Length considerations for a canoe axe: function and safety

[Glenn MacGrady]

Here's an image of some of the more common American axe head patterns in recent history.

I don't see the Hudson Bay pattern among these 37 images. I don't know why. This image does show the Hudson Bay.

Then, there are at least four and maybe six common blade contours and edge grinds.

Anyway, if axe nuts are anything like paddle nuts, one would "need" each of these 37 axe heads (including the Hudson Bay) in three different handle lengths (= 111), and each of those 111 axes in at least four different grinds (= 444), and each of those 444 axes in at least two different types of steels and temperings = 888 axes minimum for a complete tool set. This is a dithering array of possibilities.

But I'll continue my current focus on 3/4 single bit axes, perhaps of the classic Hudson Bay head pattern, which was historically carried by canoeists, trappers and woodsmen and which has instant visual aesthetics to many people, including me. However, I'm learning there are downsides to the Hudson Bay shape in terms of the strength of the head/handle interface and the efficiency of a curved edge (from edge heel to toe) versus a straighter edge such as the Maine head.

More research is needed. I have all winter.

 

[Guest]

We split with a wedge and sledge, mostly black locust and cherry, for the fireplace, in my youth. Inefficient but pretty safe. I’ve used a maul in the woodlot as an adult but only on the easy stuff, and I still prefer the wedge/sledge hammer, slow as it is. I used my father’s old wedges for a time, until I realized they were beginning to mushroom and were not safe. I’ve never bothered to have them ground back into shape.

I cut camp wood with a take-down buck saw, and I split it by batoning and/or tap splitting with a half or three quarter axe. I do this because I know how much I don’t know, and I try to play it safe in the backcountry.

Yep, it’s a good time to research gear, which I find entertaining.

I like the added functionality idea of the Stroud axe having a hammer pole. I never use the pole as a hammer steel-to-steel on my bush axes, as they are not designed for it. The hammer pole might come in handy pounding in a tent stake, but I know that pounding steel to steel can cause dangerous splinters to fly off in some circumstances, apparently due to differences in the hardness and quality of the steels.

I’ve never gotten a handle on that steel to steel splinter risk, and how to evaluate it. I just have faith that the makers of my splitting wedges and sledge are experts and take it into account. I pound on the poles of my bush axes mercilessly with wooden batons, and I’ve wondered it that will have some negative long term effect. The hammer pole on the survivorman axe would probably be more resistant to deformation from the batoning, but it presents a smaller target, and so might crack/splinter the baton more easily or rapidly.

At any rate, I had a similar impression as Glenn when researching bush axe use on the web, finding inconsistent or incomplete advice on a range of issues. This thread is extremely useful and informative for me. I now much better understand non-baton splitting in the backcountry. Thanks for that.

 

[Philtrum]

That's great info, Glenn. But ... nothing about broadaxes?

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

That's great info, Glenn. But ... nothing about broadaxes?

Watch the Forest Service video I linked. The guy ends with quite a detailed demonstration of the various types of broad axes and how to use them to hew a giant log.

Although it's hard not to roam all around the axe landscape in search of relevant information and education, I have to remember that the much narrower goal of the topic is for me (and future others) to select one axe for the limited and specific purpose of canoe tripping.

 

[Guest]

Glenn, very informative and well researched thread. I’m not an axe aficionado and have learned more from this axe thread that I thought there was to know about axes. The complexity of axe variations is bewildering.

With all that complexity and rich history taken into consideration, if I was to purchase a new axe I’d buy the Fiskars X-15. I don’t see much not to like in the Bushcraft “Bruks Killer” review

According to the Rocky Mountain Bushcraft blog, the Fiskars X15 "blew away" all the Swedish and German axes in their suite of performance tests, and the Fiskars 28 Chopping Axe out-chopped the X15. The two Fiskars axes are little heavier than my 2.25 lb. cutoff for head weight, and I'm not sure about their balance with those hollow composite handles. There is probably little doubt they are the best splitters of all the candidate axes in this post.

Yeah, it is ugly, but the orange and black handle would make it easy to spot. It comes with a sheath. Its $30, “Hottest axe on the market for any price”. If I was carrying a Duluth pack in a wood canvas canoe the aesthetic would be compromised, but I’m in a plastic or composite canoe with a blue barrel, sundry colored vinyl dry bags and a carbon paddle. That Fiskars would fit right in amidst the modern gear of many colors.

BTW, the best part of that giant Wenger knife are the reviews on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Wenger-16999-Swiss-Knife-Giant/product-reviews/B001DZTJRQ

 

[Holmes375]

Rocky Mountain Bushcraft blog concluding comments after reviewing the GB Wildlife hatchet:

Prior to this review, I had never spent any significant time bushcrafting with a Gransfors Bruks axe. I've tried them in the past and was always impressed, but not to the point where I could justify spending the extra money to buy one. After completing this review, I have to say that I've changed my mind -- I now believe that Gransfors's axes are definitely worth the premium they charge.

When you consider that many popular survival knives such as Fallknivens, the Ontario Blackbird, and ESEE Knives cost more than the hand-forged Wildlife Hatchet, it doesn't seem so expensive after all.

In fact, the Wildlife Hatchet performs better than most survival knives I've used, whether it's to create feathersticks, shape large pieces of wood, chopping, or even fine carving. The only thing the Wildlife Hatchet lacks is a point. Simply carrying a small folding knife solves this problem if the need arises.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Here's a 1923 Collins Company catalog.

They (or Kelly) were once the biggest axe producers in the world. Notice all the warnings about copycats and frauds in the beginning of the catalog. That's why Collins in the late 19th century adopted the "Legitimus" trade name and the trademark with the crown and hammer. Lots of machetes in this catalog but no Hudson Bay pattern axes.

http://www.visitcollinsville.com/192...ogselected.pdf

On edit: I see a handwritten note saying that this is only "selected" pages from a 64 page catalog.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Once the center of the axe universe.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I put 120 pounds of traction sand in the trunk of my Mustang and made it up my driveway. Went to Lowes, one of the two biggest home improvement chains in the USA, to look at axes. They had exactly ONE single bit axe in the store, a heavy Fiskars splitting axe. They had a small handful of chintzy looking hatchets, all made in India or Mexico. I'm not sure many people use an axe anymore in populated areas.

The idea if trying out an axe, especially against some real wood, is just not feasible. It's not even feasible to find a selection in a store. I found the same phenomenon when I was looking for non-junk fixed blade knives.

 

[Canotrouge]

If you have a chainsaw store or a forestry/surveying store in your area, that is where you have better chances to find good axes!! Or small old lumber yard/ hardware store, you could be surprised of what they carry, maybe even NOS that have been sitting for years of a good quality axe!!

 

[memaquay]

Galdarnit, this is the best dang thread I've ever read! You guys should be doing on-line research for money!

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

If you have a chainsaw store or a forestry/surveying store in your area, that is where you have better chances to find good axes!! Or small old lumber yard/ hardware store, you could be surprised of what they carry, maybe even NOS that have been sitting for years of a good quality axe!!

Chainsaws are mainly sold by the big stores: Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply. We already saw what kind of axes Tractor Supply sells--$15 axes with upside-down heads--in Mike McCrea's thread.

Cabelas, REI and even LL Bean, once the mecca for the outdoor woodsman, don't even stock axes, but just a few hatchets and some tomahawks. Look at their online pages.

------------ [Segue] ------------

I want to talk about something that's not yet been mentioned, the type of wood one expects to confront on a canoe trip. Canadians live in an unrealistic wonderland of firewood: a huge percentage of softwood conifers and abundant birch bark. Where I live in southern New England, there aren't many conifers and no birches on my property (other than the ones I've planted). The Swedes also live in a soft wood paradise.

This relates to the blade profiles of the small Swedish axes. They have narrow, almost hollow ground-looking profiles behind the edge. Look at the profile of the Gransfors Bruks 25" Scandivian Forest Axe (right) compared to that of the Council Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe (left), both with two pound heads. The GB Small Forest Axe is even thinner.

Based on all the tests and reviews I've seen, the GB performs very well as a limbing axe and a chopper of soft wood. It seems to do less well as a splitter and may not be optimal as a chopper of hard woods.

I don't expect ever to be in Canada again in my life, nor in Scandinavia.

If I will usually cutting trees and logs with a saw not an axe, if I'm primarily surrounded by hard woods, and if one of my primary functions for my axe will be splitting those hard woods for firewood, I'm not sure a Gransfors Bruks or other similarly skinny Scandinavian axe is the best choice for my blade profile. I'm thinking a thicker, more wedgy, more convex "American" profile would be more useful.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I could have gotten one of my dream axes, a 28" Collins double bit cruiser with 2.5 lb. head, for $6 in 1955. I even had $6 in 1955.

 

[Canotrouge]

It is funny you say that, since I live in the white spruce, lodge pole pine country, I wish I had some hard wood to work with. But as for splitting, I use for many years, an 19 inch Wetterling small forest axe, and never had problem splitting the wood I had to split, and the wood up here is really knotty. But I'm sure "fatter" profile would work even better. I don't like the Hudson bay much, I would go for some thing like a Jersey or Michigan style head.... This would be the one I would buy...http://www.brentbaileyforge.com/thestore/woodtools/middlenowhereaxe2.jpg

 

[wysedav]

Great posts and research, I've enjoyed learning all about axes. I'm still not sold on bringing one on a remote trip, it seems like the consequences of a mistake could be too severe when in the woods. You can process wood with a saw and baton splitting in a safer manner and just as effectively.

The funny thing is that it only took me 67 posts to realize Collins Axes are made in Collinsville Ct...about 10 minutes from where I live!! Duh..feeling slow

 

[Canotrouge]

I don't think that baton splitting is as near as efficient as using an axe, but to each is own I guess...

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

The funny thing is that it only took me 67 posts to realize Collins Axes are made in Collinsville Ct...about 10 minutes from where I live!! Duh..feeling slow

I believe the factory was originally in part of Canton, but they then gave that area the name Collinsville just to honor the fame of the factory. There were dozens of houses near the factory in which the employees lived. The Farmington River was then called the Tunxis River. Sometimes the stamp on early Collins axes said "Hartford" because that was the nearest big town that people all over the country had ever heard of.

On edit: Collins, started in 1826, sold out to the Mann Edge company in 1966. Mann kept the Collins name but quality dropped. Mann sold out to Truper Herramientas (Industries) in 2003. Now the Collins name is on very cheap and junky axes from Mexico. If you want a real Collins axe of quality, you have to get one from before 1960.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I don't like the Hudson bay much, I would go for some thing like a Jersey or Michigan style head.... This would be the one I would buy...http://www.brentbaileyforge.com/thestore/woodtools/middlenowhereaxe2.jpg

I like the look of the Hudson Bay a lot, also the history, but it gets a lot of criticism for the head coming loose. The eye is shallow, so there's not as much contact between head and handle as with deeper heads. Council Tool tries to compensate for this on their Velvicut line, which is the same as the Best Made axe, by putting vertical and horizontal grooves inside the eye of their Hudson Bay models. Here's how they describe it on their website:

"Relative to other patterns, the Hudson Bay has a very short eye length. This reduces the contact area between the head and handle, which can lead to looseness. Using our new and innovative design, we pierce the eye with a special punch forming ribs horizontally and vertically inside the eye. This creates more contact area and bite between the head to handle joint. The result? A stronger and more durable tool."

I like that Brent Bailey head a lot. At 2.75-3.0 pounds, it's a little heavier than what I'm looking for in a tripping axe. If I were younger again . . . . Hmmm, he's a custom maker, so maybe he could make one a little lighter.

In fact, here's a Council Tool video showing exactly how they make their Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe.

 

[Canotrouge]

I'm sure he can make what ever you want, but really a 1/4 to 1/2 a pound is really not much if the axe is well balance!!

 

[Canotrouge]

Just watch that video, Sure look like they know what they are doing... You should buy one and let us know how it hold up with use... But you will have to use it!!