Hikermor has pointed out many times over the years that very often no tools are needed to gather firewood. I agree. I have been in situations where I'd have had little to no larger wood without a saw but those times are uncommon. You can very often just pick up wood. Longer pieces can often be snapped into smaller pieces in the crotch of a tree. Sometimes you can burn a log in half.

The part that kind of has me at a loss is the whole "bug out bag" notion. If I had to bug out it probably wouldn't be to the forest. I realize a BOB is something different to different people but it's tough for me to envision bugging out to the wilderness. Perhaps someone can suggest a situation where that might be the best option. Perhaps the biggest reason I might have to "bug out" here would be because of wildfires; in that situation the very last place I'd go would be into the woods! If something truly epic was to happen here I'd probably seek to try to get back to my family in the Midwest or head west to stay with friends near Missoula MT or in Idaho. An axe wouldn't do me much good in that endeavor but that's not so say it wouldn't help someone else.

The only real wood cutting task I would foresee might be clearing a downed tree from the road after a storm. For that job I think my largest saw would be best, and a chainsaw would be even better. Alas, I don't have a chainsaw.

To be clear, I am not badmouthing axes or hatches. I really love my splitting axe/maul. I don't ever use a hatchet and rarely use a felling axe but it's probably a circular argument; I use a saw because I'm not good with a felling axe, and I'm not good with the felling axe because I always use a saw.

Still, it would be neat to own a beautiful Gränsfors Bruk or something to pump up my bushcraft cred!