1844 Helko Werk Germany Classic Journeyman Pack Axe - Made in Germany Lightweight and Compact Backpacking Axe and Bushcraft Axe for Camping - Head 1.5 lbs, Handle 20 in. (Journeyman) #11441

Premium helko product and delivered as promised

I am an Axe \ knife and Tomahawk junkie... Actually if it has anything to do with the outdoors or survival I just seem to have to have it. For quite awhile I have been buying Cold Steel and or other Chinese made axes that I do have to say they do the job and quite well especially for the price paid. So one day I was cruising an Axe forum and came across a very well written article about the "High End" axes from Sweden, Germany etc. So, the first axe I bought was a Granfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe ( almost perfection! VERY sharp and so useful !). Was so impressed with it I had to try the Helko, I figured if the Swedes could hand make such perfection then the Germans would have to match it. I was not disappointed. I settled on the Helko Classic Journeyman as I wanted something a little smaller then the GB Forest axe. The Helko came in faster then promised. Packaged VERY well. I was almost like a little school boy opening the box. Size was perfect, handle and grain spot on. Head finish "almost" perfect. The head shines like it should but the ONLY issue I had was the axe came a little dull. Nothing my honing skills couldn't fix. But I did expect a axe ready to be used. Especially such a fine German axe. The other pet peeve was the axe's leather sheath had NO protection on it at all, it was 100% raw leather. Not acceptable in my book. Especially as I use my axes. So I spent an hour or so doing my Johnson's paste wax protection on the entire axe and especially the sheath... The sheath took 6 heavy applications before it even started to look like it was getting any kind of a water proof seal. The following day it took 6 more applications. As far as carrying and using the axe. I think in my world the Helko will become my primary "hunting" axe. It holds its edge, feels almost prefect when using (slight heaviness in the head)... BUT that helps a lot when chopping etc. The handle length is perfect for me when on my hip or backpack. It is just fantastic for shaving fire tender also. I have a Wetterlings 116 Back-country Hatchet 16" coming in to complete (for now) my High End axe quest. I truly hope it is as nice and useful as this Helko. While you can find similar axes and hatchets for less money. You will not sit in your chair polishing and smiling at the quality and usefulness of these German and Swedish tools. They're top notch and worth every penny, if not just alone for the edge retention. Note... this axe would of gotten 5 stars from me if it came in razor sharp as I had expected and the sheath was sealed. This is more like a 4.7 out of 5 rating in my book.

This axe is the best I have ever purchased. I did have to touch the cutting edge up before I used it, but it only took about 3 mins.Today I delimbed an entire tree and it was still as sharp as when I started and the head stayed rock solid on the handle. I am very happy with this purchase. Thank you Helko North America and Amazon. Update: After a closer look over of this axe I have to change my review. Here is an email I have sent to Helko North America that should explain my change of heart. I will post another update once I here from Helko. To whom it may concern, I have purchased one of your journeyman classic line axes from amazon recently. For the price point this axe is a let down. There are a couple of problems with this axe that I was disappointed with. First and foremost the eye is forged off center and slightly twisted to one side. This throughs the bit of the axe off center of the handle. Second, is in regards to the finish on the axes head. The grinding on the axes head is quiet uneven. Also, you state that there is a mirror polish on this head, which I have to respectfully disagree with. In my example, you can see deep scratches in the head. It is polished but not mirror. Third, the grain of the handle is acceptable but not great and was very rough and had to be sanded smooth before use. Although it does have some deep gouges still present that would have taken more work than I was willing to put in on a new axe to get out. Despite these upsetting attributes the axe does perform well in wood preparing task. Although I am happy with its performance it does not make up for these quality issues. In my opinion these defects are what I would expect from a cheap twenty dollar axe. I have a number of axes at cheaper price points that have better forgings and grindings on the head. If this example is indicative of the quality that your facility is shipping out to retailers I will not be recommending or purchasing anymore of your axes. Sincerely, Joel Mancuso Update: I have received a response from helko and responded to it. Helko Response: Hello Joel, I appreciate you taking the time to write me of your concerns with the Journeyman. Firstly, I am sorry you are not satisfied, and would like to do my best to see if we can help. If you would like, I am happy to take a look at the issue you are describing with the uneven forging. The head should not be twisted, but it is of course difficult for me to determine that without seeing a photo. I should point out, however, that these axes are handmade. They are not made in assembly line style processes, or robotic work cells, like the vast majority of axes being manufactured today. These Helko axes are made by hand, by experienced smiths who have lifelong been trained at the craft. Among a couple other European manufacturers, Helko is one of the few companies to still be producing axes in this manor. It is rare, and does account for part of the higher price of our tools. While the blades may not be perfectly symmetrical, as you would find on a lower cost robotic made axe head, they should perform well as intended. In truth, many people choose Helko not only because of the strong reputation of high quality or the aesthetic appearance, but partly because they know it was actually made by a person. To stand in the factory and watch smiths actually making these tools truly does make you appreciate old traditional manufacturing, as opposed to what the majority of producers manufacture today. I realize you do not feel our description of mirror polished is accurate. I don't disagree with you. It is difficult to describe the Classic finish accurately. Helko is one of the only axe manufacturers to polish their axe heads to such a degree. It is a laborious and time consuming process, but the result really does increase the performance of the tool. The only other process that can induce a higher polish than our method would be chrome plating. Chrome plating is as close to a mirror finish as you can get with an axe, however there are no commercial axe manufacturers that do this technique; only small specialty one person operations. While I can understand you would not use the word "mirror", please realize that we are limited in our words we can use to describe it. It does reflect, but true, it does not reflect at the same clarity as a mirror would. To be completely honest, we have sold these axes for many many years with huge success, and I rarely have heard the critique that the "mirror" finish is an inaccurate description. I do take all feedback very seriously though, and I do believe that if that is how you feel, then other customers may feel the same way. Because of this, I have had our Classic Line descriptions changed on both Amazon, and on our website, to reflect perhaps a better description of the finish. We will now refer to them as a highly reflective polished finish, and not use the word mirror. I do apologize if you were misled, or feel we inaccurately described our products. If you found the handle to be rougher than you prefer, then yes, the best way to address that would be a light sanding. Please realize that the handle manufacturing process is a very calculated one, and we do feel the finish is where it should be. There are of course customers who will prefer a finer smoother finish; thankfully lightly sanding is an easy fix to this. However, for a customer to prefer a slightly rougher finish, it is far more difficult to take a finely smoothed handle and reverse the sanding. So, we must find a strong balance between the two, while still promoting good grip, no slippage, low risk of blisters to the hands, etc. There should not have been any gouges in the wood of your handle, and I apologize if there were. Without seeing them, I can only guess what may have caused them. If you would like, again, I am more than happy to take a look at them and give you my opinion. If you have any questions, please do reach out to me and I will try my best to answer them. My response: Hello Mr. Holst, I appreciate your prompt and thorough response to my dissatisfaction in your journeyman classic axe. First in regards to the forging problems. I have included pictures of the axe head and of the bit in relation to the handle to show the unevenness in grind and the bit being off center of the handle. These pictures will include a center line for reference. An axe with an off center bit will do work less than optimal and can cause glancing blows when chopping. I did realize that your heads are hand forged by actual people and do appreciate this attribute as I am a craftsman myself, but that is no excuse for an off center and twisted eye. Second in regards to the head finish. I am happy to here that you take customer feedback seriously, and I believe that the alternate description you plan to use on your website and Amazon is one hundred percent accurate to its appearance. I commend you for this change. I do, however, disagree with one statement you made in your response to my previous email. I do not know your background in metal working processes, but there is indeed ways to bring carbon steel to a mirror polish without chrome plating. I am a self taught leather worker which calls for extremely sharp and highly polished tools. I own many of these tools and have personally put these types of highly polished edges and surfaces on them myself. I have included a picture of my cobblers hammer pole to show what I am speaking of. I do realize that it is very time consuming to achieve a mirror finish and understand that it would add significantly to the cost of an item. Again, I commend you on changing the description of your classic line of axes to reflect its true finish. Last in regards to the handle finish. I do not have any problem putting a light sanding on a handle to smooth it out to my liking, but if there are still gouges after five minutes of sanding then that in my mind is unacceptable on an axe of this caliber. I have included pictures of these gouges for your review. There are more gouges than I have pictured but I have reached the data limited that yahoo mail will allow me to attach. Sincerely, Joel Mancuso

Received the axe. Saw a lot of reviews on not being sharp, but trust me, this axe is very sharp. There is some sort of protective coat on the axe that makes it feel very dull. I didn't sharpen this axe, and hit this on a lot of cardboard pieces to test. Afterwards, it felt very sharp once the coating came off. Keep in mind, I have over $100 of sharpening stones, leather, and stropping compound. I can easily turn a butter knife into a razor so you don't have to sharpen this at all and leave the protective coating on until you use it. The axe head is beautiful. There are a few tiny pits in it which would require more work to remove, but really wouldn't matter. The other popular axes have a stamp too close to the edge and could possibly fail and break the head which I read did happen with the other reviews. I have nothing against the other axes, but I can be elitist when it comes to extended backpacking gear with a $2k+ pack. You won't have that problem with this axe head breaking anytime soon. Now don't think I am a shill on reviews. I have complaints on this as I have spent a good amount on it. The first one would be the axe handle itself. I might have gotten a return possibly. One side has absolutely no linseed oil on it and it is virgin. The other side clearly has been treated and shows it. Most likely the linseed oil was not applied to both sides. There is a gap with the handle which could cause big issues later on with heavy swings. With a gap at the bottom of the head, with force it could cause a breakage on the handle as pressure would obviously cause it to move slightly. There should be no gaps with a proper axe handle this size.

Better than a hatchet, not nearly as heavy as a full sized axe. Can use one or two handed light enough to swing crouched and heavy enough to fell decent sized trees. Splits well and can do whatever your hatchet does now. this is my new favorite axe