There are various products available and 4 axe styles (including a double-bit) but could not help but be impressed by the mammoth Titanis above. Sanded/painted/beeswax process 30" handle of Tennessee hickory topped with 5lbs of high carbon steel. The head is handmade for BaseCampX by a storied axe making family firm in New Zealand. #absolutebeast.
$400 axes are not for everyone to be sure... not even sure they are for me but would really love to see and swing this thing in real life. Available online and at UncleOtis in Toronto. Additional shots below reproduced w/ Graeme's ok.
"This is not your Grandfathers axe. It's your grandson's" -Base Camp X
11 comments:
I have to call the business of $400 axes malarkey. A good Snow and Nealley, for example, will set you back $60-70. The painted handles are a smokescreen for ripping off the customer. I don't even think that the quality of the BestMade or Base Camp axes is relevant when the price of them is so disparate from another ax of top quality.
@anon there are similar analogies all over fashion (charging more for adding a logo etc). the onus is on the painted-handle brands to show return on investment. the designer axe phenomenon is def interesting as an anthropological event...
also, fan of Snow&Nealley. http://10engines.blogspot.com/2009/10/that-4x4x8-look.html
I am curious about that--showing return on investment. My tastes overlap a bit with the clothes and things you post. I can see what you get with, say, a bespoke pair of shoes. They are expensive, but there is something there to be valued.
My problem or question is about that difference between the S&N ax and the Best Made. I look at the two and what fills the gap in price is not the quality of the ax handle or the steel or the shape of the bit. What fills the gap is Fashion. Do the Best Made folks really think that they have compressed into their axes several hundred dollars of value? Or is it a display of colorful greed?
I am genuinely curious what you think about these axes and things of that type, push coming to shove.
Many of your posts are Stylish, but the style always has character and sturdiness. The axes, to me, don't seem to fit.
Any way, I like your site, check it regularly and will continue to do so.
Cheers,
Michael King
well let's see who makes the Best Made axes? Oh it's Snow and Nealley huh? You are paying an extra few hundred for some paint and a pretty box.
On a more positive note, I was out using my Husqvarna and my Bruks trimming some timber this morning.
I thought Best Made orignally got them from S&N but now they use Council Tools -for the new felling axe. And say it plainly on the Best Made site. Sidenote Council bringing out their own "heritage" axe (v similar to the felling axe made for BM) for $170. So the painted handle etc only adds $30 in that case.
no doubt a few (many?) buy these axes to hang on the wall... if so it is probably cheaper than the custom framing around most paintings.
would love to chat about all this live. wont back and forth forever here though. thx for commenting guys.
James,
Your propably right, I haven't checked the Best Made site in a while. I wonder if they started using Council Tools after everyone figured out that they were using S&N, there was a little backlash as I remember. 170 bucks isn't bad, it's pretty much what I've spent on my Bruks.
So discus this in person? Thats an invitation for a beer I hope. Or will I have to wait until the Flee Market? Jason and myself will have a table with a few axes for sale!
Cheers.
Thought I recognized the axe head as a Tuatahi.
Ubiquitous and legendary would be understatements regarding the opinion of their axes here in New Zealand.
The axes are made by, and for, people who do not use axes. I do use axes - I use Gransfors-Bruks working axes and they have served me well in clearing scores of trees big and small. One thing for sure is that you do not want paint on the handle: it renders the axe slippery and dangerous.
These axes are for the effete.
The axes are made by, and for, people who do not use axes. I do use axes - I use Gransfors-Bruks working axes and they have served me well in clearing scores of trees big and small. One thing for sure is that you do not want paint on the handle: it renders the axe slippery and dangerous.
These axes are for the effete.
@adam Gransfors-Bruks are well liked for sure.
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