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Gransfors Bruks Ray Mears Wilderness Axe



Gransfors Bruks

Gransfors Bruks Ray Mears Wilderness Axe

£162.00

  EAN 7391765643001
Weight: 1400 g         127 reviews
The Gransfors Bruks Ray Mears Wilderness Axe is an exclusive collaboration between Ray Mears and the Swedish company Gransfors Bruks. After years of designing, testing and refining, Ray and the Woodlore team are extremely excited to unveil this unique signature model; in Ray's words, it's the 'Small Forest Axe Plus'.

While many Gransfors axes are forged en masse in large presses, the Wilderness Axe is produced in small quantities by Gransfors' experienced blacksmith, who work by hand with a traditional hammer press. Thanks to the use of this press from the 1940's, the production looks the same as it would have done back then.

Upon its release in December 2010, Ray sat down with us for an interview on this new axe, answering questions on its design, purpose and benefits over other models available today. An excerpt of this is shown below:

What were your main goals when you set out to design this axe?

A good axe needs a combination of many features, but most importantly, it needs the right weight balanced with the right length of handle. There will always be a compromise between a small, portable hatchet and a large axe more suitable for felling; the Small Forest Axe is great, but it is lacking in weight and length for good splitting and chopping. I wanted an axe that was a little bit longer, better to swing with two hands, with a heavier head.

So what is it that makes the head of this axe so special?

It’s been designed to give real bite. The weight of the head combined with its size makes it a little more potent to use - you can split wood with it one minute and then use it for carving the next.

And what's different about the handle?

The length is different, which is critical to the functionality of the axe. The handle is long enough, and the head heavy enough, so that the head is doing all the work. This means that your muscles can instead focus on guiding the axe, making it a much safer axe to use. The length of the helve, in balance with the weight of the head, is designed to give perfect balance. It’s a mix between the Gransfors Scandinavian Axe and the Small Forest Axe, but there is real magic in it; anyone who uses it will see and feel the magic quality of weight and length - it makes it a very special axe.

What would you say are the ideal uses of this axe?

Anything you have to be able to do in the woods – felling trees, chopping dead trees that have blocked a portage trail, splitting, carving, fashioning a canoe paddle - but it does require expertise to use it well and these things take a long time to learn...

To read the full interview, please visit the Woodlore Blog.

Details:
  • Ray Mears Bushcraft logo on handle
  • Head weight: 0.8 kg
  • Total weight: 1.4 kg
  • 60 cm hickory handle
  • Protective leather sheath included
  • 20-year guarantee

  Under UK law, this item can only be sold to persons over 18 years of age. Woodlore will need to verify your age before your order is dispatched and a check will also be carried out upon delivery. This item cannot be delivered to a locker.

Out of Stock

This item is very popular and is currently out of stock. To be notified by e-mail as soon as it comes back in to stock, please sign up for a restocking notification below.

Shipping

  Delivery in 1-2 days within the United Kingdom
  UK Orders placed before 2PM GMT will be dispatched the same working day
  Overseas delivery times will vary depending on the destination


Please note that our offices are closed at weekends, so any orders placed after 2PM GMT on a Friday will not be dispatched until the following Monday.

Orders with a total value over £300.00 will be dispatched free via a next day delivery service within the UK at no extra cost.

Please note that in some instances, orders for heavy items may take an extra day to arrive.


  Overseas deliveries
For overseas deliveries, please refer to the following estimated delivery times:

  • Europe: 3 - 5 working days
  • Rest of the world: 5 - 7 working days

Returns

A full refund or exchange will be given provided that the items have not been worn or used, and are returned to us within 30 days of purchase, together with all relative labels and packaging. You are responsible for the cost of returning items.

Please ensure that you include a copy of your invoice, along with an explanation of why you have returned your goods. If you wish to return your goods for any reason, please do so to the following address:

Woodlore Limited
PO Box 3
Etchingham
East Sussex
TN19 7ZE
United Kingdom

Product Reviews

Gransfors Bruks Ray Mears Wilderness Axe is rated 5/5 based on 127 customer reviews.

All of our product reviews are from customers with verified purchases.

Overall Rating:

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  1 of 127

  Really helpful service to arrange delivery on the day that I was available. I am a Gransfors Bruks fan. I have five of their axes. The Ray Mears Wilderness axe is really enjoyable to use. The extra length and weight is perfect for as a small general purpose/do anything axe.  

  Mark Shickle
5th September, 2024

Rated: 4/5

  2 of 127

  My preferred axe, very reliable and trustworthy.  

  Charles F Mcmahon
2nd January, 2024

Rated: 5/5

  3 of 127

  Beautiful well balanced all round bushcrafting tool. The swiss army knife of axes.  

  Robert E Sales
1st January, 2024

Rated: 5/5

  4 of 127

  Some time ago I had held the Scandinavian Forest Axe and the Small Forest Axe. Neither felt right. I wanted something with a length that was in between the two and with a heavier head. I searched and searched with no convincing options. My jaw hit the floor when I came across this axe - Ray had designed exactly what I had pictured in my mind. I open the box. I couldn't believe my eyes. The handle is beautifully, naturally two toned - almost perfectly at the half haft mark. A gentle transition point separates a dark lower haft from lighter upper. Surely this is a gift from above. Of course the quality is what you would expect. The head weight is and bit thickness is perfect. Wrapped it up in a strike guard and Woodlore sheath. My great grand children will know this axe  

  Tristan
26th November, 2023

Rated: 5/5

  5 of 127

  This is my second purchase for this axe model. A favorite all-round axe for light to medium felling, bucking, and splitting any kind of wood harder or softer. Balance and feel in hand are so good that it swings and cuts like a natural rhythmic extension of myself. I own and use other very good axes. This model, however, like my other GB axes, has perfect fitment. Other axes serve well meeting designed purposes from heavy splitting to camp and hearth. This superb midsize axe pairs with my saws to keep the campfire going and the dutch oven supplied with cooking coals.  

  Rick Cox
6th July, 2023

Rated: 5/5

  6 of 127

  Received the axe in record time from the UK to here in CA. Axe came in perfect shape and was really well packed. Inspecting the blade I found a couple nicks but luckily they were easily sharped out. Using the axe I found its tends more on the splitting side and not so much on the chopping abilities. The blade doesn't bite as much as I was hoping for, but there's lots of material to work with and thinning the cheeks down a slight bit would be easy enough. Using the axe I found it was well balanced, the blade is heavy but not so much to be cumbersome. Breaking down big branches and brushing out small trees it felt great. The market in this style of axe is pretty full, lots of options for 'boys axes' from all sorts of manufactures are available. The quality, fit and finish was excellent as expected. Pure performance wise, my $40 Fiskars axe cuts and splits with equal ease as this axe but lacks the refined timeless build of a Gransfors. I use it daily now for splitting firewood and making kindling. Overall I'm very happy with the new axe, its a real pleasure to use!  

  Merlin Sabo
30th June, 2023

Rated: 4/5

  7 of 127

  LOVE THIS AXE My small forest Axe has been my constant companion for 15 years and I've not really felt the need for a larger axe until now- I recently went on a winter trip to Canada and decided to treat myself. I knew we'd be needing to process a large amount of firewood and that is what this axe was designed for. It would be too heavy for me to use for fine work- I use my SFA for carving all the time, I think this would be too heavy for me to use in that way. However, for sectioning large logs, limbing and splitting it is a real workhorse. The added weight and longer helve makes a huge difference and it really feels as though it 'wants' to cut. It made the job go a lot faster and powered through hard Northern timbers. If you're thinking about getting one of these, do it. I did refinish the helve of mine, with a London gunstock finish. That's just personal preference, but it does keep the handle in good condition in damp conditions and I'd say it's well worth doing.  

  Sarah Day
16th February, 2023

Rated: 5/5

  8 of 127

  Great feel to this axe and surprisingly well weighted in comparison to the small forest I’ve been using for a few years - effective without adding too much bulk - my only concern was the quality and finish of the handle was not up to the usual standard I’ve come to expect from Gransfor Bruks so dropped a star there  

  Darrel Singh
26th January, 2023

Rated: 4/5

  9 of 127

  This is the third Gransfors Bruks Axe I have bought from this site, the first one being bought 10 + years ago which was the Small Forest Axe and later a Large Splitting Axe. They all are quality axes. This one falls in between the two, slightly heavier than the Small Forest and slightly different shape, splits wood with ease and can be used with one hand if needed. Quality kit that will last a life time. I like putting a few coats of boiled linseed oil on the handle before I use it and then a coat a year.  

  Ian Patterson
18th January, 2023

Rated: 5/5

  10 of 127

  The Wilderness Axe is simply superb. Perfect handle fitment in eye and grain alignment. Great balance and swing feel. Cuts and splits very well. Razor sharp. Good multipurpose edge geometry for my uses. I can let it swing easy and do the work when working with the size trees for which it is designed. My favorite axe in its size range. It will always have a place of honor in my Gransfors Bruk family.  

  Rick Cox
25th October, 2022

Rated: 5/5




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Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to frequently asked questions on this item can be found here. If you have a question about this product, please contact us.

Does this axe come supplied with a leather sheath?
Does this axe come with a steel wedge?

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