The Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe costs $185. The Husqvarna hatchet costs $40. Both are Swedish steel, both handle real work once the factory edge on the Husqvarna is profiled. The difference is in the details: the geometry, the finish, the grind quality, and the 19-inch handle length that sits in exactly the right place between hatchet and full axe.
Who it's for
Anyone who wants one carry axe that does all trail and camp tasks and does not want to buy another axe in the next twenty years. If you are starting out and have not yet identified what you actually need from a carry axe, start with the Husqvarna at $40. Use it for a season. If you find yourself wanting better grind quality and handle balance, then you are ready for this axe. For the full range of axe options, see the best bushcraft axe guide.
What makes it the benchmark
The forge and the grind
Each Small Forest Axe is hand-forged and hand-ground in Gransfors, Sweden. Each axe is signed by the smith who made it: this is not a marketing claim, it is a quality control system. The convex grind is ground by hand to a geometry that bites cleanly into wood without wedging, is nearly impossible to over-grind in the field, and holds an edge through sustained use. Production axes at any price struggle to match this consistently.
The head, up close
The head is Swedish recycled high carbon steel in the C55 to C60 range, forged rather than drop stamped, and deliberately left unpolished. The hammer marks on the cheeks are not a finishing shortcut. They are what an unground forging looks like, and they tell you the shape came off the hammer rather than off a belt sander afterwards. Two stamps sit on the cheek: the Gränsfors Bruks crown, and the initials of the smith who forged that specific head. The bevel behind the edge is convex and hand ground, which is why it enters wood on a curve and releases instead of wedging the way a flat, straight sided bit does. Gränsfors Bruks puts a twenty year guarantee against manufacturing defects behind the head, which very few axe makers commit to in writing.
The handle length
19 inches is exactly the right length for a bushcraft carry axe. Short enough for one-handed control and comfortable belt carry. Long enough for two-handed chopping when you need it. Most axes are either too short (hatchet range, limiting for heavier tasks) or too long (full axe, too heavy to carry all day). The 19-inch length is the deliberate choice that makes this axe work.
The handle itself is American hickory, hung with the grain running the right way through the eye and finished with linseed oil and beeswax rather than lacquer. That matters in the hand: an oiled handle stays slightly grippy when your palms are wet, where a varnished one turns slick. Total length is 50 cm and the whole axe weighs about a kilo, so it rides on a pack strap or a belt without you thinking about it. Handles are a consumable on any axe, and Gränsfors sells replacements, so a broken haft is a re-hang rather than a new axe.
The leather sheath
The leather sheath is included and functional. It improves with use. Keep it oiled annually and it will outlast the axe handle.
It is vegetable tanned leather, stiff out of the box and shaped to the bit after a few weeks of use, with a stud closure that holds the edge covered on a moving pack. Vegetable tanned leather does hold moisture, so the one thing not to do is store a damp axe inside it for a month. That is how you get rust freckles on an otherwise perfect edge.
What it handles, and where it stops
A head of 1 lb 9 oz on a 19 inch handle sets the working range fairly precisely. Limbing is where it feels best: branches up to about three inches come off in one or two strokes, and the handle keeps your knuckles clear of the trunk. It fells standing deadwood in the six to eight inch range without complaint, though above that you are working for every cut. It splits kindling and small rounds cleanly, because the convex cheeks push wood apart instead of sticking in the kerf. Carving and notching are the quiet strength: choke up just under the head and it cuts pot hangers, tent pegs and trap notches with something close to knife control.
Where it stops is predictable. This is not a splitting axe. Seasoned rounds much over a foot across want a heavier head and a longer handle, and forcing a thin bit like this one through them is how edges get chipped. It is not a wood pile tool either. If you heat a house with firewood, buy a maul for the yard and keep this one for the pack. The SFA, as it gets abbreviated on forums, is a trail and camp tool rather than a yard tool. If splitting is the main job you are shopping for, the picks in our bushcraft axe guide are a better starting point.
Compared to alternatives
Versus the Husqvarna 13-inch ($40): the Husqvarna is shorter, cheaper, and does real work once the edge is profiled. The Gransfors is better in every measurable way, grind quality, handle length, finish, balance. If budget is not the constraint, buy the Gransfors. If it is, buy the Husqvarna and profile the edge yourself. Versus the Gransfors Wildlife Hatchet ($175): the Wildlife is compact, 14 inches and 15.5 oz head. The Small Forest Axe (19 inches, 1 lb 9 oz head) is more capable for heavier tasks. If weight is your primary constraint and you will not need two-handed chopping, the Wildlife is the better choice. If you want the more versatile axe, the Small Forest Axe.
How it compares across the range
Sizing is the whole decision inside the Gränsfors range. The Wildlife Hatchet is 35 cm and 0.6 kg, a one hand tool for kindling and camp chores that fits any pack, and it is covered alongside the rest of the small end in our best hatchet for bushcraft guide. The Small Forest Axe sits in the middle at 50 cm and roughly 1 kg. The Scandinavian Forest Axe is 64 cm and 1.2 kg, which buys real felling power for anything above about ten inches but is too long to wear on a belt and too heavy to justify on a day walk. Pick by the wood you actually cut, not by the one that sounds most capable.
Outside the brand, Hults Bruk is the obvious cross shop. The Almike (16 inch handle, 1 lb head) undercuts the Wildlife on price, and the Åby Forester's Axe (24 inch handle, 1.5 lb head) lands near the Scandinavian. Hults Bruk also forges the Husqvarna axes, which is why a $40 Husqvarna and a much dearer Swedish axe can share a family resemblance: same forge, less hand finishing, a factory edge that needs profiling before it earns its keep. If price is the deciding factor rather than a tiebreaker, work through the best budget bushcraft axe options first and come back to this one later.
Care and maintenance
A convex edge is maintained on a curve, not on a flat bench stone. Work a ceramic axe puck or a fine file in small circles along the bevel, following the existing shape rather than trying to flatten it, then finish on a loaded leather strop until the edge stops catching a thumbnail unevenly. Stay off powered grinders. It takes seconds to burn the temper out of a thin bit, and a blued edge does not come back.
The handle wants boiled linseed oil once or twice a year, more often in dry indoor storage, wiped on thin and left to cure. A shrunken handle is a loose head. The sheath wants to live dry: pull the axe out after a wet trip, let both parts air, and treat the leather with a wax or oil dressing annually. Store the axe indoors and sheathed, edge lightly oiled if you are leaving it for a season. When the handle finally goes, drive out the old wedge, fit a replacement haft and re-hang the head rather than replacing the axe. The head is the part you paid for.
Should you buy it?
Yes, if you have used a carry axe for at least a season and know you want this specific form factor, short axe, 19-inch handle, convex grind. No, if this is your first axe. No, if you are not sure what handle length you prefer, the Husqvarna at $40 is a much better learning tool. The Small Forest Axe is the right purchase when you know exactly what you are buying and why.
This is not the axe to buy when you are starting out. It is the axe you buy when you know you want to stop buying axes.
Common questions
Is the Small Forest Axe worth the price?
It is if you already know this size suits you. Around $185 buys a hand forged head, a hand ground convex bevel, a hickory handle you can replace and a twenty year guarantee, and the axe is a twenty year purchase rather than a season one. It is poor value as a first axe, because you are paying for a form factor you have not tested yet. Prices move, so check the current price before deciding.
Small Forest Axe or Scandinavian Forest Axe?
Small Forest Axe if you carry it, Scandinavian Forest Axe if you fell with it. The Small Forest Axe is 50 cm and about 1 kg, light enough to wear all day. The Scandinavian is 64 cm and 1.2 kg, and the extra handle turns into real cutting power on trunks above roughly ten inches. Most people who camp and process deadwood are better off with the smaller one.
What size is the Small Forest Axe and how heavy?
19 inch hickory handle, 50 cm total length, head weight 1 lb 9 oz (709 g), and a shade over 2 lb all up with the sheath off. That is the number to compare against when people call it a hatchet. It is not one, it is a short felling axe.
Is it good for splitting?
For kindling and small rounds at camp, yes. The convex cheeks release well and the head has enough mass to be worth swinging. For seasoned rounds over about a foot, no. The bit is thin and the head is light, and that combination sticks in big wood. Use a maul or a splitting axe for the wood pile.
How do you sharpen it?
Follow the convex bevel with a ceramic axe puck or a fine file in small circles, alternating sides, then strop the wire edge off on leather. Do not lay it flat on a bench stone and do not touch it with a bench grinder. The factory edge is sharp on arrival, so the first job is usually stropping rather than sharpening.
What do people mean by GB Small Forest Axe?
GB is shorthand for Gränsfors Bruks, so the GB Small Forest Axe, the SFA and the model 420 all refer to this axe. The umlaut spelling Gränsfors is correct, and the plain Gransfors spelling is what most retailers use.
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