I suspect that the answer to your question, like most questions, is - it depends. I suggest spending a few hours on YouTube, which you may have already done. You’ll get lots of ideas about who prefers what and in what situations. What kind of wood are you splitting? Hardwood, softwood, straight grain, knotty? Is wood heavily used in your home? Are you a large person, able to swing and axe for hours? How much do you want to spend. The Fiskars X27 is very highly rated, but it has a 36” handle and comes in at 6 1/4 pounds. Will that suit you? Some prefer an axe with a 32” handle, such the Gransfors Bruk splitting maul and an overall weight of just over 7 pounds. For the price of the GB, you could probably buy 2-3 Fiskars. There’s also the aesthetic issue. I suspect many of the guys here are wood and steel guys, so an orange and black fibrecomp handle doesn’t really appeal.
splits very handily with her double, as does
. They also like the flick technique, so there’s technique to consider. If you like restoring axes, there’s hours of enjoyment and the pride of workmanship that goes into creating and maintaining the axe that’s just right for you. For the price of the Fiskars, you could assemble your own high quality vintage American or Canadian steel and hickory axe. For the cost of the GB, you could put together 3 fine axes to give you versatility, depending on the job. Personally, being a wood and steel guy, the Fiskars, good as it is, wouldn’t interest me. I’m 6 feet, 200 lbs, 60 years old. I’d go with a 6lb maul on a 36” haft, a 4 lb single or double on a 32” haft, and a 2 1/2 to 3 lb on a 28-31” haft. I also own an old restored sledge with a wedge for harder, knotty stuff. But you’ll get 20 different opinions here and on YouTube, so like I say, it depends.