I had some well seasoned scots pine, [which can be hard stuff on blades,] to process for my titanium goat small wi-fi stove, as well as a bit of beech and birch. Some of it with a diameter as large as 9-10cm.
Click for larger photos.
The optimum length for the kindling to fit inside the small wifi stove is 25cm long. [Any longer and you have it spitting out at your sil tent.]
At one point, my hatchet came loose. [My own fault, as when I first got it I had decided to thin out the handle using the surform, until i could push the head up the handle, in the traditional tomahawk fashion, instead of the reverse, as you would do with an axe handle. I'll be getting some more hickory, and carving the top, to slide the axe down onto the shoulder of the handle, then wedging it]
But It was an interesting test, and I was impressed, as it was an easy 10 minute field repair with a lump of wood, used as a mallet to fix it.
And it kept on going then and didnt fail.
I've never used such a light a hatchet or axe, where you fall into such an easy rhythm and keep going without fatigue.
Even found some nice fat wood
About 80 kindling sticks, processed in a relatively short time, will take maybe 9 hours to burn in the small wifi.
So thats 4 nights supply, at a couple of hours per night, to cook and warm up, before you crawl into your bag.
The Budd Hawk will become a regular part of my lightweight kit, and compliments the golite 5, and wifi stove, very nicely for UK winter conditions. With an 18inch hickory handle, two metal wedges in it weighs just 465grams. So half the weight of the GB wildlife hatchet, and it punches above its weight.
This is the first tomahawk Ive used, and Im sold on the concept. Great little thing.
I was very impressed with the edge retention as well, Im sure with ten minutes strop time, it'll be shaving hairs off my arm again.
And of course, it can be great fun to throw at the odd wandering Yeti who stumbles into camp.
