It does look like it works amazingly well. You can tell he's not really using a lot of force to split the wood. Kind of spendy but worth it if it works.

It is not so much as the axe, rather the type of wood used. You can easily hear how dry it is and looks to be knot free. Some wood species like this splits very easy.

There are other videos on YouTube showing a person splitting wood the same way but with a regular axe.

I would like to see a demo using some different wood such as oak that has totally different characteristics when being split with an axe.

(my third try at a measured response:)

1. I guarantee that this will work as advertised if you purchase warranty approved wood from my woodpile (shipping extra).

2. I guarantee that if you replace "Physics-exploiting axe splits wood in record time" with "Sucker-exploiting axe splits fools from their money in record time" you will achieve a new level of enlightenment.

3. I guarantee that I will pick up one of these at a garage sale for $10 or less, in 5 years or less.

Oh yes, try this on a piece of old growth hemlock fir, the kind with a 1:20" grain twist and three knots per square foot circumferentially. That was the kind of stuff dad would bring home for us from the Weyerhauser reject pile to cut up into firewood, the kind that took 3 wedges and an 8 lb maul to get through.

The ergonomics do not seem to be the best. The off center CG will hurt your swing when you need more force for wood that does not split so easily and with most chops the axe twists away to almost 90°. I doubt that it will feel well with a medium powered swing.

It's all bent out of shape! Everyone knows that axes are not supposed to look like that! Gadget alert - just think of how many more useful ways there are to spend the money required for that item.

With tough items, I just use a splitting wedge and a sledge hammer, if necessary. Much cheaper

"Oh yes, try this on a piece of old growth hemlock fir, the kind with a 1:20" grain twist and three knots per square foot circumferentially. That was the kind of stuff dad would bring home for us from the Weyerhauser reject pile to cut up into firewood, the kind that took 3 wedges and an 8 lb maul to get through."

Or chewy red fir. I remember 3 wedges from both sides of the round and a maul. Almost lost the wedges.

A rented log splitter works everytime.

I read about these 6 years ago on bushcraftuk, so they are not a new thing.

Not sure I like the look of them, with the constant twisting as the asymmetric head hits.

I am still working on the original 1/2 cord of already-split wood I bought 30 years ago. Yeah, we don't build many fires here...

When we split wood as kids, gravity reversed itself on the downswing so the job was much harder than it is today. And we were grateful.

Exactly. Easy to tell which people have never had to chop firewood for any length of time and would foolishly think that this axe is the greatest and Doug pretty much nailed it.

I feel it is a one trick pony.It is only good for cording wood.An axe can chop wood,pound stakes,scrape hides etc.etc..An axe can be used in most applications a knife does if need be.On the other hand if you have a wood burner at your homestead and had good wood......

BOATMAN
John

We were only allowed 3 wedges, and a log splitter was more expensive to feed than a couple of stupid young stepsons.

Dad would cut those rounds into 6' lengths, then we had to load them into the truck and take them home. He'd cut them down to 2' long rounds, then let us at them. One time my brother slipped in the mud lugging one of those 6 footers and broke his arm. Turned out he had bone cancer and the break revealed the problem. He went through two bone graft operations in the next 5 years to get rid of it. Meanwhile, the wood pile ended up my sole responsibility. While I was glad it wasn't me going under the knife, my brother's absence didn't endear him to me so much.

I think I finally convinced him to leave the damned hemlock alone. In addition to being the hardest to split, it also spit and popped in the fireplace so much it would catch the rug on fire sometimes. By the time he figured out that a wood stove would heat the house better than a plain fireplace, I was old enough that I could go get wood on my own, and I cherry picked every slash pile I came across. I also "acquired" a decent peavey so I didn't have to wrestle muddy logs so much. It was like pulling teeth to get him to let me use the Stihl, though.

An axe is great for trimming and building things. But for making firewood, nothing works as good as a splitting maul and a wood bomb.

I ought to spend some time back in the woodpile again. Back then, I thought it was a real pain. Now, it would be a happy respite from the cold, cruel world.

My Dad was the king of firewood. He easily had 30-40 full cords out back, at all times, dried, cut and split. His splitter (hey, we as 80 and still working) wasn't fast enough. He played with it some and it was super fast. As in - load, fire; load, fire; just that quick.

He heated with wood, in a stove that was old before I left home. The stove is still there.

I do agree with y'all. This ax is a one trick pony. We pass.

We burned wood for many, many years as our primary heat. We had chainsaws but never once had or even saw a hydraulic splitter.