looking for a forest axe

[Huntsman]

I have only been cutting trees for a few years now. Its not often that i have needed an axe yet. I have a smaller splitting axe that i have used a few times, but its not really ideal. Just trying to look for some suggestions. I know fiskars are a good brand are there any other ones? I'd love to have a gransfors bruk but they are a little pricey right now.

[Skeans1]

Are you pounding wedges? I've carried a couple of fiskars but they've never lasted very long for pounding wedges like a Council will. Depending on the wood I carry a short 3.5lbs or a mid handle 4, if we're in the big wood I have a 5 lbs long handle as well as a custom 10+ lbs 3' handle.

[Huntsman]

For the most part just wedges and some light chopping here and there. The wetterlings i  have does a decent job but its really meant for splitting. Most of the stuff is hard woods. Beech, ash and maple a few elm and hickory as well.

[Grandpa]

I use a 3.5 pound Collins with a 30" straight handle. One thing to look for is wide poll so it doesn't ruin your wedges.

Go to youtube and look up Buckin Billy Ray.  One of his videos is called "The perfect fallin Axe".

[Puffergas]

I like my Council axes. They are not sold sharpened (well, kind of sharp) unless you buy the more expensive version.

[krusty]

I have one of these and think it is a fine axe.

https://www.husqvarna.com/us/accessories/axes/traditional-multi-purpose-axe/596271301/

The steel is comparable to my Gransfors.

[Blackcanyon]

I recently bought an Estwing ax I saw at Home Depot and like it a lot. It is reasonably sharp and seems tough

[nativewolf]

I have one of these and think it is a fine axe.

https://www.husqvarna.com/us/accessories/axes/traditional-multi-purpose-axe/596271301/

The steel is comparable to my Gransfors.

Looks like a nice scandinavian style head.  The handle is hickory which is not native to scandinavia, wonder if they ship the heads here and assemble in the US or Canada? 

[Skeans1]

@nativewolf
How do you guys pound wedges with those curved handles?

[nativewolf]

@nativewolf
How do you guys pound wedges with those curved handles?

I don't own one of these personally but I guess there must be some videos of sweedish or a Finnish guy with wedges.  On the other hand they have such small trees in  maybe they don't use wedges.  I jest I jest.

[Elmlodger]

. Depending on the wood I carry a short 3.5lbs

I agree with Skeans1. I carry a 3.5 lbs Council 20" miners axe. I need the compactness but it's still just heavy enough for what I need. If you get one, think about the better one - the shop edge is very keen. I fall mostly Northern hardwoods for firewood and sometimes local mills.  If you like a Bruks(who wouldn't) look at Katz. Canadian company using German engineering/design.  Good looking, functional, high craftsmanship tools.I really enjoy their large German Splitting Axe.

[Skeans1]

@nativewolf
How do you guys pound wedges with those curved handles?

I don't own one of these personally but I guess there must be some videos of sweedish or a Finnish guy with wedges.  On the other hand they have such small trees in maybe they don't use wedges.  I jest I jest.

A lot of them carry those little hammers, if i can pound something without an axe is sure will like a 15" wedge works really good for a beater.

[BargeMonkey]

I recently bought an Estwing ax I saw at Home Depot and like it a lot. It is reasonably sharp and seems tough

For light chopping they are ok, the quality of the Estwing stuff has went down hill. Bought the long handle ax, didn't make it a week before the handle separated from the shank, maybe 25-30 wedges ? Called them and pounding wedges is "abuse". 🤣
 Bought a nice husqvarna brand axe at the show 2yrs ago, its heavy but the thing is built like a tank. 

[Corruption Logs]

This summer we were looking for an additionally smaller axe we could carry out in our kit. We have a Granfors Small forest axe, which I love. But we wanted to add something a little beefer too. A local sporting goods shop had a 3lb Stansport axe. Very cheep, decent quality. We beat the crap out of it, and it does great. They must have used some hard tool-steel. Maybe D2. Just sanded off the varnish and oiled the handle. 
Would recommend for a cheep option.

[John Mc]

I use a Stihl Pro Splitting Hatchet. It has a 2.75 lbs head and a 20" handle. THe axe head shows "Ochsenkopf" on it, which is a good name. Not sure if Stihle puts their own handle on it, or just rebadges a finished Ochsenkopf axe. It's a nice size and weight for my needs, and fits easily in my tool box. I've been using it for about 12 years, mostly pounding wedges and trimming the occasional small limb. It also does duty making kindling on occasion. I bought it when I lost my previous wedge-pounder and was not happy with what I saw at the local hardware stores.

If I were doing a lot of large, heavy leaners, I might go with something longer, like the Stihl Pro Universal Forestry Axe - similar weight, with a 27" handle.

I'm not stuck on Stihl, they were just available locally when I needed them and were a couple steps up from the hardware or big box store axes.

For  hand-splitting firewood, you just can't beat the Fiskars X25 or the longer X27 axes. I'm told they don't hold up well to pounding wedges, however (I never have used my X25 for wedge pounding, so no personal experience with that).