Joe demonstrates the practicality of using a tomahawk as a primary wood processing tool for short-term outdoor trips. By bucking and splitting a piece of maple, he shows that a tomahawk can effectively replace heavier tools like splitting mauls or chainsaws for manageable firewood tasks, offering a lightweight and versatile alternative for the wilderness.
Hey guys, Joe here. In this video,
I just wanted to see what you guys thought. Is a tomahawk a
viable wood processing tool?
In my neck of the woods, I think it is, and I'm going to show you
what I mean by that.
Now, by wood processing, I don't mean a splitting maul or a chainsaw.
I mean when I go out for the day or an overnighter like tonight,
what I need to use to process wood
if I can use that on its own or even in conjunction with something.
But there is a crazy looking bug
on the ground right now oh my goodness let's see
if i can get this see that that's like a wasp
carrying a larva pretty gnarly
that larva has got to be an inch
and a half long that wasp is just
carrying around like it's nobody's business
so something like this this is a piece of maple
it's wrist size thick goes up to about forearm size thick
and this is a nice piece of wood and
i want to use this for firewood
so i'm going to use my tomahawk the only processing wood processing
tool i brought other than my knife out to chop to to buck this up
and split it down and uh get some
manageable pieces so i know where i want to cut it i want
to cut it about right there and i put my
foot on the log to hold it in place
and just there's no need to go back and forth and hit it
towards me too much you can one hand it you can use two there's
no need to keep chopping after
that it's 99 broken all broken
through you split it and that's
that if you're careful once it gets
down too low too short to put it up
against something to chop it you can
actually just hold it, make sure your legs
and your hands and
all that are out of the way
and then turn it around and go at it from the
other side basically all the way through
there you go, not too shabby, so what I
what I've ended up with is four pieces
of wood that are now way more easy to
work with more manageable
this one's already split in half, I'm not gonna
worry about that one too much, at least
on film, this one's thick and full, these
are too split off. So let's work with this one.
If there's a natural check or
crack in the wood you always want
to start there, make your life easier.
There's a couple in this one, we're gonna go here
and really all you need to do is
just set it on the piece
of wood, bring them both down together. You can actually
throw the piece of wood that you're holding more so than swing the the
the tomahawk. Oh my god, these mosquitoes, and it'll work better.
So I still want to
I split it down some,
and then I use my tomahawk
to kind of pry it apart.
I'm not worried about breaking the handle.
If I do, I'll make another one or buy another one.
It's no big deal.
So now it's starting to chip.
This piece is done with.
I'll work
with it after.
You can see it's making easy work of this stuff,
and it's just a tomahawk.
It's not an ax or anything.
It's a lot lighter.
Kind of fun to use.
You can throw them, all that stuff.
So say you don't want to split it that way.
Say you want to split it the more normal way, I guess,
even though this isn't really normal.
You can just set it on the side and go at her like that.
There
we go.
I have my knife with me, but if you didn't,
and you just wanted to use your tomahawk for shavings,
definitely
possible.
So not too shabby, not as good as a knife,
but no big deal, they'll work.
I guarantee
those will go
on a fire
steel.
This is a very inexpensive tool
that can do the job of a couple good tools.
Really invaluable in my opinion.
I've had this same one for years.
Terry Barney, Iowa Woodsman, had a really good video on it
like maybe five or six years ago.
It really got me into it and I've been using it ever since.
Ever since I got it.
So let me know.
Let me know what you guys think.
In your area of the world, is this a viable tool?
In my area of the world, is it a viable tool?
What do you think?
Am I just blowing smoke up my ass?
Does this thing work?
As always, thanks a lot guys.
Thanks for watching, I appreciate it.
Please comment, like, subscribe, and share.
And I'll see you on the next one.
Thanks a lot.
