Received this as a birthday gift a few weeks ago and it seems to be just as quality a unit as the larger axes.
I wanted it for camping (will fit in the back pack) and splitting kindling here at the house.
For camping, I think this thing will be great as it works well as for it's size as the other fiskar's I have. It will also work well for splitting some splits in the basement to double check moisture. In that regard, it's above par in terms of similar sized hatchets / small axes that I have used.
However, I'm not crazy about it for kindling. If the small pieces will stand up on their own, and you have great aim, it works awesome if you can split them in one whack. However, I'm used to a hatchet getting itself stuck to the end of a small piece of wood, then being able to lift the wood and hatchet together and bang them down a few times and make the split. I'm not sure if it's the coating on these things when new or if it's the design, but it will not stick to the wood for that combined blow which is really handy for making small kindling. I almost went straight to the wire wheel last night to peel off fiskar's slippery coating on the head, but couldn't bring myself to do it to a brand new tool. Perhaps it will wear off in time and become a non-issue.
So in the end, it works great but it won't be able to replace my other hatchet's as I hoped it would since trying to make small kindling with it being slippery and so sharp is quiet dangerous.
Perhaps the x7 does better. Guess we'll find out next year for the birthday.
Just my 2 cents.
pen
I wanted it for camping (will fit in the back pack) and splitting kindling here at the house.
For camping, I think this thing will be great as it works well as for it's size as the other fiskar's I have. It will also work well for splitting some splits in the basement to double check moisture. In that regard, it's above par in terms of similar sized hatchets / small axes that I have used.
However, I'm not crazy about it for kindling. If the small pieces will stand up on their own, and you have great aim, it works awesome if you can split them in one whack. However, I'm used to a hatchet getting itself stuck to the end of a small piece of wood, then being able to lift the wood and hatchet together and bang them down a few times and make the split. I'm not sure if it's the coating on these things when new or if it's the design, but it will not stick to the wood for that combined blow which is really handy for making small kindling. I almost went straight to the wire wheel last night to peel off fiskar's slippery coating on the head, but couldn't bring myself to do it to a brand new tool. Perhaps it will wear off in time and become a non-issue.
So in the end, it works great but it won't be able to replace my other hatchet's as I hoped it would since trying to make small kindling with it being slippery and so sharp is quiet dangerous.
Perhaps the x7 does better. Guess we'll find out next year for the birthday.
Just my 2 cents.
pen