packable splitting maul/axe?

[jonnie drake]

any recomendations?

looking for something a bit more specific for these colder months that are upon us.

no specific budget so all price brackets are a goer!

cheers

J

 

[Gill]

Granny brukes small splitting axe ,i love it .

 

[sandbender]

I have never seen or used one however the Gransfors Outdoor axe might tick all of your boxes, see this earlier thread.

Woodlore claim to be the exclusive distributor for the UK, however I'm sure that I read another thread where someone found it elswhere for less money and perhaps more importantly without the Ray Mears logo embossed into the handle/haft.

 

[HillBill]

+1 for the gransfors small splitter. They have 4 sizes of splitters.... hatchet, small, large and maul.

 

[Barn Owl]

What Gill says, it's a Godsend when you're out.

 

[jonnie drake]

cheers gents! so how come the small rather than the hatchet or large? just because of middle ground? I've got an SFA at the mo which packs perfectly im not sure how well the small splitter at 60cm will pack

 

[flexo]

any splitting maul head you make a haft at camp for it!

or an axe (full size).
maybe it is for your home and i am missunderstood?

 

[Longstrider]

How many logs to you envisage having to split whilst at camp ? The majority of gathered firwood is normally fine to burn 'as is', size-wise once the fire is going well, so you normally only need to split perhaps half a dozen logs at most. I tend to do any splitting that my axe (usually a SFA or a Scandi Forest Axe) won't handle, with a simple wedge, whittled from a piece of oak or similarly dense, hard, wood. Start the split with the axe, insert the wedge and then beat with another log. End of the day, less to carry, something else to make, and you can burn the 'tool' when you're done with it

 

[jonnie drake]

its definately for out and about but I dont think I can be bothered to make a haft everytime im out! nevermind that I wouldnt know where to start with making one.

true, longstrider, was just thinking in terms of efficiency and to perhaps build up a store. I've never tried a wooden wedge before so I will give it a go

 

[spiritwalker]

clas ohlsen sell steel splitting wedges which you can just drive in for the same effect and with a baton you can use them like an axe to get started
http://www.clasohlson.co.uk/Siteseeker/Search_o.aspx?q=splitting+wedge
with a good log as a baton your good to go not a light option but less bulk than an entire axe
personally i make do with a folding saw and a small axe (mini hatchet) and if need be make wooden stake wedges to split a big log

 

[Mesquite]

Fiskars splitting axe, performs way above it's weight and is really nice to use and for £49.99 from clas ohlson is a real bargain.

Nice thing about it as well is it has a sharp enough edge to serve as a chopping as well as a splitting axe

 

[British Red]

I personally don't get on at all well with the GB splitting axes (I do process many, many tonnes of firewood each year). If its big enough to need a specialst splitter, I find nothing much less than an 8lb Maul and some wedges will do it.

If its small enough to split with a splitting axe, it can generally be split with a Scandinavian and a bit of ingenuity (like taking splitting the edges off the round, not down the middle)

Also worth considering that to split big rounds, you are going to be sawing big rounds - so a pretty meaty saw needs to be carried as well - likely to have to be a biggish bucksaw.

For me, sawing rounds with a bucksaw gets real old, real fast. They are useful for rendering small fallen trees into portable lumps though.

I'm in the "use a light axe on a long helve" for camp myself. But then I just aint man enough to lug a splitting axe and bucksaw very far - and then use them!

For home use - different story. Just get a full sized maul.

 

[Wayland]

I use a Fiskars one and it does a blindingly good job.

Tough, light and very effective.

(It must be good for me to prefer it to a traditional style.)