Dad Stuff: Best Made American Felling Axe
October 09, 2011, By Craig J. Heimbuch 1 comment
I suppose the first question you ask yourself is, "Do I really need a $250 axe?" But, that question becomes rather quickly irrelevant when you realize you probably don't need an axe at all. Expensive or cheap. It's not about need. It's about want.
The Best Made Co. American Felling Axe is the fulfillment of company founder Peter Buchanon-Smith's fruitless search for a well-made American axe. The New York-based designer and art director searched for the perfect tool to help his outdoor pursuits in Northern Canada, but what he found were cheaply made or otherwise unsatisfactory. So he did what any frontiersman might do—he built his own.
The result is a tool as functional and tough as it is beautiful. The best steel and Tennessee hickory brought together in a perfect package. You'd be just as well off hanging it on the wall as you would be using it to clear a site for your fishing camp cabin. You can choose from the sharply designed models available on the site. But for a real adventure, you can buy their Axe Maker's Kit and build your own.
Time was, a frontiersman's axe was his most important tool. It meant the difference between living and dying, surviving the winter or freezing to death. Things are not quite as dramatic these days—when was the last time you had to fell something in your suburban yard?—but that doesn't mean a man shouldn't have one.
Just because you don't need something doesn't mean wanting it isn't important.
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