Sidetrack here.
What do we like for clearing out head tall, thorny thickets? Thinking some kind of bush hook.
If you're talking a hand tool, look up sandvik brush cutter.
Akbob5, my first thoughts exactly. Don't presently own one but they worked quite well when I was walking creeks for a timber company doing fish surveys. Green stuff under an inch were done with one swing even for a wimp like me. Blades are replaceable, but we sharpened them too.
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/Products.asp?mi=17631Geno
PS, nice stuff you fellas, but for splitting it's a maul for me.
PPS, that man from the land of milk and honey probably knows what it's like to split Eucalyptus. The type we had in SoCal we generally let dry out in that climate for 2-3 years before even attempting to split by hand.
