During my high-school and community-college years in western Michigan, I sold firewood to supplement my meager income from on-again, off-again construction work. I鈥檇 follow in the wake of commercial logging operations, sawing and splitting the unwanted hardwood “tops” that littered the forest after the saleable logs had been hauled away. I鈥檇 earn $95 a cord, delivered. It was hard work, which is why I had zero regrets when I left to attend graduate school. In a seemingly symbolic gesture, I traded my Husqvarna chainsaw for an 鈥89 Ford Econoline that I used to flee my hometown for Montana.
Now I occasionally get nostalgic when I handle the gritty tools of my woodsman days. The sentiment came in mixed form when I picked up the , an outfit based in, of all places, Manhattan. With nearly two dozen options for decoratively painted handles and a head forged by fourth-generation ax makers in North Carolina, Best Made鈥檚 axes are intended as much for display as for use. On the one hand, I was insulted by the notion that such a tool would be built
for lookin鈥 instead of choppin鈥.
But I soon discovered that this was the best-handling and most beautifully balanced ax that I had ever swung. And while I did consider hanging it over the fireplace, I opted instead for what any deskbound American would do: I walked outside and walloped a stump. And damn did it feel good to watch the chips fly.
Price: from $158