The axe thread - Best Made Co.

I spent yesterday afternoon with the proprietors of Best Made Co. - an axe company located in Tribeca. These fellows make some of the most beautiful field-tested axes I've ever handled. As it turns out, their base camp (where one of them built a log cabin by hand with an axe) is a few kms from my log cabin in ON.



From their site:

Before someone picks up a tool, any tool, why not ask why first? Ask yourself: how am I going to use this tool. We are inundated with tools, every step of the way. Tools are specifically and often ingeniously marketed to appear as though they will make your life better. The notion of "mastering a tool" is a bit of fallacy: master your desire, and then the perfect tool will present itself.

Their "Famous Four" - Compassion; Fortitude; Courage; Grace.



Anyone looking for a gift for a young man would be well served to check out their products. I still have my grandfather's axes and they will be passed on to younger men of my family. A Best Made Co. axe will join them.

lefty

An axe company in Tribeca selling $200-400 axes

Easy way to kill a lobster.

Originally Posted by crazyquik

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An axe company in Tribeca selling $200-400 axes

Originally Posted by username79

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Easy way to kill a lobster.

Or the next Bernie Maddoff.

Originally Posted by crazyquik

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An axe company in Tribeca selling $200-400 axes

You can buy a $30 axe at Home Depot and it will be a $30 axe. I wouldn't trust my life to one. A good Gränsfors Axe will cost you anywhere from $150-$300. As someone who has a few axes and spends weekends felling, limbing, bucking and splitting trees for firewood, a well-made axe is indispensable. These axes are not inexpensive, but they are of a high quality and made in the US. I have little tolerance for the pretend "woodsmen" of NYC. These guys are authentic. Put a proper axe in the hands of a kid who has never held one before and watch his eyes come to life. Teach him how to respect and handle the tool and he will have those skills for life. lefty

Originally Posted by bmf895

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Or the next Bernie Maddoff.

For that you need one of these:



lefty

Ever chop anything with a fibreglass handle? After 2 hours your hands will be trembling from the shock. And once it breaks in the woods, you're **** out of luck.

If I break a hardwood handle I can use the head as a hand tool to cut a serviceable handle, jam it on and use a rock to drive some wood wedges into the eye. That means I make it out alive. You die there, but with an extra $150 in your pocket that you saved from buying a cheap axe.

lefty

I'd be a bit worried about using it at that price. Still, I 100% agree about cheap axes not being worth the time.

I never had a need for an axe... until now. Well there goes another $300...

Originally Posted by lefty

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Ever chop anything with a fibreglass handle? After 2 hours your hands will be trembling from the shock. And once it breaks in the woods, you're **** out of luck. If I break a hardwood handle I can use the head as a hand tool to cut a serviceable handle, jam it on and use a rock to drive some wood wedges into the eye. That means I make it out alive. You die there, but with an extra $150 in your pocket that you saved from buying a cheap axe. lefty
Why would someone die if their axe handle broke? Just asking.

Originally Posted by johnapril

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Why would someone die if their axe handle broke? Just asking.

No firewood maybe? Bear defense? I had the same question.

Originally Posted by johnapril

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Why would someone die if their axe handle broke? Just asking.

Perhaps if the blade boomeranged around and hit you on the head

Originally Posted by johnapril

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Why would someone die if their axe handle broke? Just asking.

#1 survival tool.

You can do everything with an axe that you can with a knife and then some: build a shelter, skin an animal, cut firewood, and defend yourself.

lefty

I get nervous about Leftys running around with axes.