Saturday, June 22, 2013

My inadvertent Totem Pole

Yesterday, I was out testing felling axes on a Fir tree that had been blown down by a wind storm sometime ago. I chopped the fourth test notch a little too deep, and the slim piece of wood joining the two sides of the tree snapped, causing the trunk to stand back up from the weight of the rocks and soil attached to the roots. The result -- a rather crazy looking totem pole!


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Estwing 26" Camp Axe vs the Best Made Hudson Bay Axe- which axe chops better?

This past winter, the curiosity bug bit me, and I was interested to see how an Estwing 26" Camp Axe would fare against a traditional wood-handled Best Made Hudson Bay Axe in a chopping contest.

The main reason for my curiosity was that many people on bushcraft forums seemed to disparage Estwings as being inferior choppers. It made me wonder if there was any merit to this argument, so I got a hold of a brand new Estwing Camp Axe, sharpened it, and threw it into my pack along with my Best Made Hudson Bay Axe. I then headed off to a favorite bushcraft spot to see which axe would come out victorious in a chopping contest.





SPECS

ESTWING E45A 26" CAMP AXE
Overall Length- 26"
Cutting Edge 4"
Steel Type- Drop Forged Medium Carbon Steel
Handle Type- Drop forged steel with rubber Shock Reduction Grip®
Weight (without sheath)- 50.3 ounces
Weight (with sheath)- 53.3 ounces
Country of manufacturer- Rockford, Illinois USA

BEST MADE "UNFINISHED" HUDSON BAY  AXE
Overall Length- 26"
Head Weight- 2lbs
Steel Type- Drop Forged 5160 Carbon Steel
Handle Type- Grade "A" American Hickory
Weight- (without sheath)- 45.4 ounces
Weight- (with sheath)- 47.2 ounces
Country of manufacturer- Made in Lake Waccamah, NC, USA by the Council Tool Axe Company

The Estwing Camp Axe and Best Made Hudson Bay Axe are both 26" long and feature drop forged Hudson Bay pattern heads, and both are made in the USA. The Best Made head is thicker at the edge than the Estwing. For a full review of the Best Made Hudson Bay Axe, click here.

Profile comparison of the two axes (Estwing on the left)

So which axe came out the winner after 30 chops into a dead Ponderosa Pine log? ---surprisingly, the Estwing Camp Axe didThe thinner blade on the Estwing cut deeper and took out larger chips than than the thicker-edged Best Made.

(Click to enlarge)


Though the Estwing outchopped the Best Made, it was hampered by an uneven handle profile where the different segments of the handle connect. This made it uncomfortable to slide my hand down the handle to guide the axe when swinging it. The thin blade also tended to stick in the wood more than the Best Made, and the thin metal on the handle near the head is not nearly as comfortable or controlled as a wooden handle when choking up for finer work.



On the plus side, the Estwing is built to be nearly indestructable. The steel was easy to sharpen and took a razor sharp edge. The quality of the steel was also better than expected. It held its edge well and there were no issues with rolling or chipping. Throw in the fact that it can outchop the well regarded Best Made Hudson Bay Axe, and I think it's fair to say that it will serve most campers well despite its limitations for use in bushcrafting.


About the author
Jason Schwartz is the founder and senior editor of Rocky Mountain Bushcraft. He is a former Red Cross certified Wilderness & Remote First Aid Instructor, and has taught bushcraft and wilderness survival techniques to the Boy Scouts of America, interned with the US Forest Service, and studied wilderness survival, forestry and wildland firefighting at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colorado. Jason has also written for magazines such as The New Pioneer and Backpacker, including writing the "Tinder Finder" portion of Backpacker's "Complete Guide to Fire," which won a 2015 National Magazine Award (NMA). Email him at rockymountainbushcraft @ hotmail.com (without spaces)

Monday, June 3, 2013

Has "resume embellishment" returned to Dual Survival? Bloggers claim Joe Teti is not a combat veteran

http://thisainthell.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Joe-Teti-Bio.jpg

Is another Dual Survival cast member guilty of "resume embellishment?" According to a post written by the "Stolen Valor Offenders Exposed" blog, as well as a post written by the "This Ain't Hell, But You Can See it From Here" blog, Joe Teti did not actually serve as a member of a combat unit while in the military.

Both bloggers, who posted jpeg copies of Teti's military records, say that even though he completed Marine Force Recon and Special Forces schools as a member of the Marines/Army National Guard, he did not serve as a member of a combat unit while in military service, which contradicts the bio on his website (see main photo above).

Apparently, Teti served in the Marines during the 1980s, and in a California Army National Guard unit from the 1990s up until 2001, when he was discharged. During this time, Teti's full time civilian jobs included working as a stockbroker for Bear Stearns, and owning a Concrete Pressure Washer business in Nevada.

The main point of contention is that Teti claims to be a "combat veteran" of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, where instead, he actually served as a private contractor, similar to Blackwater, etc.

This has some active and former military veterans up in arms, judging by the 200+ comments left on "This Ain't Hell's" post on the subject. These veterans say that a "combat veteran" denotes someone that fought in an active military combat unit, and had to stay and fight under penalty of imprisonment, as opposed to a private contractor, who could just quit and return home if the going got rough.

Another issue is Teti's claim of 20 years of service. That number doesn't match up with his military records which record roughly 15 years of duty.

So is this another case of "resume embellishment" on the scale of Dave Canterbury's debacle? In my opinion, not quite, since Teti was indeed a Special Forces Green Beret during his military career.

However, I do find his claim of being a "combat veteran" misleading, and am disappointed that he felt the need to add 5 years to his service record. Like Canterbury, who served honorably as an Army MP before falsely adding "Ranger," "Airborne" "Grenada" and "Central American Service" to enhance his survival skills resume, Teti should just be proud of his actual service instead of pumping a lot of hot air into it.

Do you think Teti was trying to mislead viewers, or is this just a matter of semantics? Leave a comment below


About the author
Jason Schwartz is the founder and senior editor of Rocky Mountain Bushcraft. He is a former Red Cross certified Wilderness & Remote First Aid Instructor, and has taught bushcraft and wilderness survival techniques to the Boy Scouts of America, interned with the US Forest Service, and studied wilderness survival, forestry and wildland firefighting at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colorado. Jason has also written for magazines such as The New Pioneer and Backpacker, including writing the "Tinder Finder" portion of Backpacker's "Complete Guide to Fire," which won a 2015 National Magazine Award (NMA). Email him at rockymountainbushcraft @ hotmail.com (without spaces)

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Quick Update- Sunday, June 2nd 2013

Dear readers,

I have been transitioning to my mountain base camp over the past few weeks, which has kept me very busy! I'll  have a major Benchmade Bushcrafter Knife review up very soon. It's one I hope you'll enjoy.

On another note, Rocky Mountain Bushcraft is just 10,000 pageviews away from one million pageviews! We are planning a major giveaway for this event, which includes a Kestrel Portable Weather Instrument package worth over $600, so make sure to keep checking back over the next several weeks for details.

Thanks again for visiting!

Jason and Leah