Quality Hatchet Companies?

Council Tools Sport Utility 14" Camp Hatchet. 1 lbs 6 oz head, 14" hickory handle, high centerline, eye ridges, Made in America.
 
Hate to be this way but many people are just too lazy to learn to sharpen. They would rather pay big money for super steel knives and send them back to the factory to sharpen. Instead of buying one of the many knives that you can touch up as you go

There's no problem with this, in my mind. That's like saying you should build your own house and you're lazy because you haven't taken the time to master the skills and apply it, whether you have the time or not. Or build a car... and so on. Life choices, we have the freedom to choose and the decision you chastise is not wrong, just different.
 
I agree with the above. I don't think its unreasonable for someone just looking for a hatchet to not want to get into a whole restoration.

help the guy find a cool axe and that could eventually lead to eventually learning to sharpen, and then rehang, etc. etc.
 
If you want out of the box sharp ready to go axes Gransfor Bruks are hard to beat in my experience ... all three I have would shave hair ...

Autine is another comes very sharp ... Hultafors another that comes sharp ... none of the three are cheap ...

some quaility axes that may require a bit of sharpening but make good tools and are much less expensive ... Fiskar ... Estwimg ... Husqvarna ... Kershaw ...

all depends what you want to spend and what you want to use them for.
 
There is a difference between building a house and being able to sharpen an axe or knife. You can build a house and live there all all your life . You buy an new axe or knife unless you put it on a shelf and never use it It will need sharpened regularly . There may come a time when you have to depend on those tools. You need to know how to sharpen . It is a skill every adult should have. I have got to the point that if someone asks me to sharpen a tool I will teach them how but won't do it for them .

By the way I can build a house if necessary too
 
There is a difference between building a house and being able to sharpen an axe or knife. You can build a house and (1) live there all all your life . You buy an new axe or knife unless you put it on a shelf and never use it It will need sharpened (2) regularly . There may come a time when you have to depend on those tools. (3)You need to know how to sharpen . It is a skill every adult should have. I have got to the point that if someone asks me to sharpen a tool I will teach them how but won't do it for them .

By the way I can build a house if necessary too

1. I have not known a single person to live in a single house their entire lives, for various reasons.
2. What is regularly? 1 week, 1 month, 1 year? Depending on that answer, learning a skill you rarely use makes little sense. Better, let an expert do it for you for a fee, or free in some cases, so you save money on the tools needed to sharpen
3. No, you don't. Useful, sure. Not a necessity, not anymore at least.

I think you missed my point. There are people who excel at certain things and it can make sense to have them perform services for us, instead of everything being able to do an acceptable job on many things (specialization vs generalization). Just because you or I sharpen our knives doesn't mean we did a good job at it, or that we could do as good a job as someone who has made a profession out of it. And then to say they're lazy because they let or pay someone else do the work for them is bad form, IMO. Our society is based on many such scenarios because time is a limited resource.

Sorry for getting the thread off topic. I strongly disagree with the notion that someone must know how to regrind an axe as a life skill or that having the work performed professionally suggests the person is lazy, for various reasons. It's useful, no doubt, but having it performed by those very skilled at that task is completely reasonable.
 
You assume you can always get to someone who has the skills to sharpen and you will always have money to pay for it. Neither are guaranteed! You are not guaranteed the next breath. As far as cost 6 bucks at harbor freight gets you a file and stone. Forty two blades sells the council tool camp hatchet for around 35 bucks $4-$5 more and he will profile it for you 1/3 the price and just as good as the European stuff . Basic knife and axe sharpening skills are not a highly skilled process I could do it by the time I was 12-13 years old. Not everyone needs to be an expert but everyone should know the basics. Maybe I am just from the generation that believes that there are basic things an adult should know how to do.

I guess that is why I don't have a problem charging an able man an $80 service charge for tightening a packing nut on a valve where I usually don't charge an elderly person that can't get to it due to health reasons .
 
Check out the Vaughan & Bushnell camp axe.
It's not expensive or fancy, but they use an excellent steel.

For splitting kindling while camping you really don't need much.

If you want a little work then rehab a vintage American head.
Sears has a Vaughan and Bushnell for $17. Craftsman.
 
Maybe I am just from the generation that believes that there are basic things an adult should know how to do
Yup. It ain't rocket science. We were sharpening axes and hatchets as young teens in the Boy Scouts. The skill is a very basic one easily learned.
 
Sears has a Vaughan and Bushnell for $17. Craftsman.
Yes they should for now, if there's still a Sears left near you.

My grandmother bought one for kindling, and it took me maybe 10 min to get it ready with just a file.
I did have any of my own toolbox with me either, so I was using an old one she had laying around in the garage.
 
Maybe I am just from the generation that believes that there are basic things an adult should know how to do.

Yup. It ain't rocket science. We were sharpening axes and hatchets as young teens in the Boy Scouts. The skill is a very basic one easily learned.

You sound uncertain, but I can already tell you that you're statement is wrong simply because you used "the" instead of "a." Also sounds like you're trying to say your generation is greater, which is highly subjective since that doesn't state what you're better at.

Further, I didn't learn how to sharpen a knife until a couple years ago but I knew plenty about rocket science in my teens, since leghog wanted to bring an unrelated discussion into this one. Of course they're not the same, one is a subject matter comprised of multiple science and one is the application or skill from a set of sciences, if you wanted to get technical about it. More related would be shooting off a rocket, pretty simple to do but not a necessary life skill. Something else I would have performed before sharpening a knife.

Bringing in the boys scouts argument reinforces my point, not hinders. If it were important then society would more likely have left it in schools with home ec and shop class. Those were removed so that subjects like rocket science could be taught (physics, math, chemistry). Teachings of that was relegated to smaller groups like boy scouts. Doesn't make the skills useless, just not necessary for humans to thrive.

Leghog, since I assume you were trying to point out the differences in complexities instead of just building a list of things that aren't knife sharpening, I give you these thoughts. Complexity of a task should not determine whether we learn it or not. Significance should. Significance towards what goal or path is a different topic but to use complexity as the measure of whether we all need to learn something is overly simplistic. In business and in life, it is common, and often ideal, to delegate simple and/or repetitive tasks so that we can work on higher priority items with the limited resources we have.

Finally, this discussion has taken enough from this thread and if you would like to continue the discussion I would happily start a thread to continue. I enjoy philosophy and psychology and getting BF's perspective on knife sharpening as a necessary life skill could be interesting, or entertaining at least. I'll tag the both of you in it once I've created it. Maybe it goes no where, maybe it strikes an interesting conversation for a slow weekend.
 
You sound uncertain, but I can already tell you that you're statement is wrong simply because you used "the" instead of "a." Also sounds like you're trying to say your generation is greater, which is highly subjective since that doesn't state what you're better at.
That's complete and utter BS. Has nothing to do with generation. My son can sharpen an ax. Again, it isn't rocket science. Millions upon millions of men have learned the skill.

Further, I didn't learn how to sharpen a knife until a couple years ago but I knew plenty about rocket science in my teens, since leghog wanted to bring an unrelated discussion into this one. Of course they're not the same, one is a subject matter comprised of multiple science and one is the application or skill from a set of sciences, if you wanted to get technical about it. More related would be shooting off a rocket, pretty simple to do but not a necessary life skill. Something else I would have performed before sharpening a knife.

Please. Stop with the obtuseness. Sharpening an ax is easy to learn. You know that is exactly what was meant.

Bringing in the boys scouts argument reinforces my point, not hinders. If it were important then society would more likely have left it in schools with home ec and shop class. Those were removed so that subjects like rocket science could be taught (physics, math, chemistry). Teachings of that was relegated to smaller groups like boy scouts. Doesn't make the skills useless, just not necessary for humans to thrive.
Bringing up Boy Scouts supports my point. That's why I brought it up. If a 13 year old can learn to sharpen an ax, an adult certainly can.

Leghog, since I assume you were trying to point out the differences in complexities instead of just building a list of things that aren't knife sharpening, I give you these thoughts. Complexity of a task should not determine whether we learn it or not. Significance should. Significance towards what goal or path is a different topic but to use complexity as the measure of whether we all need to learn something is overly simplistic. In business and in life, it is common, and often ideal, to delegate simple and/or repetitive tasks so that we can work on higher priority items with the limited resources we have.
O.F.F.S.! Please.

Finally, this discussion has taken enough from this thread and if you would like to continue the discussion I would happily start a thread to continue. I enjoy philosophy and psychology and getting BF's perspective on knife sharpening as a necessary life skill could be interesting, or entertaining at least. I'll tag the both of you in it once I've created it. Maybe it goes no where, maybe it strikes an interesting conversation for a slow weekend.
It's only a necessary life skill if you want to buyvand use tools requiring the skill. Most participating here on these BF fora fall into that category.

This entire argument is a kin to being a bicycle enthusiast and defending bike onwers and riders not knowing how to change a tube or tire.
 
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To get this thread back on track, I'd say to go vintage. My favorite hatchet is one I saw as just a head outside of a friends shop and was given. It is a vintage GBA head on an old handle my grandparents had and for all tasks that don't involve dirty wood ie stumps, debarking skidded logs, etc I always find myself reaching for it. For dirty wood I get a no-name half hatchet which cost $1 for the head at a yard sale and $10 bucks for a handle and use that so I don't dull my nice one.
 
Just because boy scouts isn't a school subject doesn't mean it's not important, but things like hatchets and knives are used in scouts which are a no go at schools.
 
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There are some interesting US forgers making some neat axes and hawks that are worth a look too. 2hawks and H & B forge are two that come to mind. I think Wolf Creek forge might be around on Etsy who was supposed to have made nice items.

The H&B belt axe is one from H&B that should be about right.
The 2hawks trapper hatchet (single and double-bit options) should work but they have a few nice tomahawks on offer also.

These should be good to go right from the forger, but they aren't cheap and I think there may be a bit of a wait time for some as they're made to order. I've been spying the 2hawks voyager for some time now but it's a bit above my price range still compared to the less expensive options I'm still trying out for experience. Really enjoying the rinaldi axes I mentioned earlier but the cold steel stuff is certainly decent at a bargain.
 
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The second axe i bought was a cold steel trail boss. It's been a good little axe. The fit on the haft wasn't all that great. Where there were gaps at the bottom of the eye they filled it with epoxy. But there is enough shoulder left so i can remove and rehang it when needed. It still hasn't come loose yet. Steel is good and edge retention is also very acceptable. I can't say that I'd recommend it over a vintage Hudson Bay pattern. But considering how inexpensive it was and what you do get i can't help but give it a thumbs up.
 
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