Axe recommendations

[Leigh]

I'd also advise picking up a few axe heads to put away.
These go from around a pound each at a booty and as you said, handles can be made later if they're needed.
I carry one in my B.O.B to put a handle to should I need to. Plenty of wood around to
Make a handle.
Also, check out grandpa's shed. He'll have a few in there for sure!
Hope this helps.

[Midnitemo]

(8 September 2013, 00:10)Timelord Wrote: First evidence of flaked stone tools is from about 750,000 years ago. The cold steel website does show an interesting array of axes even if just for comparison. While some of these Swedish & other Nordic makes of axe are excellent, I do feel the pudding is over egged a bit when it comes to the "hand forged by Master craftsmen" advertising and the Swedish steel type of mythology. An axe is no Hi-Tech item and the construction is amazingly simple. Any decent axe will have a hardened edge forge welded into the main body of steel. This can be done by hand or industrially. It will not make much difference. Axe steel specification necessitates a steel that is not too brittle and so a razor sharp edge holding ability is neither required or necessary. An axe edge will be a steeper angled bevel (flat or convex) than a knife anyway.
Many good axes can be found at car booties and the like. Look for old axe heads and they go for buttons. Remember an axe head can always be reprofiled with an angle grinder to your desired shape.
By the way, the normal type of woodsman or fire axe profile is not great for decapitation of Zombies, as the thickness of the head will result in binding. While ok for live examples due to the massive damage an axe will cause, it should be noted that for Zombies, A slim battle axe type profile is more suitable - so that the axe does not get caught up in the target. lol. TL.
I shy away from composite handles as they are not indestructable and render the axe head useless if they get damaged.

great point well made.

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(8 September 2013, 17:20)Midnitemo Wrote:

(8 September 2013, 00:10)Timelord Wrote: First evidence of flaked stone tools is from about 750,000 years ago. The cold steel website does show an interesting array of axes even if just for comparison. While some of these Swedish & other Nordic makes of axe are excellent, I do feel the pudding is over egged a bit when it comes to the "hand forged by Master craftsmen" advertising and the Swedish steel type of mythology. An axe is no Hi-Tech item and the construction is amazingly simple. Any decent axe will have a hardened edge forge welded into the main body of steel. This can be done by hand or industrially. It will not make much difference. Axe steel specification necessitates a steel that is not too brittle and so a razor sharp edge holding ability is neither required or necessary. An axe edge will be a steeper angled bevel (flat or convex) than a knife anyway.
Many good axes can be found at car booties and the like. Look for old axe heads and they go for buttons. Remember an axe head can always be reprofiled with an angle grinder to your desired shape.
By the way, the normal type of woodsman or fire axe profile is not great for decapitation of Zombies, as the thickness of the head will result in binding. While ok for live examples due to the massive damage an axe will cause, it should be noted that for Zombies, A slim battle axe type profile is more suitable - so that the axe does not get caught up in the target. lol. TL.
I shy away from composite handles as they are not indestructable and render the axe head useless if they get damaged.

great point well made.

soz i meant about the composite handles

[Leigh]

Just took delivery of Rolson's camping axe from Amazon.
Very basic carbon steel design, cost £9.00
Useful for small work tasks, butchering and as a defensive weapon but would not like to have cut a tree down with it...
Also, needed to put another paracord handle on it as it gave me blisters just looking at it!
Only reason I can see as to why spanner holes were put in the head is to save on metal?
One for the B.O.B I think.

[Midnitemo]

I've only ever had two axes and i still have them both , ones a camp axe the other is slightly bigger and longer both made by hultafors can't remember what i payed for them , must have been around a tenner or so(new)each...still going strong nearly 30 years later.....highly recomended.

[CharlesHarris]

I have an Eswing 24A in my BOB and have found it affordable and satisfactory. I can buy 3 or 4 of these to stash one in each car and have one in my BOB for less than one Swedish Westerlings.

http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2010/12/...eview.html

[Scythe13]

My question for you, what kind of work do you want the axe for, then look at axes that cover those specific kinds of jobs. For a basic all rounder, you'll be compensating by not having a specialist wood splitter, or a specialist tree chopper, or a specialist zombie smasher (couldn't resist haha). So it all depends on what you want to use it for.

Do you have experience with long or short handles? That might effect your choice. What kind of weight are you looking at adding? Will it be used at home, or will it be a BOB or even a GHB item? I recall hearing about someone who used to walk around with 2 axes on his back, but can't remember whether that was real or someone messing around. I kind of hope it was real for the entertainment WOW factor.

Having said all of that, the video of the Tomahawk on page 1 of this thread has made me want to get a tomahawk. But that's more of a man-toy and not a prep.