Re: the (world Famous) Collins & Company.....
A few weeks ago, I was going on a weekend hiking trip with a friend and about half way there, I realized I had left my hatchet at home. Camping is no fun without a campfire and trying to prepare wood for the fire is no fun with a pocket knife. I know, I've tried.
I was going through a town and saw a hardware store and stopped in. In the axe section they had some Collins Axes. I thought; "Cool, Collins Axes".. and bought camper's hatchet. I didn't really pay very close attention to it and didn't even take off the blade guard to check out the edge, I just threw it in the back of the truck. When I got to the campsite and got to work on the wood, it hit me... this thing is a piece of crap. So then I read the label; "Hecho in Mexico". Whaaaat!
Present day Collins Campers Hatchet.
Yeah, the Collins Axe Company got bought out by some Mexican Company (in 2003) and are now putting the Collins name on these crappy tools. Well, at least the head didn't fly off, like I read on an internet review. There was basically no edge on it, so when I got home, I put the edge on. At least the casting is symmetrical unlike some of the photos of recent Collins hatchets that I have seen on the Internet. It didn't roll up its edge and die either so I will have to wait till next summer to see if it will hold the edge for any length of time. I read a lot of Internet reviews after that trip and I have come to the conclusion that it isn't worth the ink that was used to print the Collins name on the handle. ON the bright side, at least I will have something to hammer my tent stakes in with.
It ain't no Granfors Bruks, that's for sure.
sincerely,
Bummed out and Disappointed! in Minnesota.
What a pity!?
High time 
