COUNCIL TOOL 1.625 lb Flying Fox Hatchet, 16" Curved Handle, Made in USA

This is actually the second one of these I’ve purchase. I’ve had the first for a little over a year and have used it both camping and around the house. These are a great size and not too heavy. The handle is short enough to work in tighter spaces but long enough to make chopping of smaller trees or logs easy. The bits come relatively sharp and after a little touch up they are amazing. One thing I really love about these is the hardened pole. Feel free to hammer away in things without risk of damage. Also, the eye walls are thicker than European axes so you don’t need to worry about them spreading. Now, for this specific hatchet. The grain is pretty good. It’s on a bit of a diagonal to the direction of swinging but acceptable for the price and length of handle. No grain run-out and plenty of growth rings. I have no doubts about the strength and longevity of the handle. The head looks great and you can see the discoloration from the heat treatment on both ends. The handle is fit perfectly to the head with a hardwood wedge and additional steel spreader. It chops well out of the box. I honestly believe the sport utility serious from Council Tool is by far the best deal in axes.

Such a good value axe. Strong and tempered to perfection. The lightweight flying fox is great for camping as well as throwing. Sticks with ease. The handle can use a little sanding but when you do it is very comfortable in the hand with little to no hot spots. Easy to sharpen it holds its edge with the best of them. It is a production tool so when you recieve it I always suggest you check the head alignment in case it is off you can return it easily to get another one. This usually isn't a big issue with council tool as their QC is pretty good with most if not all being hand inspected. At least that is one of their claims. I personally love their products and recommend the flying fox as a great little camp axe!

I got my Flying Fox today. I saw the reviews before I got it, ignored the negative ones and got it as I want to learn to throw. It came in a bag with the blade edge plastidipped. Meh, it's something. The edge itself came well ground; straight, even and reasonably sharp. No problem. Both poll and bit have the blue color of hardening present so that's good too. The head was well and firmly placed without any loose or sloppy areas and well trimmed. The hickory handle is of surprisingly high quality whether by design or accident. The grain is all uniformly vertical as is seen in the handle's end and there's no apparent grain runoff the length of it. It's lightly finished but nasty and best refinished. I'd say I got an excellent appearing product and I'm initially very pleased. I'll update some day after getting up off the couch and trying to throw it at something.

Very good quality forging of the ax head and good fit and finish on the hickory handle! It did require a lot of filing and sharpening to get a good cutting edge on it.

Best hatchet ever!!

Great axe! Picked the fox as my primary for competition axe throwing and its made a difference! My average has increased with better accuracy and fewer dropped throws. After a couple throws I noticed the head was slipping off. Was able to reattach the head using a 2nd steel wedge along with jb weld. Then cut off the excess wood to avoid drag. Beautiful and solid

I have been researching and experimenting with various hatchets/small axes. I am very pleased with this! It may be a bit heavy for a hatchet, but the grind is fantastic! Some other hatchets in this price range have such a blunt edge that they smash wood rather than cutting it. But the Flying Fox has a great edge. Just a bit of touch up with a stone and you can carve and cut with it. This also has a hardened pole (back end of the axe) so it can be used to drive steaks into the ground without worrying that you’ll bend the eye.

This was a birthday gift for a friend who plays in an ax throwing league. She was thrilled with the gift and immediately started using it during her birthday party.

Just get it, U will know it's value ;)

This is an awesome axe. I'm very happy with it. The picture is after cleaning and bluing the head and changing the handle to a 17" with a burn finish. The heat treatment goes almost 2" from the edge.