They are great because most other axe handle companies are out of stock on a regular basis, I've never not been able to purchase the handle I want from house.
I've got about 30 house handles. Favorite, bar none, is their 28" boys ax. Slim, sleek, sexy frickers. I've copied their measurements and have now thinned all my boys axes from other makes (like Council Tool) to the House Handle boys ax dimensions. You WILL feel the difference if you're bucking, limbing for long. By comparison? Stock Council Tool handles feel like hitting a tree with a ball bat. Thin them down to House Handle dimensions, sheer delight. NONE of that vibration/force is transferred to your wrists and elbow. HUGE difference. It's as if House *taught* me what a boys ax handle *should* be. And that said, I haven't had to thin their full sized ax handles much, if at all. Just sand them and oil them (well, flame them first). They feel GOOD swinging them. Look good, too. Nicely designed. NOTE: You won't find the palm swell the same on any two axes. Some I have are HUGE. Some so-so. A lot of them are slightly tilted -- which for me is excellent because.... well, look at your hand. Is your hand symmetrical? They fit my hand nicely. I love House Handle company. But then... you have to first define what you expect from a handle. If you buy Beaver Tooth or Hoffman or Killinger, you're looking for symmetry and perfect grain orientation and ... a whole lot of things I am not interersted in.
House has been great for me,I am absolutely floored by the octagon option,it makes for such a pretty and dainty handle for a deviating tool. Great options and event better selection.
Always get mine in around one week. I live in sw Minnesota. Usually takes a day longer to get to me because they get boomeranged in the shipping route (up to Mankato first then back down to me). I believe these are shipped from Missouri? Short answer: Acceptably fast!
