Who still brings axes?

[yellowcanoe]

Chaltrek is a good store too, but not close to any diners, unless you count McDonalds in your culinary line up. Now Serendipity Gardens………holy cow, that's a relatively unknown treasure. I ordered prime rib there, and I swear I had five pounds of succulent meat on my plate. Couldn't eat everything, which was a first for me. That Rossport is quite a place, sleepy little town of beauty. Too many kayaks for my liking though. You probably can't even carry an axe in a kayak, it's probably against the Hippy kayak laws or something.

no one is forcing you to paddle a kayak.though to be a complete paddler..... and to paddle year round...

 

[memaquay]

Well, I thought I was a yuppie once, then I went to Rossport, and realized I was still a dirty redneck with a single blade, an axe and a filthy old Maple Leafs hat. I will stay true to The Church of the Single Blade!

 

[yellowcanoe]

The folks at Serendipity Garden didn't say boo when I realized that after traipsing across the whole restaurant that my hiking boots were leaving mud everywhere... maybe it was OK as I didn't have an axe.

Maple Leafs eh? Now I understand!

 

[Guest]

no one is forcing you to paddle a kayak.though to be a complete paddler..... and to paddle year round...

A fair question for you: Is there any sense of elitism in your comment? Not meant to bait you, looking for a straight answer.
I ask because I've been accused of being a canoe elitist because I don't paddle anything else. I've even been told (not asked) that just because I have skills I think I'm better than other (i.e, normal) people.

That said, I would agree that to be a complete paddler one would have to paddle flatwater, moving water, and all forms of whitewater in the appropriate craft - solo and tandem canoes, solo and tandem kayaks, SUPs, and rafts (did I miss anything?). Just like to be a complete sailor (my previous passion and expertise) means skill in all sizes of dinghies, small cruiser/racers, and ocean-going keelboats, as well as most Olympic boats.

The only axe I carry is my guitar.

 

[yellowcanoe]

A fair question for you: Is there any sense of elitism in your comment? Not meant to bait you, looking for a straight answer.
I ask because I've been accused of being a canoe elitist because I don't paddle anything else. I've even been told (not asked) that just because I have skills I think I'm better than other (i.e, normal) people.

That said, I would agree that to be a complete paddler one would have to paddle flatwater, moving water, and all forms of whitewater in the appropriate craft - solo and tandem canoes, solo and tandem kayaks, SUPs, and rafts (did I miss anything?). Just like to be a complete sailor (my previous passion and expertise) means skill in all sizes of dinghies, small cruiser/racers, and ocean-going keelboats, as well as most Olympic boats.

The only axe I carry is my guitar.

I am not a complete paddler. I don't do whitewater very well I don't do SUP at all. Never rowed a raft.. Why does this double and single blade thing bring elitism to so many minds? Here if I want to paddle in the winter its on the ocean and for me that means kayak. Each of us as a paddler is the product of our own personal ecosystem. Since 1983 I have lived very close to the ocean and saltwater. But choose other freshwater locations as well. My own ecosystem was raised by canoeing in Algonquin and the Adirondacks since college and enjoy those areas much more suited to the canoe. I live on a lake and every day try and get out to paddle and stretch..and that means a single blade with my freestyle canoe. I enjoy playing with the single blade and often liken it to playing a guitar..though I have no guitar talent!

Maybe a better term would be bipolar or bipaddler. Interesting that when people see me double blading, they assume I have no skills with a single blade.. and vice versa with a single blade I am told I could go faster with a double. Such is life...

I only fit my own box. If you live where there is not much need for a kayak to get out and paddle..that is your own box , designed by you and it fits your ecosystem.

Interestingly paddling foundations are pretty much identical for both single and double blade.. but that is another thread.

I better get back to my box and the axe.

I find Heikkis axe to be intriguing but I am too weak to carry it on canoe trips where I need to split maybe one small log for a solo campfire.

 

[Guest]

Hi
Here is something to look at, might be interesting.

http://www.brushwoodstudios.com/etiennemulleribiography.html

 

[yellowcanoe]

Hi
Here is something to look at, might be interesting.

http://www.brushwoodstudios.com/etiennemulleribiography.html

Beautiful.. but depressing. I am eating my stashed acorns and the parasites start to abound.

 

[Rippy]

I only fit my own box.

I liked that.

 

[memaquay]

HA ha ha hhahaha…elitism. I drink Bud light and laugh at poop jokes. However, I don't like kayaks, I did own one, but traded it for a motorcycle. I don't like not being able to move around, and i certainly wouldn't want to portage one of those ugly beasts. As for skills, well who cares what skills are needed for a double blade, I'll never need them. You know what really bugs me? Inter-species dating, like when a canoeist uses a kayak paddle, that's totally yuck for me. Now I know some of you here do that, whatever, I'm not judging, but it's kind of like riding a moped; it's a lot of fun, but you don't want your friends to see you doing it.

Heikki, I was just warming up to the thought of your wonder axe, and then you go and post a pic of a kayaker…..gee whiz! There's no room in that thing for an axe!

 

[yellowcanoe]

Mem.. we have had plenty of axes and also a chainsaw or two in a kayak. Beal Island in Maine is a wonderful place to camp and canoe or kayak.. But the saw guys who did blowdown clearing used kayaks as well as canoes.

The double blade Adirondack pack canoe is the oldest rec canoe. Its to note that Canadians got upset over that and left the ACA and its double blade canoes in the late 1800's and founded the CRCA. I can see some are still upset.

Also of note are the paddlers of King Island. Note the paddle

http://traditionalkayaks.com/Kayakreplicas/NMAI82719.html



Don't much care who sees me on the water.

 

[Rippy]

Mem if you got time for all this yakking about kayaks, you got time to put up more pics. I've been thinking maybe a web cam aimed at the boat so I can watch you work.

 

[memaquay]

Ah yes, I see your point…a kayak isn't so bad when paddled with a single blade, in fact, it looks kind of…..sexy. Maybe I'll get a kayak now and paddle it single bladed with the huge kayak crowd we have around here. You see, the funny thing is, there is even a kayak club up here that all the adventurous day trippers join. There will be like 30 of them paddling around a lake. And yet a canoe is a rare thing, seldom seen, and a solo canoe..well, let's say in our town I'm the only person who owns one. I can't even sell the one I have a rock bottom price, but if it was a kayak, I'd probably be able to dump it tomorrow. It's like a zombie invasion, this kayak thing, and I'm not going to be turned!

Rippy, try to get something for you tomorrow, maybe some slow motion sanding, that should be exciting!

One more thought….Kim, I think it was you who convinced me to get a bent shaft paddle, and I actually really liked it. I see what you're doing here, but it ain't gonna work!

 

[yellowcanoe]

Oh.. maybe it will. But it will require a trip to Rossport. Look for a sea canoe and a kayak and a couple of double blades and a single. And play mix em up. Now we have agreed on two things today, one about Pope Francis(elswhere, not here) and the other about the explosion of little loud kayaks on lakes that don't require them. We have a local Meetup group and all bring kayaks for day paddles on gentle lakes and barely moving rivers. I make a point to bring my smaller canoes and outrun them with a single blade. They mostly either ignore me, or say, before the start, that I can't keep up as its a canoe.

Most of the time the canoe is longer and narrower than their little minitubs. So being ahead of them is normal for me.

 

[Clem]

Hey Mem, you aren't alone anymore, as long we count my 14' prospector as a solo canoe...

And just for the sake of the thread, I still carry an axe when I trip..

 

[Rippy]

Hatchet for me and folding buck saw.

 

[Guest]

HA ha ha hhahaha…elitism. I drink Bud light and laugh at poop jokes. However, I don't like kayaks, I did own one, but traded it for a motorcycle. I don't like not being able to move around, and i certainly wouldn't want to portage one of those ugly beasts. As for skills, well who cares what skills are needed for a double blade, I'll never need them. You know what really bugs me? Inter-species dating, like when a canoeist uses a kayak paddle, that's totally yuck for me. Now I know some of you here do that, whatever, I'm not judging, but it's kind of like riding a moped; it's a lot of fun, but you don't want your friends to see you doing it.

Heikki, I was just warming up to the thought of your wonder axe, and then you go and post a pic of a kayaker…..gee whiz! There's no room in that thing for an axe!

Sorry for that. It has anyway connection to the subject.


Thread: Who still brings axes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iLwIKMRA8M
http://www.brushwoodstudios.com/etie...biography.html

 

[Guest]

Well, just to wander back to axes for a moment; I stumbled upon a few websites that might be of interest to some of you. I’ve been spending some time watching archeology programs. I find the tools and activities that have shaped our cultures, and defined our place in the landscape fascinating. I haven’t had time to fully explore these websites, but thought I’d post them now, before I forget.

Here is the history of the Finnish axe. Included is an interesting description of how to measure for handles.
http://nordiskaknivar.wordpress.com/tag/history-of-finnish-axe/

The next site is a glimpse into Ottawa Valley history.
http://outaouais.quebecheritageweb.com/article/when-axe-was-king

And this site shows a brief history of the axe in America.
http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf99232823/pdf99232823Pdpi72pt02.pdf

And finally, I think someone here has a Collins axe IIRC? Here’s a short article on this American axe company.
http://axehistory.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20

 

[Robin]

Thanks for those links Brad, having spent alot of my youthful summers in Coden, Ontario, the Ottawa Valley is near and dear and I will enjoy exploring the Ottawa Valley website.
I have a Collins hatchet, they had their factory not to far from here, just across the street from Collinsville Canoe (Swift). I read this on their website you supplied

"Collins would eventually feel the pressure of the mighty chainsaw and overseas competition"

Maybe Heikki's great great great great Grandfather had something to do with their demise

Haha, Just kidding with ya Heikki, I'm glad you got alot of exposer, 1500 views is pretty good, not sure it will make your ax sales go threw the roof (improve) but it's been fun and passed some time for us.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for those links Brad, having spent alot of my youthful summers in Coden, Ontario, the Ottawa Valley is near and dear and I will enjoy exploring the Ottawa Valley website.
I have a Collins hatchet, they had their factory not to far from here, just across the street from Collinsville Canoe (Swift). I read this on their website you supplied

"Collins would eventually feel the pressure of the mighty chainsaw and overseas competition"

Maybe Heikki's great great great great Grandfather had something to do with their demise

Haha, Just kidding with ya Heikki, I'm glad you got alot of exposer, 1500 views is pretty good, not sure it will make your ax sales go threw the roof (improve) but it's been fun and passed some time for us.

No problems at all. 1500 is better than none. Thank you all very much. It's anyway up to the individual person if he/she wants to follow the development.
By knowing and looking at the links above, all the axes are symmetrical wedges. In fact Vipukirves/Leveraxe is the very first "axe" that uses leverage. This is the first time in the history when this kind of splitting tool is in commercial production and available for everybody.
The problems which have followed during the ages the conventional axes and mauls have now removed.
Talking about friction, the biggest resistance in firewood splitting with the conventional axes and mauls, is now nearly fully eliminated.
There has been numerous attempts to get rid of that nuisance, as covering the surface of the blade with Teflon or something else. Then again there has been the situation, that the blade has been so slippery that it has gone all the way through the block continuing it's way to the users foot. There happens all the time this kind of accidents all around the world. My opinion is, that even one is too many.
First time in the history there are safety elements build in to the blade of the Vipukirves/Leveraxe. It has been on the market over eight years. There has happened NO ACCIDENT.
I have so much to tell you about the details, but I think it's better to proceed little by little.
On the best day I have had nearly 50.000, fifty thousand visitors in my websites. I am very happy for that, because this way people get to know about the more effective, safer, and enjoyable way to split their firewood easier than ever before. Thank you for reading this.
I have sold out my stock. Next deliveries will be at the end of March.
I will take a two weeks well earned holiday starting tomorrow.
Best regards
Heikki, born 1940
PS. Anybody can split the wood like this provided that he/she is using the Vipukirves/Leveraxe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fWo0P0MdJM

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

In my travels in canoe I am coming across more and more parties of people that aren't packing an axe with them. In my opinion an axe is essential . . . . I never go into the woods without one. What about you guys?.

Essential for what?

I've never owned an axe in my life. On my 11 acres of property at home I cut a lot of trees, branches and brush, but always with a chainsaw, pruning saw or machete.

In 60 years of canoeing, I've never taken anything on a canoe trip other than a compact folding pruning saw, and rarely use that. I go canoeing to engage in the physical, emotional and spiritual act of paddling. In between paddling days, I camp briefly and non-impactfully on the shores. I don't go on canoe trips to hack or chop anything. For me on a canoe trip, an axe not only is non-essential but is useless dead weight.