Glenn Bartley said:
Any axe will do in a pinch, but I would really prefer the saw for any wood gathering jobs. Sorry if you don't want to hear about it. It is a better overall tool for that sort of thing. Back to the axe, as I said, just about anyone is ok so long of course as it is honed nicely and has the heft to get the job done.
It's not that I don't want to hear about saws, it's just the subject of a different thread. Asking what kind of axe people like and getting "I want a saw" doesn't help me.
Yes, saws are easier, quieter, and in some cases safer. But saws, no matter how good will become unusable at some point. Blades can only be sharpened so far, and you can only carry so many. Eventually you may come to a point where an axe is your only choice.
Here's what I figure.
Estwing hatchets are great little tools, not quite up to axe standards though. Estwing DOES make a 36" axe (most people have never seen these, and I had to order it online, as none of the local hardware stores could even order it). It is made of a single piece of tool steel like their hatchets. They are fairly sharp out of the box, and cut well. They, however do not do well felling trees or chopping wood, as they simply don't have the weight or head profile necessary. You can, however choke up on the grip and use the back of the head as a makeshift hammer, like the hatchets.
From what I've seen the Gransfors Scandinavian felling axe and the Snow & Neilly Hudson bay style axes seem to be the most versatile. They are within an inch of the same length, and seem to have the heft for felling and splitting, although probably not as good as a splitter as a splitting maul. They are not light enough to choke up on to use in cutting small branches off, etc, and I don't know if the head could stand "hammer use", but for most traditional axes, this is considered a no-no. I suspect the head design and weight would make such use unsafe at any rate.
