Do I want to chop or split?

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Yo Mama

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I have a medium size Gerber camp axe. I like it so far, but want a full size axe for added weight and ease of gathering wood for the campfire.

Should I be looking at an axe to chop or spit? Is there an axe that does both? I'm not too good in the money now, so I was eyeballing the Fiskars x25, x27, and the Fiskars 4.5 pound splitting axe, and Gerber Splitting Axe II. Lifetime guarentee caught my eye. Any other suggestions in the 50 dollar ish range will be welcome.
 
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Estwing also caught my eye with their 26 inch camping axe. Any opinions on these as an option?
 
A good axe will do both well.

A cheap axe will do one of those well.

Reason is it's all in how much steel is in the head....lack of steel needs special profiles to focus the energy. A light axe is a poor axe IMO as it lacks the weight to chop/split as well as a heavier axe.
 
Thanks all. Chopping axe it is. That estwing is what I'm liking now.
 
For DEDICATED firewood splitting (and no chopping, etc), you are better off going with a good splitting maul.

The fiskars splitting axe though gets excellent reviews at all the forestry forums i frequent. I am starting to process my own firewood this year and will likely be looking at getting one at some point.
 
I've been heating strictly with firewood for about 5 years now. I haven't touched my maul in 2. I bought a michigan ax then and haven't looked back. I don't chop though. I use a sawzall to legnth wood.
 
EstwingAxe.jpg


I've got this one here not sure its the one you are looking at. I use it alot clearing dead fall and down trees. But its pretty light and glances easily. If your splitting wood for a wood burning stove or for big fires regularly its not the ticket. Your gonna want a full size axe or a maul. Is this an axe you are going to go camping/hiking with or something that you are going to keep mostly at a camp?
 
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I have a couple double bitted axes I picked up cheap at second hand stores and they work well for both. For camping (not backpacking) you might look at a Pulaski tool- an ax with a mattock on the back that's the basic tool of forest fire fighters. Cuts, splits, digs, and does a heck of a job getting rotten stumps/logs out of the way.
 
I checked into the Pulaski tool, in my price range so I'll have to check one out.

This axe will be for camping, not hiking, I have a small saw for emergencies in my pack.
 
I thought the double-bitted was designed for this -- each edge shaped differently for a different task. Not sure if I got that right, but it makes sense.
 
Mine are symmetrical. I suppose you could sharpen one side more than the other or something but I think the real purpose was to double the time between sharpening.
 
Keep your favorite axe for splitting what you cut with a small BOW SAW. You'll waste less wood and your back,arms and lungs will thank you -- especially at high altitude.
 
I have a Fiskars axe and this bow saw. That bow saw rocks and would NEVER go camping without it. Using a bow saw in general is so much easier to cut the logs and then you use the axe to split the wood. What is so nice about that saw is it packs up into one tube. If you are driving up to your campsite then any bow saw with a decent blade should work.

In short I recommend the Fiskars and a good bow saw.

Shawn

Here is another good bow saw.
 
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Yeah, lots of cutting and splitting wood in the backcountry is a good way to increase your caloric and hydration intake needs.
So, you need more food and water after you do all that. Not efficient.
My backpacking buddy carries a sven saw, like the one linked above, but I generally just break deadfall. ymmv
 
For camping I would recommend a full size single bit axe (about 36" handle length, minimum 3 pound head). That will handle whatever needs to be done in terms of real chopping and limited splitting.

You will most likely be using smaller, dead wood in your fires. For that task, a bowsaw (or better yet, a small chainsaw) will cut small logs and sticks easier that an inexperienced person can ever do with an axe. Dead wood is much harder to cut than green wood.

Hand axes or "hatchets" are just that....meant for lighter duty work. They lack the weight and the handle length to develop the kind of power stroke needed to perform real work.

Pulaskis are a sorry excuse for an axe. These were not developed for chopping wood, but for digging in the dirt and grubbing roots in order to construct fireline. They are clumsy to use for chopping as the balance is terrible. In the hands of amateur, they are more hazardous to use for chopping than is an ordinary axe, so they should be confined to use as a digging, rather than chopping. Accidents involving pulaski use by experienced users are very common and, in my opinion, are inherent in the tool's design. Like most "combination" tools, they do both their jobs so-so and are inferior to a tool designed for a sole, specific purpose.

Double bit axes are for "professionals", or those who use the tool to make their livings. In the old days, that included farmers and homesteaders. Given that most professionals use power saws now, they are becoming obsolete, except in congressionally designated wilderness areas, where power tools are illegal to use and down logs in trails must be removed by crosscut saws combined with axes. One edge is honed fine and to a steeper angle and is used to take out the clean meat of the log and to bite exceptionally deep. You can easily shave ribbons from a piece of paper with the fine edge of this tool. The second edge is sharpened to a blunter angle to allow the cutting of bark and knots. This edge profile is resistant to damage but will work you to death. Bark, and bark with dirt, will dull a fine edge fast. Knots can damage a steep angled finely honed edge in a hurry. Thus the two edges.
 
Got the Estwing. I like it so far. Will let you know with more use, but I have pics comparing the Gerber I had.
 

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