other axes or hatchets? If so, what is your experience with them? If you have to compare this tool to another one that would be similar, what would you say? seeing that is your first post, have you ever actually made a shelter with posts with it?

Thanks.

 

[HunterJon]

Do you own any other axes or hatchets? If so, what is your experience with them? If you have to compare this tool to another one that would be similar, what would you say? seeing that is your first post, have you ever actually made a shelter with posts with it?

Thanks.

I have used a large splitting ax that belongs to my father, however, since I got this one, that one doesnt see much use. This one being short, i feel like it's a lot safer to use and I have a lot more control with it. My other little hatchet obviously doesnt work well for splitting because it's so thin, so this one being very thick, it works great.
As for a similiar tool, I can't really think of many all steel hatchets with a four pound hammer on the side, for this one's pretty unique. And no, I haven't been able to use it for building a shelter yet, as it's way too cold out here in the northeast, and i'll be waiting until springtime for that. Once that time comes around, im sure you'll see a thread on here from me. But I went out with it and pounded some 4 inch thick limbs into the hard ground easily. It is also comfortable to hold right under the hammer which helps with control alot as well. I hope my response was helpful, seeing as my venture into camp tools has only just started recently.

 

[SamuraiDave]

I'd imagine that polishing the edge and sides of one of those would really help it glide though big logs.

There was a thread not to long ago about a guy who missed his GB splitting axe that he parted with due to wanting other things.
He realized that his cheapo splitter was kind of similar but not polished on the cheeks like the GB was. He pulled out the angle grinder and belt sander and went to work, it took some time and effort, but the result was a cheapo splitting axe that acted like his GB.

Polishing up the cheeks of my rusted, busted, hand-me-down splitter is on the list of projects that I have.