Hultafors, in a rounda'bout kinda way

Someone told me the Hultafors were not available in the US, and once I heard that I really didn't give them another thought. I did look for them but what I found wasn't US based and had some pretty stiff shipping prices to go with an already inflated sticker price. Oddly enough I found a Wetterlings felling axe cheaper than I could get the Hultafors. That was a year or so ago and admittedly I don't know if these axes are available in the US now or not.

In a recent trading haggle session with DCM, a friend of mine on the BCUSA forums, a Hultafors felling axe got tossed on the trade rock, 3.5 pounds, 32" and with a history it would seem. Originally a BushTramp (another member of BCUSA) axe that ended up traded on the blanket at the Ohio meet. Now it was being offered up in trade again, we settled up and called it good.

I was surprised by the Hultafors, and the helluva good whipping job BushTrap laid on it. Trade was a good one and now a Hultafors helps heat the lodge!

 I'm no axe aficionado, all I really know is what feels good to use, how it sharpens and how well it holds an edge. I've used the axe daily since I received it and I've become rather fond of it. The swing is good, the bite is deep and the chips fly as if under rocket power.

I'm thrilled with this feller.

Recently I got out to rummage up some birch bark, hunt some small chaga to replenish stocks, and enjoy both the axe and a new to me BHK Bushcrafter. When I'm foraging there's nothing I like as much as my pack basket for the purpose. I recently finished up a few additions and it was a perfect chance to get it out and have some fun. It's become a hot mess of traditional combined with modern aspects. From using  several MOLLE attachments to a Bison Gear survival pouch mounted to the harness webbing.


I like to be able to carry an axe in the basket instead of carrying it in my hand. What I don't like is it flopping around and banging to and fro. So, using a 'Elasto-lok Combat Medic vertical tourniquet carrier I fashioned the perfect axe handle stabilizer. The set up slips between the ash slats on the basket making the perfect spot the set up the carrier. Similar to the way the MOLLE/PALs system works, the ash slats are nearly identical in size and spacing as PALs webbing.


Might be a little hard to see in the image  to the right and below but it's self explanatory really. The axe handle is secured in the carrier via the bungie/buckle clasp. It certainly kept the axe secured, had no movement at all until I wanted to take the axe out.





So with pack on my back and Ace in the lead we hit the trail, into what might as well be the jungle of northern Minnesota this time of year!

After tramping most of the morning and collecting birch bark along with some chaga to replenish my personal stock it was time for some tea as it were, and some piddling with the new to me BHK Bushcrafter. Also procured in another trade it arrived with let's call it a sharpness challenge, it took about an hour to get the edge I was looking for and in the end she came out the kinda sharp I like.

 I've handled and used a couple BHKs in the past but not over much. This one I've spent some time with and have come to really like. Blind Horse Knives has a solid reputation and why that is, is clearly evident in this knife. Form, fit, function, all top shelf and pretty easy to take a liking to.

A fair piece of chaga to add to the stocks...

 After lunch we hit the trail again, though neither dog really wanted to leave their comfortable spots. They'd dug in while I was piddling and getting a fire going. A better pair of trail dogs I've rarely known. In fact this is the first Husky I've ever seen that doesn't streak off. We've covered miles together and never a bit of it with him on a leash, he sticks close just like he should.

Much of the rest of the day was spent wandering around collecting bark and just piddlin about wasting time. I collected enough bark to finish several projects, enough chaga to have a steady supply of tea and enough 'trail peace' to keep me even keeled for a while.

I'd call that a successful day.

Angry Mothers, Dead Wolves & Punk Wood Fire

It's been raining for five or six days now and no relief in the forecast. I needed some woods time so donned the rubber boots, Filson's chaps, and hit the trail for some much required peace in the woods. Though our spring was late coming it is now here in full green regalia, nothing is blooming yet  and it's nearly July! Our winter ran excessively long, the last of our snow didn't melt until late May and then storm after storm and unseasonably mild temperatures. None the less my legs needed moving and by bowarm needed action, stump thumpin was on the menu.

The State Bird of Minnesota, the mosquito, fly in formation as squadron after squadron attempt to penetrate whatever defenses you muster, between lemon eucalyptus and a Thermacell I attempt to hold them at bay. Those that brave the chemical wall find no joy as they attempt to get through my clothing. Doesn't help them or me, that I inadvertantly eat a few of them as I walk.

As I turned a corner in the trail one angry, wet, screaming grouse hen went ballistic.  I could see her chicks dashing for cover to either side of the trail behind her but I lost sight of them as she went into full 'You Shall Not Pass' mode.

 Cackles up she charged me in a rush of angry wet feathers, it was tough to get the camera to focus she was moving so fast. One mad mama whose chicks you don't mess with! I slipped laterally out of that confrontation and rejoined the trail a couple hundred yards further down.

The clouds were in the trees though not as bad the the pea soup from the past couple days.

Absolutely everything is soaked, standing water everywhere, nothing is dry.

I wish I knew how old this paper birch is, it is one of the largest ones I've come across.

Today's trail companions, thermacell which emitted a skeeter wall all day, faithfully. One of my favorite bows, this one is a 68" 70#  Leon Stewart, the stumps around here call it Foe Hammer. Bison Gear Lost River pack, and a mildly modified Fieldcraft knife.

 

 As I said, our winter was long, deep snow came early and stayed through mid may. It was tough on every one and every animal. As I coursed the far wood I came across the remains of this wolf, I can't say when  it died but I'm guessing in late winter, probably late February when the worst of it was on us. Temps fell well below zero, stayed there for several weeks and the snow just kept coming. I'll never know if the death was from starvation or otherwise.

I found myself close to last years deer camp so I stopped for lunch and a coffee, if I could get a fire going.

Kettle, knife, fire kit and an empty soup bowl egging me on.

Using one of the reflector logs I had put in place last year I swung it hard and busted it across the table top rock exposing the dry punky inner sections.

Popping the fire kit out, my plan was to get a small coal fire going inside the punk wood.

Using the tender from the fire kit I got a ember and blew it to flame inside the old chunk of wood.

Water's on!

As the water for a quick soup and coffee came to a boil our missing in action Sun broke the clouds and a dappled the forest floor emerged.

After lunch smoke from a hand made pipe, today's blend 'Ruins of Isengard'.

All in all a fine day to be out and about the backwoods regardless of the weather.

Cheap Trick for a Dry Dome

I've always been a fan of Filson's Oil Finish Wax products. Their unlined Tin Cruiser essentially unchanged since 1914, and chaps are used frequently and they've served steadfastly for many years, a story for another time...

With all of their water repellent goods comes a can of Filson's Oil Finish Wax. You can also order the tins individually, usually around $10 or so. It's meant to be used to refinish the tin cloth as it wears over time and works excellently for that task.

But oh so many other uses. I like it on hard working leather gloves as it preserves, protects, waterproofs and after some use you end up with a mild tacky traction grip that I like the feel of when using mauls or axes and the like. Some of my leather I treat with Montana Pitch Blend, another great product, but the working gloves get the Filson treatment.

I'm also a fan of applying it to hats, certain hats that I'm likely to wear in the rain, while the tin cruiser is keeping my upper body dry, a treated hat is keeping my dome dry and the rain off my eye wear.

With a single can you can usually do several hats and it lasts a long time. I've treated everything from ball caps to Million Mile hats with the stuff to great effect. Recently I took the time to do a boonie hat, the results of which can be seen below and it has worked outstandingly well. 

Cheap, easy, and it flat out works!

Best Wetterlings I Ever Bought

I've owned a lot of them, and most of the sizes, still own several that get quite a bit of use.

But the best one I ever bought wasn't an axe at all, unless you count the maul as an axe and I don't.

I heat the lodge with wood and nothing but. We've got a LP furnace as back up but it hasn't been turned on in years. Our typical winter has us starting to burn in mid September, wife still had a fire in the mornings through May 26th this year. It was 32 degrees on Friday morning last week when I left for the cities and she had me get her a fire going before I left. We classify our burning season as 6 months most years, within which we'll consume between 6 and 7 cords in a normal winter to as much as 12 cords a couple years back. The lodge is well insulated and situated so that the largest section of the house faces the south, the big bay windows collecting the sun's radial heat all day.

All that to say we go through some wood.

We split with mauls, all of it, as I don't much care to do it any other way. Gpaps once told me that wood heats twice, once when you cut it and once when you burn it. I've not forgotten that old saw. Besides, the boys and myself benefit greatly from the physical activity. It's also become a bit of a opportunity for them and me to circle up so to speak.

I digress.

Up till now our mauls, or I should say my maul was some ancient eight pounder that I can find no mark on. It swung true enough and split its share over the years without much in the way of bellyaching.

My eldest son was growing out of his 6 as of last fall and recognizing he would be swinging the 8 I bequeathed my old beast and placed an order for a Wetterlings Splitting Maul with a 32" handle and head weight of 5.5 pounds. Now I grew up in Appalachia backwods, men therein swung 6 and 8 pound mauls and not axes. I figure this was mostly because of all the gnarly red and white oak we burned and while there was probably some Swedish badass who could split that wood with a 3.5 to 5# axe none of us ever met the SOB. So mauls is what we were raised on and what I've always used. Going to a 5.5# maul made my oldest boy wisecrack about his ol'man gettin wizened, I just grinned and wore it at the time.

Then the package from Bailey's arrived and we went to work.

Here in the north woods we don't have oak, 'bout the toughest tree we split is wind twisted maple. Nonetheless, wind twisted old maple can be a bit of work especially if it isn't frozen.

I'm happy to say I'm not an ol'man wizened up as my wise crackin' son would suggest? I split circles around them with this thing and didn't burn near the energy I used to. This Ol'man got a brand new bag, er maul as it were.

Without a doubt the fit and finish on this is better than the last three axes I've bought from Wetterlings, I will say that in a decade and a half I've not had a bad one though I hear folks seem to be getting bad pieces these days.

I'm rather pleased with this maul, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to those who still split with one.

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling