Bee,

I have split wood with all of my fixed blade knives. They all worked good. I think the blade has to have some thickness and the handle has to be strong enough to survive an accidental whack. Do you have a friend that has a camping or hunting style fixed blade knife? Use a rubber mallet or a piece of wood and give it a try. I know I was surprised at how easy it works. The nice thing is that it is easy to place the edge of the knife exactly where you want the split to start. With a hatchet it is risky business.

Just for anyone that might not be sure: Hold the handle with your non-dominant hand. Hold up the piece of wood to be split and put the edge where you want it. The knife edge is now holding the wood upright. Place the blade on the wood so that on the handle side it is where the edge starts. This way you have the most leverage/length sticking out the other end of the wood. Place the edge on the wood so you can take a reasonable slice off. Don't try to spit a log in the center of the log and expect it to work. Split on the edge and work your way in. Take your battering stick and hit the knife blade where it is in contact with the wood. Hit it until it is sunk all the way in. Now while still holding the knife handle with your non-dominant hand hit the knife blade where it is sticking out of the wood. You should be able to tap and split until it close to the bottom and then the split wood will just let go and fall off.

It's fun! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />