Reddit reviews Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe 19 Inch, 420

There are a ton of axes out there that fit your profile straight out of the box. You're just looking for a European style forest axe.

This is your best "budget" option.

These

are

some

... pricier options.

Don't ruin a perfectly fine American axe trying to replicate a European axe. There's no reason for it.

As for whether your design is good for "camp tasks," well, that depends. You'd need to define some things.

1. What kind of camping? Are you driving out or hiking? If you're driving out, don't fuck around. Bring a full sized axe.
   
   
2. What kind of "camp tasks" are you going to be doing? If you're just going to be limbing for smaller firewood, then even a hatchet will do you well. If you're going to be felling, bucking and splitting whole trees, then car or hike you're better off with a full sized axe. Bucking is a ton of work and a heavier axe helps the tool do the work rather than your arms. If you watch this dude's axe content, you'll see that even he (who prefers smaller axes) does note that you really have to whip smaller axes to get the same effect as a larger axe.
   
   
3. What kind of wood are you working with? If you're working with tough hardwoods, American axes are made to deal with that type of wood better than European/Scandinavian axes that are mostly tooled towards pines and other soft woods.
   
   
4. How much experience do you have with using axes? American axe patterns tend to be a little more forgiving of bad technique since they're bulkier and often not hardened quite as much. (They're still heat treated, but a softer edge is easier to sharpen though it does dull faster.) European axes tend to be a bit harder, but that means they're harder to sharpen and if you chip them (say, on an overstrike or an imperfection in the tree) they're much harder to work out.

Dude he didn't ask how to actually learn to do something himself, just help him out.

Here's a nice axe within your price range.

These are great bang for the buck hand forged in sweden. A real top notch axe at a great price. Husqvarna

Gransfors Bruks aslo make BIFL axes but at a bit higher price point. You can also check out Axe junkies.com if you really want to nerd ou on axes. Rumor has it the Husky axes are forged by Granfors.

Fiskars X7

14" hatchet for $24 (WalMart), w/ a lifetime guarantee. The steel is a little softer than a Gransfors Bruks or Wetterlings, but it's also super-easy to sharpen and takes a good edge. It splits well, chops well and carves well. I've used mine to carve a bow-drill kit.

Here's a video review.

I almost got the Estwing, but it's heavier and the handle doesn't go all the way up to the head, which makes carving, detail work and fine splitting difficult.

I'd really like to have a Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe because it's the right size and the bit is heat treated to a greater hardness, so it'll take and hold a much sharper edge, but that also means it's more brittle. I live in Kentucky, with lots of Oak and Ash trees and those woods are tough enough to chip a hard, brittle edge.

A Council Tool Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe would also be a great option. Though pricey, it performs as well as a Gransfors Bruks, but with a slightly softer edge so it can take a bit more abuse.

Sounds like their Small Forest Axe.

https://www.amazon.com/Gransfors-Bruks-Forest-Sweden-420/dp/B000WIROX6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2/145-7445795-4411910?ie=UTF8&qid=1542833834&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=gransfors+bruks+small+forest+axe&dpPl=1&dpID=31FLoe3JXXL&ref=plSrch

>I mean, that's cool, but come on. A $70 hatchet?

Yes, it is worth it to pay more for quality tools and not buy cheap Chinese made shit.

They can be bought on Amazon for around $200.


https://www.amazon.com/Gransfors-Bruks-Forest-Sweden-420/dp/B000WIROX6

Recently I've started taking many of my friends out camping. Most of which have never been before. I'm planning on taking a group of people on a beginners backpacking trip up into the San Bernardino mountains, before it gets too cool.

I'd really like to introduce people to nature in a way they will enjoy. The Small Forest Axe by Gransfors Bruks is an excellent tool, in the perfect size, to help teach everyone how to properly wield an axe, chop wood, and in turn show them how to select trees and properly build a fire without cutting down green trees or starting a forest fire. Gransfors Bruks, in Sweden, makes some of the finest axes in the world, and carries with it a legacy of skilled woodsmen.

Being an Environmental Science major, focusing on ecological restoration of forested and wetland areas, I feel like I should help pass on my love for nature to those who are willing to learn.

ESEE-4
Sturdy, perfect length, perfect thickness for batoning, easy to sharpen (1095 high carbon steel, has never rusted even though I live near the coast).
I recently found this knife, it's very cheap and it's metal composition is very similar to that of the ESEE-4 (1095 vs 1075), except that it has less carbon which means that it might be negligibly harder to sharpen but just like the ESEE-4 both are knives very resistant to chipping and this is an excellent quality for a knife that will be used for batoning. What I like about the Condor Sapien is that it is a little bit thinner and the scandi edge that comes with it makes it easier working with wood since that type of edge offers less resistance when cutting stuff.

Fallkniven knives are nice but rather overpriced and I am not such a big fan of laminated knives and stainless steels are usually prone to chipping and hard to sharpen if you use them often and don't give them their proper maintenance.

In my opinion you would be better off with a folding saw or a small axe, a bushcraft knife, and a multitool, the perfect triad.

Wetterling axes are good and so are the Husqvarna axes. However I would go with a Gränsfors Bruks Small Forest Axe.

I would not pay extra for a Les Stroud branded axe. Wetterling axes are good enough on their own.