Evening All,
Nice part of campouts is you get to use some of the gear you stockpile for a rainy day.
I have owned my Fiskars Garden Axe (more a hatchet then an axe) for quite some time, but have not had a need to use it. I had other axes in my Tahoe, but since I had not used the Garden Axe before thought I would take it to the ice fishing part of the campout.
The Fiskars Garden Axe is the same as the Gerber counter-part but about $10 cheaper. The Gerber is around $40 and I got my Fiskars at Canadian Tire for just under $30. It is light and compact and very sharp. The synthetic handle needs a lanyard, one of these days. But for camp chores, like making kindling it performed awesome. No issues at all.
When the manual powered ice auger began to dull, I used the Garden Axe to prep the ice for the auger. It made quick work of the ice and the auger was able to get a start and in short order had a hole through the ice.
I like how this particular hatchet is balanced. Not head heavy like many hatchets. It feels like an extention of your arm. It naturally goes where you want it to go.
I will try to review more gear in the future.
Cheers,
Mountainman.
is Fiskars the brand of axe, or the maker of the ax?
thanks
The thing I dislike about the Fiskars line of axes is that there is absolutely no effective to re-handle them if the plastic handle breaks. For that reason alone I will never own one. I do, however, really, really like their pruning saw for camping and backpacking. Use it all the time.
We were discussing this in Buggies tool thread I think? Ya I love mine.
http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-7860-Brush-Axe/dp/B000F99IEU
I never thought about the ability to fix it before; but of course there will always be a store to run to if it breaks. Especially now that there is no more end-of-world scenarios. I'll just wait the 3 weeks for the "short-to-mid range" emergency to come to an end.
is Fiskars the brand of axe, or the maker of the ax?
thanks
WildE,
Yes, Fiskars is the brand. Garden Axe is the model. It is made in Finland. Fiskars also makes scissors, pruning shears and pruning saws. It is the little brother to Gerber, in a company org sense.
Salix,
The broken handle issue is a concern, but not a deal breaker for me. There is a place in my preps for a well balanced compact hand axe, and the Garden Axe fills that spot at the moment.
I would be interested to know what axe you would recommend to fill this role?? I know of a Swedish made belt axe I would not be afraid to carry, but it costs in the neighbourhood of $170.00.
Those shopping for a compact axe need to knwo the options, please post alternatives.
Mountainman.
I never thought about the ability to fix it before;
Dang,
In the long forgotten past some axes were made with this style of axe head, the handle did not go through the head. Rather, the handle - usually wood - was steamed and bent around the head and then lashed. The handle enveloped the head. I believe it was the Mayans or Aztecs who had a Obsidean Axe with a handle that was made similar to this.
I am not saying it would be a perfect solution, but a field expedient replacement handle could be possible even with crude tools and supplies.
Mountainman.
And here is a link to a similar axe to mine:
Mine was made with an all black handle, before the two coloured handles.
MM
I bet LG with her books on primitive weapons could provide us with some researched insight because that does sound interesting... not that this end of AB has many trees but you never know where you might end up.
This looks like a great tool, along a similar line, I'm thinking about getting a Chinese army shovel or 4.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=b60OZhrTB6o&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Db60OZhrTB6o
Karnit
