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Axe safety techniques...

kgd

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
9,786
I took the day off and what do I do? I start surfing youtube...ugh - even after Talfuchre gets rid of his TV.....Still there was a gem today..

Came across a very nice little Ray Mears video demonstrating safe axe use methods. I usually sit here thinking I've seen most of it before. My assumption got blown out of the water at 2.25 minutes of the linked video. Now this is neat and has me dying to try it. Anyone else used this approach before?

[Youtube]2tUUctg6dfk[/youtube]

Okay, I gotta get outside now!
 
I have watched the vid a few times. It is indeed very informative, and I believe it is a great help to those who want to start using axes more :thumbup:
 
Good idea.
As far back as I can remember, my dad has done smaller wood that way. Just easier to control, and you don't have slabs flying everywhere.

BKRHD
 
Definitely a keeper for the mental files... I'll give that a try today with kindling..:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Good tip, reminds me of something I've seen in this one:

[youtube]LjrJapcdWqY[/youtube]
 
Thank you, I was never fully educated in use of the axe, so this is very handy for me. :)
 
I remembered seeing that technique in the video rksoon posted, and have been using it for a while now. Works great!

If I don't have a backing readily available, sometimes I use the technique where you butt the log (laying down on the ground) against the base of a tree, straddle the log, and swing your axe into it horizontally. Doesn't work that great unless you have a really good tree, so I usually look for a down log to use the technique shown in the videos.
 
I tend to split wood much bigger than that...but next time I split smaller stuff I really want to try that technique. Maybe i'll go out of my way to do it this sunday
 
Hassilov said:
Excellent tip at 2:25. I'm going to try that with my GB SFA!
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I have been using that method of splitting kindling for a long time, and it works great. You can keep using it to keep getting pieces smaller and smaller until you have your "single match thickness" tinder. Works good!

siguy said:
If I don't have a backing readily available, sometimes I use the technique where you butt the log (laying down on the ground) against the base of a tree, straddle the log, and swing your axe into it horizontally. Doesn't work that great unless you have a really good tree, so I usually look for a down log to use the technique shown in the videos.
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That is a cool idea.

One of the other issues is the chopping block. That is all excellent advice in the videos. But, it is rare in a wilderness setting to be able to come across a sizable log, that is flat on both ends, for chopping. It is also something that is difficult to create on your own. So, while that advice is great, you are probably going to have to find a safe way to split without a block as well.

Tuxdad said:
I tried doing that but had no luck.. Will have to try it some more...
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While I can not identify the wood he is using (I guess I could go back and look closer), I can tell from the way the smaller pieces are splitting, that it is an incredibly easy wood to split. Reminds be of hard, super straight grained ash. It basically splits if you sneeze on it :)

So, while that technique is an awesome piece of advice, it is also important to note that it is not going to work on all wood species. Especially super dense, not so straight grain stuff. I have seen some wood require the axe to be fully through to the bottom, and even then still not want to give up the goat :D

Of course, part of being a good outdoorsman is know your woods, and find the ones that will suit your purpose AND make your life easier :D But, many times you get stuck with what you have. And that can mean splitting wood that is really a bear!

Good find KGD!!! And thanks for posting it for us!

B
 
Brian Andrews said:
Of course, part of being a good outdoorsman is know your woods, and find the ones that will suit your purpose AND make your life easier :D But, many times you get stuck with what you have. And that can mean splitting wood that is really a bear!


B
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There is a glorious passage in the end of the campfire section of woodcraft and camping by Kephart that talks about the uses of X type of wood for a fire, what splits well, what burns even when green.
 
I'm sad to say I somehow lost my copy in our move and haven't been able to find it..:mad:
 
Okay, I got all excited about his splitting technique and couldn't wait to give it a try. I went out to the woodpile this morning and let er rip. I tried with 6 different sticks of varying thickness and lengths. I did not split a single one!!:(
 
Katdaddy said:
Okay, I got all excited about his splitting technique and couldn't wait to give it a try. I went out to the woodpile this morning and let er rip. I tried with 6 different sticks of varying thickness and lengths. I did not split a single one!!:(
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That sucks buddy. I tried it out yesterday with locust limbs from a fallen tree in my yard and it worked great. Having a splitting stump really helps. Maybe you can describe what was happening for it to fail.

As Brian says, some wood is just a PITA to split. In contrast to all the 'get an axe' comments, I've had some pieces where I got an axe, had the axe bounce off the piece a few times as said 'screw this'. That's when I grabbed my SOD and batoned through it. Of course, you can also baton with the axe, but I find it easier to do so with a big chunky give'er hell knife like the SOD.
 
The wood I am using is older. It is from all the trees we had down after Katrina. I do have a splitting stump and was using it. My brand new S&N that is hair shaving sharp just bounced off. Maybe this would work better with newer, greener wood.
I want a truck load of whatever Ray was using in the video!!!
 
Assuming your are doing the lift axe+wood split method, are you positioning the head on the bark side or pre-split side? Maybe try switching it up. Also, try batoning through a piece just to get a sense of how tough it is to split.
 
I have found this method to be pretty effective, although as some have stated it does not work well with twisted grain, tough to split woods. I also find if the wood is pretty hard it works well if I have the axe at the very end of the wood when the wood/axe impact the log, meaning you can tilt the axe head to sort of drive into that cut or broken end, even if you just get a minor split you can take a second hack at it with the bit inserted into that small split/crack. Good RM video by the way!
 
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