Hultafors Hultån Hatchet

How about a handy hand-forged hatchet with a sturdy hickory handle? The perfect hiking, hunting, and bushcraft companion when you cannot or don't want to bring along a bigger axe. Also nice to have in your car in case you need to axe something. Now that Finnish Billnäs and Kellokoski don’t make axes anymore, the most interesting traditional axes come from Sweden. With enough love, this will serve you for many many decades to come. The axe comes with a leather sheath.

• Head: convex grind edge, sharpened to a razor-sharp edge, polished, oiled, and ready to use
• Handle: hickory, treated with linseed oil
• Handle length c. 380 mm (15")
• Total weight with the sheath: c. 810 g (1.8 lbs); head c. 510 g (1.1 lbs)
• Comes with a leather sheath
• Axe head has a 50-year warranty on material and workmanship defects

Hand-forged head & hickory handle

This axe is hand-forged using high-quality Swedish carbon steel, with methods that date back to the 17th century. The blade is so sharp that you can shave with it. (We just had to try.) The 500 gram head represents the lighter and smaller end of the Hultafors lineup. Perfect for, well, smaller tasks.

Hultafors axes are made of relatively soft steel which is easy to sharpen but keeps the edge rather well (when not hit against a rock). We imagine if they have made them like this for centuries, it's a pretty good recipe!

The axe comes with a sturdy good quality hickory handle. Hultafors does offer the handles of all lengths separately, so if you manage to break yours, you don't have to go on making a new one from scratch.

Many axeptable uses

A compact hatchet is easy to carry along and is at its best on longer hikes and hunts when you don’t want to haul too heavy crap with you. It is great for whittling tinder, making kindling, small logwork, building small shelters and other bushcraft use. You can also use it as a small carving axe when making spoons and such. Felling bigger trees might cause some anxiety but if absolutely necessary, it can be done, somehow. If the size doesn’t matter, bigger is better, unless you are specifically after a lighter head.

Axe sheath included

This axe comes with a sexy leather sheath. It doesn’t have a snap fastener, instead, there is a leather drawstring, which is better in the long run. Leather usually stretches in use, so in time the snap fastener will be a bit wobbly but the drawstring can always be tightened more. It is also easy to replace if needed.

Also included is a small booklet (in Swedish and English), which gives you some info on the history and manufacturing techniques, as well as tips on proper axe maintenance.

Manufactured by Hultafors

Hultafors axes are manufactured at Hults Bruk in Southeastern Sweden. Hults Bruk was originally founded in 1697. First, they primarily forged nails for shipbuilding but quite soon they also began making various hand tools. By 1870 axes had become a major part of their production. Today Hultafors is a fascinating combination of traditional handicrafts and modern technology. Their fantastic axes are known for their quality across the world.

And of course there's the aesthetic side: this really is a beautiful item.