Bahco Camping Axe: 14.25 Wood Handle

Seems to be very good quality. Only wish there was a sharpened edge. I guess that's my responsibility for initial sharpening.

I will start by saying that I did not expect very much for the cheap price that I paid for this hatchet, so I can easily say that it is better than I expected. I have developed an interest in wood carving with a hatchet or axe and I am planning to buy a much more expensive carving hatchet if my interest continues. I bought this Bahco to test my interest and see if it would be sustained long enough to justify buying the one that I really want which cost about nine times as much as the Bahco.It holds a cutting edge as good as any cheap hardware store grade axe that I have ever owned, but it did take about 15 minutes with a grinder, file and diamond hone to get it shaped and sharpened the first time.The one gripe that I do have with it is the shape of the handle. The handle seems to be too thin and does not fit my hand very comfortably. I will probably make a new handle that I like better and while I have the head off of the handle, I will sand down some of square edges and corners on the head. The handle is decent quality but it just does not fit my hand.

Use for wood working, not the hardest steel , but great shape and size and very easy to re-sharpen

Bahco (now owned by SNA) is a European company that used to subcontract with Helko Werk of Germany to make many of their axes. In fact, if you expand the picture of the advertisement, you can see the "HW" on the poll of the axe. So, I ordered this and hoped I would get a Helko- made axe or at least, a European-made one. I was very disappointed when I opened the box and saw the little "Made in China" sticker affixed to the handle. Logically, I know that a guy in China can operate forging machinery as well as any Norseman in the deepest halls of Scandinavia or any German in the Ruhr Valley, but if I had known that this was made in China, I would have bought a Helko or a Marbles (at least made in El Salvador is sort of made in America), for political reasons. The hatchet itself isn't bad. The head appears nicely forged, everything square with a nice thin bit. It also appears to be made out of 1045 steel, which isn't bad for an axe. The wood (ash?) handle is well fitted with no gaps in the eye and didn't loosen with some light use. Grain orientation is completely wrong, so I can see how people have been able to break the bigger axes' handles. Since this is a smaller hatchet, I doubt I'll be whacking anything hard enough to break the handle, but I'll try to update this review if that happens. I've seen several people on Amazon echoing Youtube Wranglerstar's negative comments on this hatchet. It appears to me that he took an almost knife thin bit and then filed it into what appears to be a Scandinavian edge. Imagine taking a Mora knife and hitting the back of it with a hammer into hard wood. Something's going to happen to the edge. At least with the 1045 (C45 as Bahco calls it) steel, the edge rolled instead of chipped. I filed only enough to get an edge since the bit was so thin already (as I wanted in a small 1.3 lb hatchet) and then went to work with the stones. It now has a sharp edge, but with enough steel behind it to keep it from rolling. After using it on white oak limbs, I haven't had any problems. I will probably keep this hatchet and use it for limbing trees and splitting kindling. I just wish Bahco and Amazon would have made clear that this hatchet is now made in China.

Shhhhhhhhhhh.....there are not a lot of quality products that come from Germany at this great of a price. While building in Germany I used to use these Bahco hatchets for setting timber rafters and splitting kindling for Granny. There is not another hatchet being sold on Amazon that is of this quality in this price range. I brought two back to the USA in my luggage. Damn it! Can't do that any more.The metal has a very distinctive ring to it when chopping. The nice contoured radius edge is easy to maintain and sharpens up well with a few passes of a file. On the hatchets that I own the handles appear to be made of a tight grain beech. The hatchet overall tends to be a tad head heavy which I prefer for splitting wood. Let the tool do the work. I would say that these Bahco hatchets are lifetime tools. As in - they will last you your lifetime.Not really suited to be used as a belt hatchet and does not come with a sheath.Act now and buy two Bahco hatchets before those German wholesalers figure out that they can get more for this product.I've used mine for over 20 years and have only replaced the handle once.Don't waste your money on Fiskars and the China made hatchets.

fast...Fast...FAST...QUALITY QUALITY

The head is well made although not at all sharp. It will take a lot of work to profile it to a sharp edge. The handle leaves a lot to be desired and it will not be easy to find one to fit for a replacement. More like a club with a poor handle. The grain in the handle is cross instead of vertical and it is a little warped. May as well buy a cheap box store hatchet with a steel or fiberglass handle and save your money.

When I received this axe, I went to my backyard, and chopped down an old fig tree. The next day, I removed the stump. This little axe works fine.Unfortunately, the bit needs to be redone after every use. The handle is very smooth and comfortable. No sheath.Wish I could give it five stars, but the steel is too soft.