In the interest of fairness, I feel like after using this axe for a while I need to add a long follow-up review to the other one I left. I'm not going to apologize for the first review I left; it was all accurate. I wish I had taken pictures of it as it was when it came. Suffice to say, it was bad. BUT, then I started working on it. Here's the story: I purchased a Lock-Slot 8 axe for myself and didn't really love the way it married to my pro-bar. The grooves were cut too far forward for me and it made the irons set too large to comfortably carry with one hand (see attached pics- the mirror polished one with the black rubber handle is the Lock-Slot 8). Since the old crooked axe was an extra sitting unused in the truck, I decided to trade them up to the Lock-Slot 8 and fix up the old axe. Once I drilled out the epoxy, reset the head on straight, epoxied it back in place, filed the bit straight, ground some marrying grooves into it, and polished it smooth, I now have a REALLY nice 8lb axe (see other pic). Much handier to use than the Fire Axe Inc. 8lb flathead (I like their pick head axes well enough, but their flatheads are kinda awkward to swing), and it has much more driving force than the 6lb axe I was using. The marrying grooves I cut into it make carrying the irons easy even for my small hands. I even use it a lot working in the woods on my days off. I wouldn't want to chop much with it, but it drives falling wedges and splits WAY better than a standard 5lb falling axe. Point is, I have lots of people jealous of my axe, but I have to tell them they don't come that nice. Here's my conclusion: like many FHU tools (including my pro bar that had to be ""tuned up"") this axe has the POTENTIAL to be one of the finest tools in it's class in the fire service. Unfortunately, the fit and finish stinks and is left up to the end user. What I'd like best is if I could just get some unfinished heads from FHU and finish them myself; DIY fire tools. If you're handy with your hands or know someone who is you can get a really nice axe out of this. Besides, the axe would have still driven a halligan as it was, and maybe we just got a lemon. Still, with a little more attention these axes could be a much finer product. I'm extremely happy with mine now, but I don't think we should have to put in that much work for the price. The one other thing that nobody mentions about a set of heavy irons is that they are... well... heavy. I've gotten used to it now and it's definitely worth it, but it was surprising at first. I suppose that's why the people that recommend 8lb axes also like the Maxximus halligans that are 2lbs lighter. If I had it to do over I might have gotten one of those instead of the pro-bar, but at this point I'm not trading off my tools. I hope that helps.
