Wetterlings Forest Axe SAW26H Review

As you have probably noticed, I have not done any reviews of Wetterlings axes so far. The reason is that they are a fairly popular manufacturer, and there is lots of good information about their products out there. As it happens however, a friend of mine, Glenn, decided to send me his Wetterlings Forest Axe so I can try it out. I can’t say no to an offer like that, so here is the review of the axe.

Specifications:
Manufacturer: S.A. Wetterlings
Axe Head Weight: Listed as 1.88 lb; I would estimate it closer to 2 lb
Axe Length: Listed as 26 inches; 25 inches as measured
Axe Head Material: Carbon Steel; RC 57-58
Handle Material: Hickory
Cost: $120.00

Perhaps the main competitor to the Wetterlings Forest Axe is the Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe. At first glance, they appear to be nearly identical designs. That is why here I will compare the two axes. You can see them side by side.

 

The two axes have nearly identical handles in terms of size and feel. The Wetterlings clearly does not have a lanyard hole, while the Gransfors Bruks does. Of course, that does not effect performance in any way. Wetterlings actually makes their own handles in their factory. Gransfors Bruks and the rest of the Swedish axe manufacturers outsource their handle production. It is interesting that despite that both handles are so similar. The grain of the Wetterlings handle (left) is also very good.

The head design, while overall similar, has some differences. The Wetterlings head (right) is definitely heavier than the Gransfors Bruks one. Since the Gransfors Bruks head is about 1.75 lb, I estimate the Wetterlings one to be about 2 lb, although the listed 1.88 lb could be correct. The additional weight is mostly towards the front of the head. You can see the difference here:

The added weight at the front of the head effects the balance of the axe, making it bit heavy, although I can not notice any performance disadvantage.

There has been some talk recently about how each of the heads is made. There has been some speculation that the heads are hand made and the metal folded around the eye. As evidence for the theory, people have pointed out a slight split near the eye of some axes. While from what I have seen, both axes are made the same way on an open dye drop forge from a solid bar of steel, here is the split that people are talking about. You’ll notice that in this instance, it is present on the Wetterlings head (left), but not of the Gransfors Bruks one.

In terms of performance, the Wetterling does a better job than the Gransfors Bruks because of the added weight. With such similar designs, the added weight makes a clear difference both with chopping and splitting.

Interestingly, the Wetterlings Forst Axe is virtually identical to the Husqvarna Traditional Axe that I tested earlier. The reason for that of course is that Wetterlings used to make the Husqvarna axes. The results are identical. If you need any further information on the Wettrlings, you can look at the Husqvarna review.

The Wetterlings Forest Axe comes with a leather sheath. Unfortunately I do not have it, so I have not been able to show it to you.

The Wetterlings Forest Axe is a solid performer. It is not nearly as well polished and finished as the Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe, but in terms of performance it more that holds its own. There have been some complaints about the finish quality of the axe, but as a working tool, it meets all expectations.

Hultafors Might be Selling Axes in the US

For those of you who have been following the who Hultafors issue, you know that Hultafors has not been selling their axes in the US due to fears of litigation resulting from misuse of their axes. While the axes are being sold in Canada, sellers are currently being instructed not to ship to the US.

Yesterday I got some news from Jason from Rocky Mountain Bushcraft, who informed me that Hultafors is currently considering entering the US market. If you want to express interest in their axes, and encourage the move, you can email Nils at nils.holmdahl@hultaforsgroup.com. Let’s see if we can bring these axes to the US market. The more choices we have, the better.

Trip Report: 9/16/12 – 9/17/12

Over the last few weeks I have been making some changes to my gear. In particular, I’ve changed two of my core gear items, my backpack and my shelter, in addition to changing some of the food that I carry. Theoretical discussions about gear are one thing, practical testing is another. So, before I undertook any more serious trip with these new items, I decided to do a short easy trip this past weekend to see how well they function and if any changes needed to be made.

I started out early in the morning in Harriman State Park. I figured I would do a loop that I had done before, so I knew the terrain, water sources, etc. There were some fast elevation changes, but no bushwhacking, so it would offer a good test for the new gear without creating serious problems if it didn’t work out as expected.

The new pack is the REI Flash 62. I originally bought it as my winter pack. It has a volume of 62L, which lets me fit all of my winter gear and food for about five days. I quickly figured out however that a lot of the volume was contained in the front and top pockets. The main compartment itself is about 50L. If I keep the front compartment empty, I can comfortably use the pack for my three season gear as well.

That’s exactly what I’ve decided to do, so this weekend I was testing the pack with the three season gear.

After some relatively steep climbing, I reached the rocky terrain above the tree line. Using a new pack was an interesting experience. It is a relatively light pack, coming in at exactly 3lb. This is the lightest internal frame 60+L pack I have been able to find. Even so, it has a very rigid frame. When the hip belt is well tightened, almost all of the weight is transferred the the hips. It made it easy to move through the steep terrain.

I continued traveling above the tree line for most of the day. At one point I moved down into the trees to get in the shade for some lunch.

I had made some changes to my food, in particular to the food I eat during the day. During the last few trips I had been getting tired of sweet food, and for some reason nuts, so for this one I decided to try more savory foods. I replaced the usual granola bars and chocolate with crackers, pepperoni and dried tomatoes.

I was very satisfied with this change in food. Maybe I was just getting bored with the old stuff. The food is also dense in calories. The amount you see in the above picture contain 1577 calories.

After lunch it was back above the tree line to continue my trip.

In late afternoon, I dipped back below the tree line in order to set up camp and take a closer look at the next piece of gear, the Go Lite Shangri-La 3.

As some of you know, I have been using the larger Go Lite Shangri-La 5 for quite some time now. I have been very happy with the shelter. It is light weight, offers a lot of room, and allows you to work in it as you would under a tarp since it has no floor. The only issue I was having with it was that it required a large space to pitch. This was a particularly large issue when bushwhacking because I had a hard time finding large enough open spaces for the shelter. So, I decided to try the Shangri-La 3. It is the exact same design (well, it is a hexagonal rather rectangular shape) but has a much smaller foot print than the Shangri-La 5.

The shelter is accordingly noticeably smaller, but still large enough to function much in the same way as it’s larger brother the Shangri-La 5. After setting up the shelter, I lit the fire to cook some dinner.

For dinner I was trying out another food change. I have been eating a lot of mashed potatoes. They are easy to make and very calorie dense. I figured I would change it up a bit however, and try some stove top stuffing instead. It is just as easy to make (just add water), and is also calorie dense. The only down side is that it is bulkier to pack than mashed potatoes. I also added some chopped salami.

Now, this is one of those things that pops up when you are in the woods, that is easy to ignore when you are testing things at home. The food was great, but it left a lot of fat residue on the pot. It is something I didn’t think about when I was testing it at home, but it was an issue in the woods. I decided to use some ashes from the fire to clean it up. You know how they say that using ashes is as good as soap? Well, it’s not. It did however get the job done eventually. I unfortunately wasted more water in the cleaning process than I would have liked to.

After that, I called it a night. The shelter worked well. I’ll have to see how well it deals with sagging during heavy snow in winter, but I’ll have to wait a few months for that.

The next day I made breakfast and headed out. Nothing interesting to report. I did stop at one point to fill up with water.

As you may be able to see from the picture, I am using a 1L Platypus bottle for the filter. The 1L bottle that came with the filter developed a small leak on the last trip. Luckily, these Platypus bottles fit just fine with the filter.

After that, it was a short trek to the car. As expected, the trip was uneventful, and the new gear performed well. Here is the GPS record of the trip if for some reason you guys are interested.

  

Well, nothing more to report. Now that the gear has had some preliminary tests, I’ll try a more challenging trip the next time out.

Three Favorite Items

Recently I was tagged by a fellow blogger at OutdoorEnvy to list my three favorite backpacking/bushcraft items. I’ve given the question a lot of thought. I like all of my gear, and I love using it. At the same time, I constantly keep changing and tinkering with my gear, so it’s hard to say which items are my favorite. The way I decided to resolve the issue is to pick the items that I love so much that I am unlikely to replace. These are the items that if I lost or damaged them, I would immediately try to buy another one, and if they are no longer in production, I would have looking for them on ebay. So, here are my three favorite items, listed in order of preference.

My top favorite item is my Salomon Quest 4D boots. I know, I know, we all want to see axes and knives, but the truth is that I will replace all of my other gear before I replace these boots. They just fit me perfectly. I had to try a lot of boots before I found these. In fact, I didn’t even know anything about them when I bought them. I simply put them on, and they fit so well, I had to get them.  

I’ve spared you the picture of my actual boots, which are now a few years old. I know there has been a trend in some parts of the community to move to lower height trail runners, but I stick to relatively high boots for one reason. It is not because of ankle support. I’ve never felt the need for it, nor do I think that a high boot will keep me from twisting my ankle. The reason is that it protects my toes when going down heel. By tightening the upper part of the boot, it keeps my toes from sliding forward into the boot, when moving fast down hill. It makes a huge difference in terms of comfort and mobility. The boots have a GoreTex lining. I know that there are also many people who dislike this feature, but I love it. It is true that when compared to unlined boots, if you get GoreTex lined boots wet on the inside, they will dry more slowly. However, in the most common circumstances, where you are going through mud or puddles, the lining keeps my feet dry and comfortable. With a pair of wool socks, I have had no moisture issues on the inside of the boots.

My second favorite item is my Open Country 2Qt pot. I don’t obsess too much about pots, but I know what I like when I see it. I’ve been using the Open Country 2Qt pot for quite some time now, and have been extremely happy with it. I’ve bought a spare one just in case they stop making them.

  

It is a very cheap aluminum pot that most people don’t give a second thought when they see it in a store. It however has everything I look for in a pot. It weighs 7.7oz, and costs $11. It has a 2Qt capacity, which is the volume I prefer in a pot. While I can get away with a smaller pot, I like the extra volume so I can boil things like rice without worrying about overflow or splatter. It also has a wide base, which I find preferable for cooking both because of the added stability and the better heat distribution. It is a fairly thin pot, so initially I was worried about it getting damaged, but i have had it for over year now, and have not had a single issue with it.

My third favorite item is my Husqvarna hatchet. It is the older model that is no longer produced.

The hatchet has a 1.25lb head and a foot long handle. This is the hatchet/axe that I carry on most of my trips, and I find that it lets me do everything I need. I could replace it with other hatchets that will work just as well, but I just love the feel of this one.

Well, that’s it. They are not the most exciting items, but they are the ones I would not want to replace with anything else.

I’m tagging Akiri’s Blog, Gurthy’s Bushcraft, Perkele’s Blog for their favorite three items.