Skip to main content

Trekking: The Hults Bruk Jonaker is backpacker’s delight

Man isn’t meant to stay indoors — our weekly “Trekking” column can attest to that. It’s a column dedicated to the adventurer inside of all of us, the one pining to ditch the office humdrum for a quick surf session or seven-week jaunt in the Tetons. One day we may highlight an ultra-light stove and the next a set of handmade canoe paddles. Life doesn’t just happen inside the workplace.

Hatchets aren’t a new invention, but they’re a critical one when it comes to anything and everything outdoor related. Few companies know this better than the Hults Bruk, a lauded Swedish brand known the world over for its refined ironworking and tried-and-true lineup of hand axes. And, as of last year, the axe aficionados have begun to peddle their wears on our side of the Atlantic for the first time since the company opened its doors in 1697.

Hults Burk Jonaker
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The exquisite Jonaker ($144), though just one shining example of Hults Bruk’s penchant for fine blades, might be the most apt for the backcountry or the modern lumberjack in all of us. The 9.4-inch hatchet is the most compact within the company’s limited arsenal, one outfitted with an solid hickory handle and hand-forged with Swedish steel, the latter of which will gleam whether it’s striking kindling in the wilderness or quietly sitting above your living room mantle. The axe head itself is forged in a foundry that’s been in use since the company’s initial inklings, too, and makes use of a hand grinding production process designed to increased the density of the blade.

Recommended Videos

Furthermore, the head is constructed in such a way that it creates a tempered zone that’s designed to hold a sharp edge even after prolonged sharpening. Linseed oil — a traditional finish used on gun stocks, pool cues, and cricket bats — helps better preserve the wood and showcase the handle’s natural grain, while an accompanying leather sheath provides additional ornamentation and protection when not in use. The hatchet’s lightweight build just means you can wear it on your belt or (delicately) toss it in your pack before heading out to wherever your next adventures takes you.

Check out Hults Bruk online to make a purchase, or to take a closer look at the company’s longstanding history and remarkable assortment of Swedish axes.

Brandon Widder
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brandon Widder is a journalist and a staff writer for the Manual and its brother site, Digital Trends, where he covers tech…
Topics
Learn how to smoke a pipe the proper way with our guide for beginners
Let us show you the classy way to smoke a pipe
Packing a pipe

Pipe smoking is the most aesthetically distinguished way to enjoy tobacco, but you lose the classy effect if you don’t know how to smoke a pipe properly. Smoking a pipe has become a lost art, and these days, most people who engage in pipe smoking do so to achieve a sense of nostalgia. Perhaps your grandfather enjoyed a puff now and again paired with a good stiff whiskey, or maybe your goal is to emulate a pipe-smoking artist.

I know that I enjoy a good puff on a pipe now and then, and knowing the right way to enjoy a pipe has made the experience much more pleasurable for for me. Whatever the case, if you intend to take up the time-honored tradition of unwinding with a pipe like me, you should learn how to smoke a pipe the right way. And smoking a pipe is very different than smoking a cigar (except you shouldn't be inhaling either).

Read more
Don’t ruin your cigars: here’s how to properly season a new humidor
Seasoning secrets every cigar lover could use
faceless man presenting a cigar humidor with cigars inside with gloved hands

If you're a newcomer to the world of cigars or just bought a brand-new humidor, you'll need to season it. And no, I'm not saying to add salt and pepper to it. If you've never heard of it, you might ask, "What is seasoning for a humidor?"

Don't think you need to flavor the box or anything — seasoning is really about getting the wood inside your humidor so as not to rob your cigars of precious moisture. Easy to understand, and getting it done is relatively straightforward as well. The trick is figuring out the "why," and we'll get into that in a bit. But let's first discuss seasoning a humidor.

Read more
The NBA’s ultimate celebration tool: The victory cigar
A look at the players and coaches who smoke to celebrate
Jordan smoking a cigar image on a bag

Sports are synonymous with celebration. After winning the biggest trophy of their lives, athletes want to indulge in the payoff that comes with seeing their dreams realized. Teams go into the locker room, where a waterfall of champagne hits them in the eyes, and swimming goggles seem to be a requirement, lest you walk around on the best night of your life half blind. While drinking is often the activity of choice after winning a championship, the NBA has an alternative symbol of greatness that other sports don't use nearly enough: the victory cigar.

Basketball is a team game, but it's also an individual canvas for solo superstardom. After winning an NBA championship, the coaches and players who sit atop the throne have long smoked a cigar in the locker room, during the parade, or even on the bench before the clock has hit zero. There's nothing quite like a good stogie to signify the ultimate win over the rest of the league, but how did the victory cigar get so ingrained in NBA championship celebrations? We want to take a walk down memory lane and look at some of the historical moments and people who made the cigar what it is within the NBA today.
Red Auerbach's victory cigar on the bench
Red Auerbach: The Story Behind the Victory Cigar + His Disdain of NBA Officials - Red on Roundball

Read more