Decline of the Boy Scouts, v. 378.2

[Hawkmoon]

Completely aside from (or not) the issue of the "Boy" scouts now admitting girls, I know I have commented on what I perceive to be a lowering of standards with regard to uniforms worn by scouts. I recently became aware of yet another troubling trend: The Boy Scouts of America are now selling junk to scouts.

I was a Cub Scout in the 1950s, and a Boy Scout in the late 50s/early 60s. As part of my camping gear, my parents gave me an official Boy Scout hatchet. It was a very good hatchet, which I still have. It's in very good condition, will certainly outlive me, and could probably serve several future generations of scouts with a modicum of care. Mine wasn't the Plumb camp axe with the wood handle; mine was the Bridgeport Hardware hatchet, with the all-steel I-beam handle:



What are they selling now? The official Boy Scouts of America on-line store is selling the same junk Chinese "camp axe" sold by Wal-Mart. The brand name is Coghlan. The handle is a hollow piece of thin-gauge steel. I don't know how the head is supposed to be attached to the handle, but I have a friend who has one from when he was a scout and he says it's not safe to use. The head flies off. In fact, his son-in-law tried it over Memorial Day weekend. My friend warned him, he ignored the warning -- and the head flew off.



Sad.

[dogmush]

This thread seems really familiar......


Regardless, I've had good success with the small Gerber Camp Ax.  I bought one probably circa 1992-3 for winter/dog sled camping and it's still in great shape. I've even used it in salt water for boat camping without the instant disintegration so common with cheap metals.

[tokugawa]

 A hatchet is a tool good for one thing- splitting kindling.  Can't figure how they ever got popular, maybe because the scouts pushed them off on city kids.
 if you need an axe, get an axe- a nice light Hudson Bay axe will do all the work of a hatchet and 10 times more.
 Of course like everything else, the premier manufacturer went to China- I refer to Snow and Nealy, Maines best .

[Hawkmoon]

A hatchet is a tool good for one thing- splitting kindling.  Can't figure how they ever got popular, maybe because the scouts pushed them off on city kids.
 if you need an axe, get an axe- a nice light Hudson Bay axe will do all the work of a hatchet and 10 times more.
 Of course like everything else, the premier manufacturer went to China- I refer to Snow and Nealy, Maines best .

Yes, and Collins went to Mexico. 

[Sideways_8]

A hatchet is a tool good for one thing- splitting kindling.  Can't figure how they ever got popular, maybe because the scouts pushed them off on city kids.
 if you need an axe, get an axe- a nice light Hudson Bay axe will do all the work of a hatchet and 10 times more.
 Of course like everything else, the premier manufacturer went to China- I refer to Snow and Nealy, Maines best .

Council makes some alright axe heads. I have one of their 5lb heads on a 3/4 length handle that I used for driving falling wedges.

[French G.]

Gransfors bruks Forest axe is the way to hatchet.

I broke out it's big brother today. GB working axe. It scares me.

[Boomhauer]

Husqvarna rebrands wetterling axes and hatchets...really nice tools for really good prices

[T.O.M.]

I have a friend who worked at National.  He said that BSA just stopped licensing some items (packs, hatchets, and some other camping gear) because they realized a majority of Scouts stopped buying the BSA official gear, and instead were buying from other (read:less expensive) sources.  Anymore, they license some quality stuff (Buck, Case, Victorinox) which sells to gear people, and then sell crap to the rest.  Of all their decisions, this one probably bothers me the least.

[lupinus]

Husqvarna rebrands wetterling axes and hatchets...really nice tools for really good prices

They seem to be having some QC issues, lots of reports of the cutting edge snapping off.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk