Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Backcountry Firewood Tools

I recently bought 3 items that for backcountry firewood processing.  They are the Gerber Gator Axe, Gerber Gator Junior Machete, and the Sven Folding Saw-15".

The axe comes with a serated saw that fits into the handle.  Both components work well, but the saw is fairly useless for anything larger than twigs, and it is really hateful chopping firewood with a hatchet.  I would only bring this tool in the backcountry if 3+ people were in your group to help divide the weight.

The second item is the Junior machete.  This machete has the typical machete blade on one side, but on the other side it has a serated saw blade.  This allows a person to hack off thin limbs, as well as saw through thicker limbs.  If I was going solo on a trip, I would bring this tool.  It is fairly light at 14.3 ounces, and has various uses.

The Sven folding saw is an extremely good tool.  I have owned many timber saws in my life, and this saw performs as well as any of them, and its made for the backcountry.  The only problem with this tool is that in order to effectively and efficiently process fire wood in the backcountry, a machete or large knife is required to split the wood.  If two people are traveling together, one person can saw the dead log into pieces, and another can split the pieces.  It is a lot of work for one person, but is the best method for processing fire wood.

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