Bark River Knives: Custom Camp Ax Review
By: Sharpshooter
One of the neat perks with sharing a building with Bark River is that I sometimes get to play with the new stuff before it even ships.
In this case it was really hard work; assuring that the edge geometry on the new Bark River Custom Camp Axe would bring out the best chopping ability possible.
Before I get into the actual testing, a little background is in order.
William Wales Scagel is considered to be “the father of the 20th Century cutlery in America.” His designs or perhaps more properly non-designs have made a lasting imprint on many of the fixed blade knives made today.
“Non-Designs” because Scagels are made of sweeping curves and angles that create a visual tension that attract attention to them. The lines and curves caught the eye of Bo Randall in 1936 and inspired him to begin making knives, at first copying the Scagel knives he admired and then developing his own style. Today, many knifemakers copy Scagels or they try to.
I've made a few “Scagel” knives and know how difficult it is to get the shape right, more difficult to combine that shape with performance.
The modern “Scagels” usually feature a stick tang with an assortment of materials and spacers to emulate Bill Scagel's use of whatever material he had in the shop for handles. After all, Bill Scagel was a thrifty Scot who hated to throw anything away so pieces of wood, fiber gasket material and leather were commonly used along with the (free) deer antler sheds he hunted for in the woods.
The new Bark River Custom Camp Axe is styled much like the traditional Scagel Camp Axe. The design features natural graceful curves that flow together with hardly a straight line on the entire axe.
Before I get into the actual testing, a little background is in order.
William Wales Scagel is considered to be “the father of the 20th Century cutlery in America.” His designs or perhaps more properly non-designs have made a lasting imprint on many of the fixed blade knives made today.
“Non-Designs” because Scagels are made of sweeping curves and angles that create a visual tension that attract attention to them. The lines and curves caught the eye of Bo Randall in 1936 and inspired him to begin making knives, at first copying the Scagel knives he admired and then developing his own style. Today, many knifemakers copy Scagels or they try to.
I've made a few “Scagel” knives and know how difficult it is to get the shape right, more difficult to combine that shape with performance.
The modern “Scagels” usually feature a stick tang with an assortment of materials and spacers to emulate Bill Scagel's use of whatever material he had in the shop for handles. After all, Bill Scagel was a thrifty Scot who hated to throw anything away so pieces of wood, fiber gasket material and leather were commonly used along with the (free) deer antler sheds he hunted for in the woods.
The new Bark River Custom Camp Axe is styled much like the traditional Scagel Camp Axe. The design features natural graceful curves that flow together with hardly a straight line on the entire axe.
You can see the Bark River Custom Camp Axe is right on the money.
I took some logs from the surrounding woods and set up for a quick test.
The first swing spoke volumes; the balance was dead on the money. The Bark River Custom Camp Axe felt “right” on the backswing with the handle shape being comfortable and secure in the pinch between my thumb and forefinger. The swing was right as well, with the handle rolling just right in my loose grip, the weight transferring forward with my wrist snap and the head accelerating as I closed my other three fingers locking into a firm, solid grip for impact.
Too many axes indicate a lack of understanding of how to use an axe and you end up with a handle that looks cool but is all wrong in actual use.
You can see how the edge performed:
The edge sunk in deeply indicating that it is plenty sharp and has a good angle of attack, the edges of the cut are flared outward from the shoulders shoving the sides out of the way. The axes head is well balanced as it went in straight and square with no hint of wanting to glance off.
With the first chop out of the way and analyzed (and photographed) I set to some serious chopping. The 5 1/2” Birch log is a bit large for a hatchet but the Camp Axe had no issue overcoming the mismatch and went at it like a rabid chainsaw.
Each hit was rewarded with a satisfying thud of feedback in my hand and an explosion of chips from the business end.
It didn't take long to become obvious that chopping through would be no problem for the Custom Camp Axe so I moved to a bit of higher level Axecraft.
Creating a flat on a round log is useful for construction of a cabin as well as making a small table.
The chopping ability of an ax isn't tested here as much as the balance and ergonomics.
The technique: Several “first chops” along the surface you want flattened.
Then a series with the head at an angle to get under the first chops;
Followed by some more at the opposite angle to get most of the wood out of the way.
This is a great test to see how well the ax resists glancing off. The balance and sharpness of the Custom Camp Axe make it a natural for this job, quite unusual for a hatchet which is why most of the time woodsmen switch over to an hand adze for this job.
Choking up further allowed me to use the head as an ulu while I pared away the high spots to create the flat area.
When I finished up, the Bark River Custom Camp Axe still maintained a very respectable edge.
I have learned over the years that chopping tools are hard on fine hair popping edges, the impact tends to knock the ultra fine edges back to a working sharpness. The working sharpness is what an ax needs to do the job and so long as that edge is maintained through the task at hand it doing fine. In the case of the Custom Camp Axe, that working sharpness is a bunch sharper than I expected; geometry is a wonderful thing.
In many ways it reminds me of the legendary Bark River Mini Axe in performance. This ax outperforms larger axes and seems to have a natural affinity for sharpness.
I'm glad I have one of these to add to the collection, it certainly deserves a spot beside my Mini Axe as a terrific camp tool. With this very limited run and no guarantee of another, I can't imagine letting this chance go by. Even that Thrifty Old Scot would untie his purse strings for one of these.