Council Tool responds to the discontinuing of the 22.5" handled Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe

(photo credit: Omaha Knife)

Hey friends,

As some of you may remember, I wrote a post back on April 26th about Council Tool discontinuing their wildly popular 22.5" long Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe.

An online axe reseller we spoke with at the time said that Council told them that they were having an issue with getting enough high grade hickory wood to make the 22.5" handles. Council said that this led them to the decision to discontinue the popular 22.5" Velvicut model.

Even with this information, many people were still scratching their heads as to why Council couldn't seem to find a way to continue making the axe. We contacted Council Tool recently, and were pleased to receive a response from the Vice President of Council Tool, Miss Pickett Council:

Greetings Jason,

You and the Council Tool distributor referenced in your post are absolutely right – market supply and availability drove the decision.  The longer length handle is somewhat of an “odd duck” for handle suppliers.  When manufacturers grade premium handles, there’s nothing they can do with fallout in the 24” version.  So if a great percentage of handles don’t make the cut, the handle producer has a great deal of excessive scrap.  Hence it’s a more expensive production.  But in addition, the shorter handle is more appropriate for the design of the Hudson Bay.  We experienced a great number of users “over-using” the product.  As you know, the Hudson Bay is designed for lighter uses, not taking down large trees, etc.

Hope / trust all is well with you and in the Bushcraft community.

Regards,

Pickett Council

Council Tool

Rocky Mountain Bushcraft would like to say a special thank you to Miss Council for taking the time to respond to our questions.

Cheers,

Jason


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)