I took the risk on this sucker even with the bad reviews. I was pleasantly surprised. Let's get into it.

The head:
The dimensions given are exactly correct. It's 5 1/2" long and has 2 1/2" edges. The head is maybe 16 ounces but 12 ounce weight wouldn't surprise me. One side is slightly thicker than the other. It will be good for the rooting/splitting side of the head. I wouldn't count on it on every sample, because it looks like an irregularity. The edges are present, but are not sharp. The steel seems decently hard and should be pretty good in the field. Update: after sharpening, the steel is softer than I like. However, it is a pocket/bag axe that costs $30, so 55+ rockwell is probably too much to ask.

Handle:
The grain is perpendicular the the cutting edges. While not ideal, I don't see myself generating enough force to delaminate the fibers. The overall shape is nice. It has a slight palm swell at the bottom and a swell at the shoulder. The overall feel is one of an old ball pien hammer I have. Oval, slim but enough mass to hold on to.

Fit and finish:
Surprisingly there is absolutely no gap in the head to handle fit. The wedge looks like walnut, but is probably a dark tropical wood. It even has a tiny safety wedge to firmly set the head.
The head is left in the forged finish and has a few grind marks on it. It does seem to have a lacquer coating on it that, while making it shiny, will be removed.

Overall a nice little belt axe. While not up to Nessmuk's quality, it is good enough for this tenderfoot. Would recommend.

Was expecting a slightly larger axe, but good hand-held 2 bit axe.

not very high quality. the genuine hickory handle is ash. Looks like a casting. very deep embossing on both sides, blunt edges ground at wrong cutting angle for a hand axe. usable with some reshaping. once sharpened it will need a sheath.

Utter garbage. The head was actually hung upside down. I have another Marbles hatchet and it is great but this thing is just a joke

This axe is tiny, adorable, cute - but useful.

I bought this along with a slightly larger axe for my son who will be turning 4 soon. He loves to "shop" wood, and wants to be big like Paul Bunyan. I wanted to compare the two axes for size and give him the one that seemed the most appropriate (as far as "appropriate" can be used in the context of giving a 4 year old a double bit axe).

This is way too small. If I had a 2 year old and I wanted them to be able to go outside and chop wood with me - this would be the right size. However - I may be an awesome parent (by kid standards) or a dangerous parent (by other parents standards) - but I'm not that awesome. Yet.

I don't want to return it though. It's too cute. This will be great for making kindling, tinder, shaving sticks, whatever you want to do - tiny stuff. Anything a big knife could do, this could do. I would not take this hiking or camping. It's too small to be worth the effort. I will likely hang it up near the wood stove.

If you like your cutting tools sharp - plan to sharpen this. You will not be impressed with the edge on it.

It's inexpensive, cute"¦"¦and man, did I mention it's tiny?