Choosing the right axe for the job
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An axe is undoubtedly one of humanity’s great inventions enabling our ancestors to fell trees for fire, build shelter, shape wood into other useful items as well as capture and process game. Fast forward to the modern day, and it’s still one of the most important pieces of gear for all outdoors people.
An axe is a simple but extremely powerful tool that consists of a metal axe head that is sharpened to a cutting edge (known as a blade or bit) and a handle that is traditionally made of wood.
Axes come in a variety of sizes, weights and head patterns and are usually made from high carbon (the best) or stainless steel, with either a wood (hickory or ash are traditional) or a synthetic handle. Much like a knife, there are large variations in quality, function and price, with the material used having similar trade-offs in durability, ease of sharpening and resistance to corrosion.
Our advice is don’t limit yourself to a single axe and expect it to carry out all tasks, instead, consider your axe’s end-use before you buy one (or two or three!) and chose the right axe for the job.
It’s no secret we are fans of heritage brands such as Hultafors and Muller, these forges have been making axes for generations and are well worth the investment – check out the range here…
The Splitting Axe or Maul is the ideal tool for splitting log rounds into medium-sized logs and the most common tool for processing firewood into usable logs. A Splitting Axe is usually a full-size axe with a long handle (up to 80cm) and a heavy and blunt head (between 2-3.5kg) which is designed to use weight and force to split wood fibres along the grain. A maul is another version and blunter blade, a bit like a sledgehammer with a wedge-shaped head.
There are smaller half or three quarter size splitting axes that might be of use on camping or 4×4 trips, but generally, this is the axe for home or permanent camp use where you need to feed a wood-burning stove.
Hultafors Hult Splitting Axe or Muller Classic 3kg Splitting Axe
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Felling Axes are full-sized axes and the one that most people think of when they envision someone chopping down a tree. They have a fairly broad and heavy head (usually 0.9 – 2.2 kg head) with a long handle (up to 80cm) that is useful for maximising leverage when swinging the axe. Felling axes have extremely sharp blades which will cut across the grain of a tree, perfect for felling, sectioning or limbing trees. The axe head comes in many different patterns such as the Yankee, Swedish, Norwegian or Tasmanian Pattern Axe.
A hatchet is the smallest size axe and a useful tool to take camping, hiking or a 4×4 trip when weight and bulk is a consideration – a hatchet will weigh between 0.6 to 0.9kg and have a handle of about 35 – 40cms long. Used with one hand, a hatchet is a great all-purpose camp tool for light work such as splitting kindling or using the Butt (or Poll) of the head to drive in tent stakes. It’s the perfect tool for trying your hand at wood carving too.
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Not too big and not too small a Forest Axe is small enough to pack into a backpack is a good compromise between the larger felling axe and the smaller hatchet. Favoured by Bushcraft folk the Forest Axe is a general-purpose axe as it has a longer handle and heavier head than a hatchet allowing more leverage and chopping power. This tool can be used for limbing trees and splitting wood as well as more intricate work such as batoning and processing wood to make other useful items around camp.
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Carpenter’s axes are small axes, larger than a hatchet and used for traditional woodworking and joinery. A Carpenters axe has a long thin straight blade and a straight handle that help with precision cutting and chopping. Another feature of the Carpenters Axe is its long ‘beard’ – the lower part of the axe blade that extends downwards below the ‘butt’ – and a large notch below the blade that allows more hand control for wood carving. The heavy butt is designed for use as a hammer.
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This axe is a good choice for hikers or weight conscious campers as it weighs less than 800 grams and fits easily into any pack or worn on a belt. A useful axe for the many jobs around camp the mini hatchet is also prized by craftsmen and of course bushcraft folk for wood carving and various bushcraft tasks around camp.
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