An ultralight axe for splitting wood?

[Alf Outdoors]

I've taken up hot tent camping lately to better enjoy the winter weather and that means being able to process wood, mainly so it can fit easily into my little hot tent stove.
Till this weekend I have concentrated on only taking a saw or two with me, as my axe weighs nearly 900g!
I really missed having an axe with me though to split/batton down small logs into smaller pieces as in turn this would reduce the amount of wood I have to saw, but at that weight it's been simply out of the question, so I have sawing like crazy to get enough wood.
So I searched for the lightest hatchet available and eventually found the Walther Compact Axe.
It's tiny but beautifully made and without it's heavy duty sheath it only weighs 275g. The sheath which has a belt loop, is another 43g.
The blade is only 6mm thick so I was worried it would not be able to split anything, but I was amazed when the first log I tried it on split as easy as pie!
I used a hammer made of a section cut off dead pine branch to smack on the protruding rear of the blade and this made short work of anything I wanted to split...I used the same lump of wood to hammer my pegs in too.
Initially I did all the log splitting on an old pine stump a few meters from the tent but eventually I found I could do it almost as easily sitting in the comfort of my hot tent, which was just as well as I had forgotten to take my O.R. Superstrand LT and it was starting to get chilly.
I found it was flawless for splitting small logs and it's small size and reasonable weight means I will take it me on every hot tent camp I do...Not many left this time of year though as spring is just round the corner and a hot tent will be too hot to use soon, until the winter comes round again.

 

[Shafiq]

Hi @Alf Outdoors and thanks for sharing. Out of interest what's the wood stove you're using that's ultralight/compact I assume. Also (if I'm allowed to ask and hopefully doesn't come across as condescending), how'd you safely dispose of the burnt wood/ashes whilst still 'leaving no trace'... cat trowel and hole in the ground!?

Good shout that axe btw. Not looked yet but I assume it's expesnive.

 

[Alf Outdoors]

Hi @Alf Outdoors and thanks for sharing. Out of interest what's the wood stove you're using that's ultralight/compact I assume. Also (if I'm allowed to ask and hopefully doesn't come across as condescending), how'd you safely dispose of the burnt wood/ashes whilst still 'leaving no trace'... cat trowel and hole in the ground!?

Good shout that axe btw. Not looked yet but I assume it's expesnive.

My stove is the Seek Outside Cub U Turn...The lightest hot tent stove in the world, at least that I am aware of.
Unfortunately, Seek Outside in their infinite wisdom have discontinued it, leaving only two bigger and heavier U-Turn models instead. They also offer "normal" Ti stoves but of course they are even heavier and more bulky than the U Turns so not really worth considering unless your a car camper.
Minus the stovepipe, stovepipe rings, velcro strap and storage bag my Cub U Turn weighs a total of 430g. The Medium U Turn weighs 652g and the Large U Turn weighs 737g.
On top of that comes the weight of the stovepipe, stove pipe rings, velcro strap plus storage bag & tube.
All the U-Turn stoves use a 2.5" diameter stovepipe, but I think their other stoves might use a 3" diameter stovepipe, which weighs more.
My 7.5 foot stovepipe, inc. rings, strap and storage bag weighs 377g. This would be the same stovepipe weight for the other U-Turn stoves too but the storage bag will be bigger and heavier. I don't use the tube and bag supplied as they weigh too much (the tube alone was over 70g)...I use a single roll top storage bag that weighs 36g.
So assuming all three stoves use the same 7.5 foot stovepipe and ignoring the storage bag/tube weight mine weighs 757g, the medium weighs 1029g and the large weighs 1114g.
Mine is the only hot tent stove weighing well under 1k in total, and it packs small enough to fit inside my backpack.
There is virtually nothing to get rid of in the morning with mine as it's such a small stove, but in use I usually end up creating a small crater under and around the stove to prevent any risk of setting the ground on fire. Once I scrape clear anything flammable away from the stove I can burn it all night and don't have any issues.
It was raining all night yesterday so when I got up some rain water had found it's way down the stovepipe and any ash an charcoal in the bottom of the stove was full extinguished and safe to dispose of anywhere.
I simply poured the ash into the crater I had made, levelled it with a stick and then pulled the soil I had removed back over it, satisfying leaving no trace, which I always practice.
All you could see was the outline of where my tent had been, it being much drier than the surrounding ground...See pic.
As for the Walther Compact Axe it was about £35.

 

[Shafiq]

Thanks so much for that detailed explanation @Alf Outdoors
I'm currently on the bikepacking BAM (bivy a month) and having a stove for the winter would be lovely. I rarely carry my cooking setup due to bivying to ride and not the other way round.

That axe appears tobe phenomenal value btw.

 

[Alf Outdoors]

Thanks so much for that detailed explanation @Alf Outdoors
I'm currently on the bikepacking BAM (bivy a month) and having a stove for the winter would be lovely. I rarely carry my cooking setup due to bivying to ride and not the other way round.

That axe appears tobe phenomenal value btw.

Trust me, a hot tent stove is a real game changer for wild camping in the winter, it's just a shame others can't enjoy having one as light and packable as mine because the makers stupidly (in my opinion) discontinued it.
I was really lucky finding mine. A guy in Dorset popped up on a wild camping group on facebook trying to sell it and like a flash I got on the keyboard and asked how much he wanted...Only cost me £130 including £10 postage!
On a bike you are less weight restricted though which broadens your choice. Be careful not to get a stove that is too big...You will need to feed it more wood, which will require more effort to gather and prepare. It will also leave more ash and embers to dispose of, it can overheat your shelter and it will take up more space in your shelter too.

 

[old-skool-lite]

Trust me, a hot tent stove is a real game changer for wild camping in the winter, it's just a shame others can't enjoy having one as light and packable as mine because the makers stupidly (in my opinion) discontinued it.

Rarely any fuel on my wild camps so not worth having the tent with facility to use one.

 

[Nigelp]

Rarely any fuel on my wild camps so not worth having the tent with facility to use one.

I use a Nalgene bottle as a hot water bottle. That a winter game changer.

 

[rob d 2]

Interesting about the axe. I assume you're only splitting very small, short stuff?

My axe for bothy use has grown - we're sometimes rather ambitious on what we take on...

 

[Alf Outdoors]

I use a Nalgene bottle as a hot water bottle. That a winter game changer.

Nalgene bottles weigh 100g when empty!

 

[Alf Outdoors]

Interesting about the axe. I assume you're only splitting very small, short stuff?

My axe for bothy use has grown - we're sometimes rather ambitious on what we take on...

I usually only cut little logs 2-2.5 inch diameter at most...Cutting larger diameter logs would require more splitting down to size with my axe to fit them in my stove and that would use more energy to accomplish than simply sawing a larger amount of smaller logs.
The largest logs I have cut were about 3.5 inch diameter. I can split the larger of the logs down to quarters with the Axe and it's perfect for that.

 

[Rog Tallbloke]

the Walther Compact Axe.
It's tiny but beautifully made and without it's heavy duty sheath it only weighs 275g. The sheath which has a belt loop, is another 43g.

Very nice. Another option is your clasp knife and a baton to club the pointy end with. There's no need for much weight in the blade if you're not swinging the axe. You do need to be confident in the quality of the knife hinge though.

 

[rob d 2]

Thanks. The axe sounds ideal for that - looks nice, too. Great setup.
Rather lighter than the Fiskars X7 & X10 I might take to a bothy!

 

[Alf Outdoors]

Very nice. Another option is your clasp knife and a baton to club the pointy end with. There's no need for much weight in the blade if you're not swinging the axe. You do need to be confident in the quality of the knife hinge though.

I know what you mean, I already broke one knife trying to baton wood with it. The good thing about the axe is there are no moving parts on it to fail.

 

[Alf Outdoors]

Rarely any fuel on my wild camps so not worth having the tent with facility to use one.

Well yes, it's obviously not going to be very useful above the treeline, but if I was planning to go into an area like that I would leave the hot tent and stove at home and use my ultralight gear instead.

 

[Mole]

Batonning with a knife is the lighter option. But doing it with with anything other than a full tang fixed blade knife is asking for trouble. There's a limit to the abuse that any folding tool will take.

 

[Rog Tallbloke]

it's obviously not going to be very useful above the treeline, but if I was planning to go into an area like that I would leave the hot tent and stove at home

If the weather is right for it (calm dry and cold), you could take a small a 6oz Ti woodstove and a bag of well dried sticks and a few bits of charcoal up high and enjoy a bit of fire while you cook up and eat outside your tent.

 

[old-skool-lite]

Well yes, it's obviously not going to be very useful above the treeline, but if I was planning to go into an area like that I would leave the hot tent and stove at home and use my ultralight gear instead.

Aye. So if I can be toasty without above treeline I can sure as hell be toasty without below it. Game changer is hyperbole.

 

[Nigelp]

Nalgene bottles weigh 100g when empty!

I’ve been working out and can manage to carry 100g and sometimes 200g for a quite a distance. I did build it up in 10g increments - I’m not a mad man.
It also weighs less than the table you take

 

[Alf Outdoors]

I’ve been working out and can manage to carry 100g and sometimes 200g for a quite a distance. I did build it up in 10g increments - I’m not a mad man.
It also weighs less than the table you take

Since when has a 32oz Nalgene bottle weighed under 62g?

 

[Nigelp]

Since when has a 32oz Nalgene bottle weighed under 62g?

I leave the lid at home.

 

[mjh]

Nalgene bottles weigh 100g when empty!

You’re carrying 650g+ of stove and axe yet worried that someone is carrying a 100g bottle…

 

[Alf Outdoors]

You’re carrying 650g+ of stove and axe yet worried that someone is carrying a 100g bottle…

Only while it's cold out...It will soon be too warm to use the hot tent and wood stove and I will be back to using my ultralight tent instead.
My two 1 litre PET bottles only weigh 29g each, so 100g for a single 1 litre water bottle is very heavy...

 

[Señor]

The conclusion I've drawn from messing around with various lightweight tools is either carry a proper hatchet, or a good fixed blade knife. Or both. But the tiny hatchets are the worst of both worlds, ime. Handle so short you get little swing and high likelihood of hand injury. Significant weight with insignificant utility.

A good knife can do most of what the mini hatchets do, and less dangerously. However my Fiskars X7 could drop a medium sized tree if I could really be arsed.

 

[Alf Outdoors]

The conclusion I've drawn from messing around with various lightweight tools is either carry a proper hatchet, or a good fixed blade knife. Or both. But the tiny hatchets are the worst of both worlds, ime. Handle so short you get little swing and high likelihood of hand injury. Significant weight with insignificant utility.

A good knife can do most of what the mini hatchets do, and less dangerously. However my Fiskars X7 could drop a medium sized tree if I could really be arsed.

I have to disagree...You cant use a knife to quickly and easily chop the twigs off a branch or log prior to sawing it to length, unless they are very thin...A hatchet or small axe is the perfect tool for that as it can handle much thicker twigs.
And you don't need to actually swing an axe or hatchet to split logs into smaller pieces at all...You saw your logs to length then you just place the blade of your hatchet on top of the log and wack it with a lump of wood, the logs splits easily and the handle keeps your hand much further away from any potential harm than with any knife.
Plus if your saw blade breaks you can still use the hatchet to chop wood to length, which again is not something you can do with a knife.
Also, any knife that is suitable for battening logs is usually an illegal knife, with a fixed blade more than 3" long...Potentially being an arrestable offence if found with you, whereas the hatchet is much easier to explain away as a tool specifically for chopping wood.
A knife may be slightly lighter but when it comes to preparing wood the Axe or hatchet is the superior tool so for me it's worth putting up with a few extra grams.

 

[dovidola]

If you're planning on doing some 'forestry', the saw and hatchet/axe are the tools for the job. Ask any lumberjack. My combo (Hutafors Hultan Trekking Hatchet and Silky Pocketboy Professional) weigh in together at 1kg. Not exactly featherweight, but about as light as you're going to get for properly competent and reliable tools. Your Ray Mears Survivalist's Knife is a fine all-round piece of kit, but that's all it is - Jack-of-all-trades and master of none. It outperforms the axe/saw in killing/processing wildlife and kitchen prep, in light cutting duties (for which my 25g Opinel #6 will suffice, if not excel) and perhaps in opening Paul Messner's craft beers.