Doc it's hard to beat Fiskars x27. Take a look at some youtube vids.
Wood splits best at about -10F LOL
bud, I moved to Corpus Christi with the expectation that most of my -10F days are behind me and are a-gonna STAY behind me, gaddomit!!
Anyways, I went to Lowe's last evening after dinner and bought a Fiskars hand axe, their 14" X15 "Chopping Hatchet", which was the only decent axe they had on hand. Chopped up some kindling with it last night out of some seasoned mesquite chunks and I was impressed with how well it hacked up that hard old wood. The worker bee at Lowe's told me that they are getting a shipment of bigger Fiskars axes later this week, so I might go get one of those as well.
I don't have much need to split wood, as fires down in the part of the world are for pleasure, not a necessity, so buying a hydraulic splitter isn't necessary. Doesn't mean I won't buy one, mind...
As for the rest, I've got a short list of "must haves" out of the list of various axes and hatchets you pards have recommended. Doubt I'll end up with a collection like some of y'all's but having a modest assortment of axes in my shop seems to be a nice goal, and cheaper than collecting rifles...
