****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This axe was super sharp; designed to split wood and well balanced and the perfect supplement to a larger axe when splitting a cord. Especially when the large axe and a maul got stuck, I used this to make another fault in the wood and help split some tough hard woods [oak; sourwood]. Very happy with this purchase.I use this for a splitting wedge. Hit it with a 7 lb hammer. My back cannot take the usage of axe. So I split wood mainly by hand with hammer and this beast. Works great. Easy to keep sharp. Decent blade cover. Wish I could have ordered the blue one for a better grip, but not a big deal.My son loves it. Great quality. Would recommend.The extra weight of this hatchet really helped me with making kindling while camping.Works great for gutting kinnaling woodHell, you can even split larger logs with this axe. The build quality and ergonomics of this axe will make you wanna split everything with it.Excellent product, add this to my estwing lineup!Nice weight, it works well.Good grip...........yupA lot depends on the species of wood, grain structure and how wet or dry the wood is that you wish to split.Smaller logs and reasonably dry and knot free pieces split quite easily, often with just one leisurely stroke.Knots or extremely old, hard wood takes a more vigorous swing but it still works better than multiple swings with a light hatchet. The wedge shape of the head does most of the work for you.The paint will chip, scuff and wear off where it contacts the wood, no avoiding this on anything cutting tools that go through wood, be it hatchets, axes or knives. After a while it will look used, but not abused.We bought a great little folding saw for cutting firewood when camping, but the hatchet wasn't good at splitting the logs we sawed off. This maul was excellent at that.It was fairly light (at 4lbs), but very effective.One friend who was cutting for a few hours said it starts to hurt the arm via vibrations. I don't think it's meant to be used as much as he was using it; at that point, you get a full-size.It's perfect for our use. The only reason that I'd consider taking it down a star is that I took off the somewhat loose Estwing sticker, and it took a bunch of the black paint off with it. It even looked a little rusty under that. I think the axe is really high quality, but the paint is pretty cheap.Love it, regardless!I own a number of Estwing products, and like most of them, this is a well-made, functional device that also looks good. Unlike other small hatchets, the maul design makes it easier to split kindling as the wright of the tool reduces the need to swing hard and aim, which can be tough with a short handle. The tool is well finished, though the black paint does come off. The included cover is functional and sturdy, though unlike the tool itself the cover is made in Taiwan.While the leather handle is beautiful and completely adequate for casual use, anyone who is going to be getting a lot of use out of this tool may prefer the shock reduction that comes with the standard blue handle.There's a good reason this axe is rated 5-stars on amazon. It's not light-weight, and that's why it works so well. Just point it in the right direction and hold on while it obliterates logs with minimal effort. I will never go back to the lighter hatchet I had before.Although the handle is a little on the short side, this tool is amazing! One solid swing will split almost all firewood lengths, and the reverse side is a handy sledge for driving tent pegs into hard ground. Easy to sharpen and no concerns about durability. The handle is a bit tight to swing two-handed.
