Saws & Axes

First of all, regardless of the name, this Council Tool ApocalAxe has uses well before the apocalypse arrives. And while it would certainly make a formidable and handy zombie stopping weapon (seems killing a zombie is redundant), the ApocalAxe will work fine on those that haven’t had the privilege of dying the first time. By… Read More

The company Estwing makes some of the most ubiquitous and diversified hammers, camp axes and hatchets ever to roll around the bed of a pickup. Ernest Estwing’s steel tools are the industry standard from framing hammers to camp axes, and the ones we grew up with and loved for their simplicity and durability since 1923… Read More

Wood and zombies have a lot in common besides their acting abilities; an axe easily splits them in two. And surprisingly, both zombies and iron battle axes share a similar timeline more than a dozen centuries long. Sure, stone axes were chopping coconuts and skulls as far back as 6000 BCE, but metal ones took… Read More

A handful of edge is a beautiful thing. The convergence of steel is one of the most useful things in a survivalist’s kit. It is the tool that builds all other tools. It is the tool that makes shelter, prepares food, and provides defense. So it’s no surprise that a variety of steel edges are… Read More

Mora knives are the paracord of survival blades. Their utility is unquestioned, but not so much is their reliability as a true survival instrument. Having a partial tang, thin blade, plastic sheath, and average steel, the Mora Knife is more of an inexpensive convenience, but by no means the last word in survival blades.  However… Read More

Few things turn on a survivalist like a new piece of kit that has tremendous potential. And two of them just landed in my bug out loadout. Cutting to the chase, they are Timahawks. ‘Timahawk’, you ask? Yes Tim-a-Hawk. The designer Tim Ralston got to choose the name so it only makes sense. Had I… Read More

In addition to building some of the world’s best chainsaws, the Stihl company also makes…or at least brands some wonderful axes and in particular a tremendous splitting hatchet. At less than 20” long but with a 2.75 pound head, the Stihl Pro Splitting Hatchet and it’s monstrous Ash handle with thick neck make short work… Read More

I find interesting that knife reviews often and immediately take on cutting chores at the upper limit of a blade’s pay grade.  Many of the tasks assigned to the knives are really better served by another survival tool; the Hand Hatchet.  And in particular, the Gränsfors Bruks Hand Hatchet.  Of the rides in my growing… Read More

Having a remote SHTF Bug-Out camp equipped without an axe would be about as silly as trying to drive a car with only three wheels mounted on it.  Something in the accomplishment of the tasks at hand would come up short.  Now of course there are endless types, styles, weights, and models of axes.  In… Read More

One of the amazing things about the world these days is that small artisan companies like Gransfors Bruks will put considerable effort into a unique handmade axe with an excruciatingly limited user base and an extraordinary high price.  But in the big picture the Gransfors Bruks Outdoor Axe is an excellent compliment to the traditional… Read More