This will be the fourth winter since I acquired my bitsy Fiskars kindling hatchet. At the time I bought it, it seemed an extravagance: $45 for a kindling chopper? What foolishness. But spending money on a good tool you’re actually going to use is the right thing to do if you can swing it – and the pun is unintentional since I’ve swung this one many hundreds of times since then. And not just at kindling…
That’s right. Don’t mess with Uncle Joel. Cut your head clean off.
For the record, if I were going to buy a hatchet purely for chicken-killing it would be larger and heavier than the X5; it’s a little light for that. But for kindling chopping it’s just right and has a place of honor with my woodstove tools. It holds a scary edge easily with just a little occasional touch-up, and while (since lately I mostly heat with pallet wood) I’ve unfortunately had to work an occasional nail nick out of the blade it still splits wood very easily. That peculiar plastic handle is no problem, though much-scarred it shows no sign of letting the head work loose.
I like it, it’s a comfort to have around on those single-digit days when you’re muttering to your woodstove, ‘hurry the hell up, wouldja?’
I’ve been looking at that one or a similar one (has sheath knife in handle) but wondered if it was built stoutly. Nearly all of our wood species are hardwood (mesquite, ebony and such) and bushcraft ‘batoning’ logs into quarter rounds just isn’t possible with a knife. Wedge and maul, or a maul by itself is the long term solution, even a wood hafted axe will develop issues in time.
Good to know yours has given good service – thanks for the review.
This one is probably too small for that. But Fiskars scaled their axes up from this extreme all the way to splitting and chopping axes. Neighbor J had a big Fiskars axe he thought the world of – though I can’t honestly say how much splitting he did with it, he did some. They’re good tools at a much lower price-point than the Gransfors Bruks shite the wannabes on the forums go on about as if they had a clue.
Well, I have expended a lot of drool for those Granfors axes, but never could quite bring myself to go for it. I want an axe that doesn’t break my heart if I lose it or hit a nail. I just like the plain jane ones you get at Ace hardware and the like.
I had a double-bitted axe once. It is a serious tool and kinda scary really. I managed to lose it though.
One thing I learned is to bring the wood-handled axes and mauls inside in winter. Otherwise the wood swells and gets crushed, then the head gets loose in the summer.
I don’t see the point of axes for splitting. That’s the job of a maul (or a hydraulic splitter if you have a nice neighbor with one). For kindling there are lots of nice dry branches in a tree…
I have been using the X7 a few years now. Longer handle than the x5. Works great, easy to maintain. I use it for kindling as well. Pallet wood, mesquite, juniper and rogue 4x4s. I also have the Fiskar splitting axe. Works great on most woods. I use it a lot.