Description

It’s not easy to find a long piece of good, quality leather that is easy to use to wrap the neck of the handle of your axe or hatchet. This premium top-grain leather wrap is easy to put on and take off. The leather is strong yet soft and supple which makes it easy to wrap around the neck of your axe handle. If needed, you can cut the leather wrap into thinner strips to use as cordage. You can also use it as a tourniquet in an emergency situation.

Notice from the pictures that the edges of the leather wrap are overlapped on top of each other. This essentially doubles the thickness of the leather for better protection. It also gives a better traction and grip to help prevent slippage.

Underneath the leather wrap, there’s a long strip of rubber that is cut from an inner tube. It is tightly wrapped around the handle first to act as a water resistant base. This rubber base will help to prevent the wood from getting wet in case the leather gets wet while you’re out in the elements using your axe. The rubber base will also act as a cushion to absorb some of the impact of mishits and helps to prevent the leather wrap from getting damaged. Wrapping of the handle is then finished by using a rubber tube and a 10 mil 3-M Temflex 1100 tape.

My suggestion on how to wrap the neck of the handle of your axe:

1. First, use the rubber band strip that is provided as a base wrap.  Tightly wrap it around the neck of the handle just like in the photos. Finish tying off the end of the rubber using the gaffer’s tape that is provided.
2. Next, use the leather wrap. Overlap the edges of the leather as you wrap it around the neck of the handle. Use the shorter Temflex tape that is provided to secure the end of the wrap.
3. Next take the rubber tube and stretch it over the end of the handle and slide it down toward the neck of the axe and cover the Temflex tape that is used to secure the leather wrap.
4. Finally, once the rubber tube is in place, use the longer piece of 3M Temflex tape to wrap top edge of rubber tube. Half of the tape should be on the rubber tube and half on the leather wrap. This will help to prevent the rubber tube from rolling off when using your axe or hatchet.

What is premium top-grain leather? When leather is processed, the hide starts very thick and is split into layers like peeling an onion. The best leather is the ‘TOP GRAIN’ or the first layer thereby called top-grain leather.  ‘Premium’ means that the coating and coloring of the leather is processed in such a way that it resists being scratched easily and is also easy to clean.  Therefore premium top-grain leather is the best type of leather that you can get and it is only surpassed by what is known as ‘select premium top-grain leather’ where the premium top-grain leather is physically inspected for every little imperfection.  They use ‘select premium top-grain leather’ in expensive cars like Ferraris or very expensive purses for example.

Non-premium leather is easily scratched. If you run your fingernail on a leather that is not premium grade you can visibly see the scratch caused by your fingernail.

What is 10 mil 3M Temflex 1100? This tape is made of tough PVC that is easy to apply. It provides excellent protection against abrasion and is impact resistant. It has high resistance to puncture or tearing and it resists corrosion caused by acids. It also resists salt water and sunlight.