>>1923975Council makes quality axes, and the velvicut series is definitely worth the price, but the modern hudson bay pattern has some issues with design. Originally it was designed with a round eye and used a friction fit on the handle, much like a tomahawk. Modern versions maintain the overall head design but use a single bit axe eye and a wedge instead of friction fit. This causes issues due to how little handle material there is between the top and bottom of the eye because of the design of the bit itself. The heel of the axe head is sometimes over 2 1/2 times the depth of the eye, which creates a strong leverage point when pulling the axe out of a cut. This causes the head to wiggle itself loose on the handle over time, and you'll find many cases of people complaining about this issue regardless of the manufacturer. While they certainly look great, there are better head patterns available in my opinion. Im not trying to talk you out of it, but I just thought I'd give you a heads up of the most common issue with them. GB makes quality stuff for sure and you'll notice that they opted for a rounder eye design on that model due to it being so similar to a hudson bay pattern and the issues I described with it. Its also designed as a splitter primarily, and has a very thick wedge profile. This will be great for kindling and splitting smaller pieces of wood, but it will struggle to chop, especially with the short handle. They'll both be high quality tools and Im sure you'll be happy with either of them, however they are polar opposites of one another in regard to their intended application. The Council has thinner cheeks and will be a better all arounder in regards to chopping and splitting. The GBA is designed to split primarily, and will be a frustrating tool to chop with due to its thick cheeks. Here is a comparison of the two profiles.
