"Watch out for that ax Eugene."

Pink Floyd

It was for the beer drinking bonfire every night at the hunting club, not a fireplace. If only those rocks around that fire pit could tell stories. I legit saw a grown man fall asleep in a plastic lawn chair beside that fire pit cuddling an empty gallon wine jug.

no offense but i'll stick with the old axe i've been using since i was old enough to use one. a axe will last a life time , handles won't though . lol

I put up the old bustin maul and bought a fiskars the other day and it is worth the money.

Funny you post this - just yesterday I was trying to find my splitting axe and don't remember who I let borrow it years ago. Time for a new one, and now I know what to get!

There is a video of a guy on YouTube short striking the fiskars axe against a tree repeatedly. I got tired of watching it at somewhere around 60 hits. He has another video of him short striking his wooden handle axe against the same tree and it made it 3 hits but i believe it cracked on the first hit.

That wasn't pine, it was Douglas-fir. Stuff burns pretty good, fast and hot. I also burn some Oregon white oak and some madrone (an evergreen hardwood). My fireplace insert has one of those Oregon mandated catalytic converters, so there is little in the way of smoke and soot once it reaches 500 degrees.
Douglas-fir is the dominant tree species in western Oregon, as you can see in this pic out my living room window:

I bought a Condor splitting axe at Smokey Mountain Knife Works while at Pigeon Forte this past week. Still new to me, but I like it so far. It felt better in my hands than the Gransfor. The grain orientation of the handle was better as well.

http://www.swingingsteel.com/condor-german-style-splitting-axe-review/

Jeremy

Fiskars Splitting Axe on clearance for $23 at Oxford AL Home Depot tonight. The display said the normal price is $40. Has same stickers as the first one in this post, but not sure if it’s the same one. This one has a 16” handle. They had a bunch of them on an endcap.

Mine has a 36 inch handle

That makes more sense. This was just a hatchet version then.