I've carried the same axe for 35 years. It's an OLD Collins "boy's axe". A smaller version of the standard Collins. Nothing fancy,...oldschool. I just put a new handle on it. I can't remember how many there have been. It always saddens me to say goodbye to the old one that has served me so long. This one is linseed oil soaked hickory, just like all the others. I carry a bow saw too, but the saw is a tool I use grudgingly. NO, in all that time and all my travels I have never really NEEDED an axe. I've never really needed a camp fire, a good dog, or a cold beer either. I can say that the time I spend with the axe is never work to me. The easy rythme, the sound of steel biting wood, the satisfaction of a perfect edge and a perfectly placed swing. Those are the reasons I carry an axe. Mine is secured inside the canopy where it is protected from weather and theft. Some things can't be explained or justified. You either understand it or you don't. When I run my hand down the smooth hickory, polished by a thousand strokes and keeper of a thousand memories, I could give a damn what anyone on earth thinks. It's time for a quiet walk in the woods and a little wood gathering.
