A camp axe is the one that actually leaves the house. It has to split kindling, drive a stake, limb a branch and then go back in a pack without shredding it. That means a haft you can choke up on, a head heavy enough to do work but light enough to carry, and an edge that comes back with a file rather than a workshop. This archive covers everything in the range built for that job.
Hafts from 16 to 30 inches
The short end is belt and pack territory: a hand axe on a 16 inch ash haft with a chevron etched cheek, a hammer poll for driving pegs and a snap closed leather mask, and a bearded head on a 16 inch rosewood haft with a blackened face, an etched Mjolnir and a brass collar. The middle sits at 17 to 21 inches, including a mirror polished bearded head with a 6 inch edge, a Damascus vegvisir head with a 7 inch edge and a hooked horn, a rune and stave etched head on walnut, and a battle axe on a pale ash haft with a 5 inch edge, straight grain and an oil finish. The long end is proper wood work: felling axes on 20 and 28 inch hickory handles, one red enamelled with engraved knotwork and a polished bevel, an American ash handled single bit forest head, a double bit on a 30 inch hardwood haft with a brass collar, and a bearded head on a 26 inch ash haft with an etched rune band. Steel is plain 1095 high carbon at 54 to 58 HRC or forge welded 1095 and 15N20 Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC. Nearly all ship with a leather edge cover. Prices run from 165 dollars to 359 dollars.
Picking the length
The honest rule is that a 16 inch haft is a tool you carry and a 28 inch one is a tool you drive to. Our guide to choosing an axe works through weight and balance, and the axe care notes cover oiling the head and looking after the wood, which matters more on a camp axe than on anything else. For wood splitting specifically, the long handled heads are in splitting and felling axes, and the Norse shapes are in bearded axes.
Ransack Viking is a US company based in Chicago, Illinois. These pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from Chicago. Engraving is done in the US after arrival: text 19 dollars, symbol 39 dollars, family crest 49 dollars.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.
