The Best Axes and Hatchets
A good axe is forged from one piece of steel, handle included, or fitted with a handle of American hickory or Swedish ash. It holds an edge, it splits cleanly, and it can be resharpened indefinitely. The axes on this list are not disposable. They are the ones that come back from every trip and go into the shed looking better for the use.
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How to Choose
Match the axe to the task. A hatchet (under 2 pounds) is for kindling, camp cooking, and light shaping. A boys axe (2 to 3 pounds, 24-inch handle) handles most firewood splitting and trail clearing. A full-size felling axe is for serious wood cutting. For forged steel construction, look for either Swedish steel (Gransfors, Wetterlings, Husqvarna) or American forged (Council Tool, Estwing). Avoid anything with a painted head that hides the grain.
Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe
Hand-forged in Gransfors, Sweden by smiths who sign each axe with their initials. The Small Forest Axe weighs 1.9 pounds, sits on a 19-inch hickory handle, and comes sharp enough to shave with from the factory. It splits, it limbs, it carves. The leather sheath is included. Expensive for an axe, cheap for a lifetime tool.
The best single axe for anyone who wants one axe that does everything in the woods.
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Estwing Sportsman's Axe 14-Inch
Estwing has been forging tools from solid American steel in Rockford, Illinois since 1923. The Sportsman's Axe is forged from one continuous piece of steel -- handle and head together -- which means the handle cannot loosen and the balance is perfect. The leather grip wrap absorbs vibration. It splits, it camps, it works for a century.
The most indestructible hatchet made. One piece of American steel. Nothing to come loose.
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Husqvarna 26-Inch Wooden Handled Axe
Husqvarna makes tools the same way their chainsaws get made: for professionals who use them hard. The 26-inch axe has a convex grind that splits well without binding, an American hickory handle, and a head weight of 2.2 pounds. It comes in a plastic collar, not a sheath, which means the first thing you do is buy a leather sheath. After that, it is a lifetime tool.
The best value in a serious splitting and felling axe. Swedish steel, honest price.
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Council Tool Boys Axe 28-Inch
Council Tool has been making axes in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina since 1886. The Boys Axe is 28 inches overall with a 2-pound head -- the traditional training axe that teaches proper form before moving to a full felling axe. Drop-forged American steel, American hickory handle, and a price that reflects the domestic labor and materials involved.
American-made, priced fairly, from a company that has been at it for 135 years.
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Wetterlings Large Hunting Axe
Wetterlings is a Swedish axe smithy dating to 1880. The Large Hunting Axe has a 22-inch handle, a 1.75-pound head, and a grind designed for clean splitting of small rounds and limbing work. It is between a hatchet and a full camp axe in size -- the format that fits most hunting and camping trips where weight matters.
For the hunter or backcountry camper who wants Swedish-forged quality at a midrange price.
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