EstwingCarpenter's Hatchet - 13" Carpenters Axe with Smooth Face & Shock Reduction Grip - E3-2H

I love these things! I have one mounted on my tractor each of my log splitters and my log arch.

I have loved the feel of the leather grip, and the solid build of my Dad’s Estwing hammer. This E2H hatchet has all the same great Estwing qualities, plus the curved leather handle which feels just right when you are swinging it. One very solid forged steel tool, with the leather grip, makes for a heirloom quality tool you can pass on to the next generation...

Great quality

This is a great hatchet! American made, "full tang" the grip is perfect, and after chopping into some unknown, hard, dried up tree I didn't feel any fatigue or excessive shock. Fit into my lightweight, small, nearly empty backpack without being too cumbersome or throwing the weight off balance as I walked. The photos on the listings of this product and the rigger's axe are mixed up, the carpenter's hatchet is all steel with blue on the handle only, while the riggers has blue paint up the neck of it. Riggers axe is longer and has a waffle face in the hammer while this Carpenter's Hatchet is a smooth face. All in all great product and maintains it's edge!

First off, let me say that I have used an Estwing hammer since I was 12 years old, and it was older than me when I bought it in 1990. So I have a strongly favourable view of these products.This hatchet arrived in bubble-wrap, but the top edge of the blade had clearly made contact with something hard and concrete-like, since there was some damage to the top quarter inch and a stoney-brown patch stuck to it. I'm guessing someone dropped it on a solid floor.Quality wise, the steel feels really good under a sharpening stone. fairly hard but soft enough to sharpen. The handle looks great, very solid, though there is less of a palm swell than on my hammers. Balance is heavily forward, which would be a bit much on a hammer but makes sense on an axe. The head shape is actually awesome, you can comfortably grip the head to use it as a scraper or to whittle, it's more versatile as a woodworking tool than I expected. The hammer side works very well indeed, which is awesome for tent pegs, I prefer it to the back of hatchet method, here you have a hardened face and a round face that is less likely to find your fingers, and less likely to take off skin than the square corner on the back of a regular hatchet if you do. Criticisms: The grind is less even than my hammers, it looks pretty wobbly on the thin part of the handle. The finish on the pommel plate is very rough and uneven. The edge out of the box was very average, and a touch damaged, though it came back up OK with a little sharpening. I'll keep it, its a good and useful tool and the price is ok. If I had my time over I think I might buy one from a shop so I could pick a good example rather than the first one off the shelf, but then I'm fussy about my tools. Overall, satisfied. Arrived quickly.

Been buying Estwing tools for over 40 years. Simply the best you can buy. Sure they cost more but worth it. We tend to care more when we pay more. Keep lightly oiled and you have a tool you can count on for life.

Pros: Classic design, Proven Staying PowerCons: noneBest Uses: Shaping wood and framing work:My father had an Estwing stacked leather handle hatchet. I always liked the design and the way it worked. I needed a hammer and, on looking around, found that the Estwing design, from 1923 is still being manufactured. Naturally I bought one, and was so taken with the idea of owning something of such classic and proven design that now I own practically a complete set of Estwing leather handled tools. You can't buy an American made "Perfect Handle" wrench or screwdriver anymore, but Estwing keeps right on making their striking tools to the same standard as when they designed their original 90 years ago.

Great little hatchet. Must have for camping or that truck tool box. Good wight and balance. Grind and finish are not top shelf, but great for the price point.Keep in mind it does not come with a sheath/edge protector and it really needs one. Obtain one, it’s a sharp blade and needs it.