20 Best Tool For Splitting Kindling (2023 Updated)

I purchased a “Kindling Cracker” because I am getting older and I found controlling the axe was getting tougher to do safely. With grandkids about, safety and control, especially with sharp tools, was of paramount importance to me.

This ingenious tool allows me to swing a heavy dead blow hammer to accomplish my kindling task much safer around the little ones. Using the “Kindling Cracker’s” top ring, to aid in balancing, keeping hands out of danger is easier.

Also the top ring allows my grandkids to help choose the correct size of wood to “chop”. It’s great fun, and important learning, getting the grandkids Involved with preparing camp for use! Please join me in thanking to our friends at “The Sportsmans Guide” for bringing these awesome items at such good prices.

I sure wish we had these things when I was in Boy Scouts; SOOO much safer. Works very well, I split up a bunch of kindling in a very short time, and using only a sledge (I found the 4lb version to work well) instead of holding the log with your hand and splitting the log with a hatchet or axe.

This is the best ever. I have a hydraulic wood splitter for firewood, but had always used a camp hatchet or axe for kindling, generally not with great success. I just hated making kindling and often resorted to finding small sticks to use instead.

I burn wood in our farm shop daily during the cooler/cold months, so use a fair amount of the stuff to get fire started. This thing makes it easy!!! Just take a piece of split wood and you can make four to six smaller pieces out of that one stick of wood.

Really easy, safe and issue free. Works equally as well on green or dry wood. I usually use dry wood from the wood pile to make kindling and it is harder to split, but not with this little gem. One tap with hammer and it “seats” the wood, then one or two good whacks and it’s done.

Very well made, compact, and transportable. Im pushing 79, with chronic lower back challenges. But after a few sessions, this really gets the job done. Best result for me is sitting on a reinforced wooden crate with feet on ground.

For dense wood, its helpful to use an iron wedge on the top. Strongly recommend wearing safety glasses and gloves with ribs. Helps to maintain a better grip on the hammer. With patience, you can become a weekend woodsman/woman.

Provides good upper body and arms workout. The blade is safely placed, and isnt razor sharp. But dont take it for granted. Be realistic about the products limitations. Having watched a few YouTube tutorials gave me reasonable expectations.

I bought the smaller splitter a few years ago! I love it, it handles smaller pieces of wood. I saw the bigger splitter and purchased it. It handles larger pieces of wood!! I am female, 67 years old, had my shoulder injured in an auto wreck.

We heat our home with wood. This tool is invaluable!! I can easily split wood. I start with the large splitter, then use the smaller splitter to make kindling for my wood cook stove and for starting fires in the big stove! My son in law came to help me split wood.

He fell in love with this tool!! He was so impressed, that I bought him one for Christmas!! His dad visited him at New Year’s and tried it out fell in love with the splitter! So this was my third splitter I purchased!!! He loves it.

My mom wanted to know what to get my brother & brother in law for Christmas. I had told her about this fantastic splitter. She bought 2 of them for Christmas gifts!! They love them as well!! One big happy family!!.

I don’t know how I lived without this for so many years. No more flying logs hitting your shins. No more logs falling over when you’re trying to split them. No more swinging an ax and possibly injuring yourself or others.

My 8 year old daughter loves using this (with close supervision of course). Sportsman’s Guide delivered fast and had the best price available. I’m a frugal shopper but always buy quality items. You won’t be disappointed in this product.

This axe is great for splitting and I anticipate great longevity. I thought my previous axe was excellent but it was hard to remove when stuck. I was surprised when the head broke off the fiberglass handle when trying to free it from a log.

Based on the design of the Friskar and the material used in the handle I do not anticipate the same problem. I don’t believe it is possible for the two to separate. That potentially solves the problem that is of greatest concern to me in buying and using an axe.

I also like the length and shape of the handle. It was not cheap but it was worth it.

Just an outstanding axe. Replaced when our wooden handle on maul finally fractured. The fact this has a lifetime guarantee is outstanding. It is so much more comfortable to swing, being lighter weight, with a handle that has a nice hold at the end of it (more pronounced curve than on our older maul handle) to prevent accidental slippage.

Very effective splitting wedge angle, with a head which is smaller than the wedge to avoid any jamming. Wood just seemed to pop apart when splitting at cold temps. Overall so happy with this axe.

I bought this today, just finished an afternoon of splitting Australian Hardwood (Turpentine). Wish I had bought one of these 10 years ago. Got sick of replacing broken timber axe handles. Splitting with this axe is so much easier than my block splitter.

The reviews I read before buying this were correct. It is a sharp, well balanced splitter. You would last much longer using this than a heavy block splitter. It even goes through twisted timber in the first hit usually.

Can’t verify its durability, but there is a good video on YouTube where someone tries to test it to destruction. Can’t do it. He shoots it with a shotgun in the end to try and break it. I am a 6feet tall man who found the length perfect.

You can hit yourself in the shins with a shorter handle (than the x27 xxl) but would still recommend this size for most people. Get something else if you want a chopper instead of a splitter. Paid $141 No affiliation.

This splitter is a game changer and really does make splitting wood fun. Prior to this is was using the old style wood handle splitter with a metal head that wasn’t sharp and was useless at splitting wood.

I did my research and got this as an upgrade and suddenly splitting wood was MUCH easier and actually fun. I can split all kinds of Eucalyptus with ease and often split a log and it stays in place, allowing me to slit it again and again without it shooting pieces off to the side.

This makes splitting wood easier and that’s saying something for me as a young person with a lower back injury that makes doing many physical tasks hard at times. Look at getting this if you’re after something that makes splitting more enjoyable and easier!.

After much online reading about the Fiskars X-11 splitting axe I purchased one. The size was just right. I use it during tent camping, either by vehicle or watercraft access. I find it compact enough not to be a burden.

More importantly this “mini axe” split my campfire wood just fine. Then again where a hatchet style head would be better for chopping, or so I’ve read, this tool serves my purpose perfectly! I like the length as it allows two handed swinging for thicker wood splits.

I also think the carry case is ideal. No cordura to fray or leather to rot, no rivets to corrode! Plus a built in handle. Top all this with a Lifetime warranty and it’s a Winner⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ One more thing.

Blair’s Farm & Fleets has The Best Price!!.

If you’ve had a decent wooden handle old fashioned splitting axe, give this baby a whirl for sure. Would I say this is the end all be all? No. Would I say that I’m able to split huge extremely hard rounds without a maul using just this puppy – oh yeah.

It is a beast. I added a rubber silicon tool grip wrap just to give my left hand somewhere to stop. Totally just an extra mod. Otherwise, let the wood fly with this baby. We have a wood splitter machine, so this is kinda for when that isn’t working, or when I feel like destroying some rounds.

I’d say get a better axe if your going to depend your life on it, using it multiple times a day. There are actually axes for felling trees, splitting, a mauling, along with different hatchets. In the higher end, they are all able to be struck from the back, which this cannot.

No axe is supposed to do it all. If you want to split some rounds, have an improvement over a basic axe – this is your axe. Want to get into the role of a modern day Paul Bunyan, do some research and build up a whole kit.

I liken this like my 12″ battery chainsaw, never knew I needed it, and now use it all the time. B+ overall, killer A+ value on a budget.

I’ve owned this maul and the Wilton 20 lb “Unbreakable” Sledgehammer for about two months now and damn, these tools are tough! I split wood by hand weekly and have probably done 4-5 cord with this set so far.

They are very rugged built. Love the grip, I’ve never slipped on the handle once. Overstruck on a couple swings and they just laughed it off. On really big pieces I’ve used this maul as a wedge and bashed it with the 20lb sledge and the maul has held up incredibly well to the abuse, very little impact on the top from all the beating.

The rubber is starting to crack some near the top but this seems to be purely cosmetic damage. The circular black plastic thing on top popped off very quickly but I could care less, again, just cosmetic.

My only gripe is that the handle flexes. With my old maul that had a hickory handle when it got wedged in a stubborn piece of wood I could use it as a lever to pry the two apart. Not with this maul. It well bend.

Must be something to do with the “unbreakable” technology of the design. Other than that a phenomenal maul. Hope to be using it for a long time.

I have went through 3 of these mauls in the last 3 years. None have survived a full firewood season without the same issue. The head begins to twist on the handle upon impact. This causes severe wrist pain on every strike making the mauls unusable.

For the price of these mauls I expected far better. Some type of redesign in connecting the head to handle to prevent this from happening would make them an excellent maul. Perhaps molding some variation of a solid core into the handle and incorporate a heavy pin through the head could solve this issue.

This did not live up to the hype and I wish I would have tried a maul and a wedge first. I had two large trees taken down and thought I could use this to cut firewood. It took many, many, many strikes to cut anything near the maximum diameter (14″ or so) the description said it could handle.

The smaller logs were easier but I bought it to use on logs 9″ and larger. I would also like to know how they calculated the pounds of force it delivered – did not seem that way to me! So, this was a waste of a purchase for me.

I bought this item with some doubts but it has proven itself to be a fantastic buy. It is well made and easy to assemble and use. The instructions are well written in more languages than I can identify.

The only issue I found was in drilling the 7/8″ hole in the base log. It is difficult to drill the hole 4 3/4″ deep and keeping it straight using the spade bit provided. I switched to an auger bit and that solved it.

Admittedly, this could be user error. There is a tiny learning curve but the splitter works better than I expected. I’ve easily split logs up to 8″ in diameter but it took a few blows. For 4″-6″ logs it works great.

I would definitely recommend this splitter for small, occasional tasks. Don’t plan on splitting a cord of wood.

This axe is very durable, capable, and comfortable. I think a competent user would be able to fell, limb, buck, and split all with this one axe. The head weight and handle length are pretty much a perfect combination, in my opinion.

The fibre glass handle is comparable to a sufficiently thinned hickory one; no shock is noticable. This axe is perfect to keep in your vehicle because of the synthetic handle; low maintenance and bulletproof.

The steel is very good. I have chopped quite a bit with this axe and it breaks chips free and doesn’t get stuck easily, thanks to the thick wedge profile; great geometry. I had the smaller version for years and this one feels significantly more potent in chopping, and everything else.

The blade is a little over four inches wide, which is good enough, but a larger bit simply cuts more wood with each hit, and I would love if Husqvarna would make a larger model with a five to seven inch bit.

Great axe and I would highly recommend it, good job Husqvarna.

I like the A1400 version of this Husqvarna ax, so purchased the heavier head A2400 to try out. The blade sharpened well, and the ax chopped great. However, the fiberglass handle with the heavier head twists.

The handle is stiff in plane of chopping but flexes if you twist the butt end to pop out a wood chip. Different from a wood handle ax in this way and feels odd chopping. The heavier head need a stiffer handle shaft.

I am on my third season using this splitter and has proven to be a very good tool. Very easy to use. much safer than other options. and works extremely well. When I wear this one out I will definitely get another.

Was excited to get this for my dad. Tried it out. The logs have to be just the right size to work. I’d say about 1 in 6 logs worked on this thing. Most were just barely too wide and so could not use.

Some were just small enough but when its a tight fit the logs get caught in the splitter. And of course smaller logs have a hard time standing up in the splitter so those are a pain too. I returned, not useful for the small percentage of logs that would have fit.

too bad they didn’t have an adjustable width design. If they change it to that, I want royalty payments. : ).

Kabon kindling firewood spliter. What an amazing purchase that turned out to be!!! We love it!! We used it at camp. We paired it with the mastercraft maximum sledge hammer. The extra weight helped out with knots in the logs we were spliting.

It was so easy for me with my back issues. I may not be able to lift an axe, but I sure can split a log!.

if you don’t have this amazing machine in your life, you are seriously missing out!. I bought one of these things about a month ago when I ordered a load of firewood for the winter. safe to say I can satisfy our family’s heat requirement this winter.

I was so amazed with how easy it is to make kindling, I now have just short of 1 cord all ready to start those way morning fires.

This is my second Fireside friend. I have two woodstoves and decided I needed one for each stove. It is the most impressive kindling maker I have ever seen. The only drawback is that it is dangerous.

It is heavy and sharp. The plus side of that is that there are no hidden dangers, you know it’s not a toy. Estwing makes good stuff, this bad boy is no exception.

I have used one for many years and it really does a great job. I bought this one for my son and grandson in Georgia. They are enjoying fires in the backyard. My grandson could not wait for the delivery and they have used it everyday since it’s arrival.

So far only used it to split a piece of firewood. Log split into pieces wherever I wanted. Just to see if it could, I split one log into kindling to test it. Estwing is to be applauded for a concept well executed.

Keeper.

The Fiskars X27 is in my opinion the best Axe for somebody who wants to split firewood efficiently at an affordable price. It is light, powerful and, well quite simply is as good at anything I have tried at splitting wood.

The best thing about this axe though is the weight, while other mauls may split an individual piece as well, after 20 minutes you will be exhausted. With this axe I can go on a lot longer, not saying it makes splitting wood easy, but certainly easier! Also what I love about the product is that I have found that because the angle between the head an the blade is quite large, it tends not to get stuck in the wood like many axes (which can take a while to clear and potentially cause injuries).

There will be some who want to spend 3 to 4 times the amount on a Swedish axe, and I am definitely not saying these are not great Axes, of course they are. And if owning a finely crafted axe is important and you can afford it, then go for it.

But for me my aim was to split wood and I find the X27 compares with even the most expensive of axes. There will be others that think the X27 is still a lot for an axe, and yes there are some very decent axes out there for a lower price.

In my experience these axes are not as good as an X27, but guess it depends on how long your will use the axe for.

I bought this in May 2022 and was looking forward to splitting my wood. The handle is hollow! I did not notice that in store. I was in a hurry. So the impact of the hit goes straight into your hands.

I had tingling fingers the next day still and could not hold a pen properly. I should have thought of that before buying. A solid wooden hickory handle will soften the impact and will not cause vibration.

Our daughter bought us this for Christmas. It broke at the knife the first day my husband used it. Our pieces were dry and with the ax break up nicely. Daughter worried our age was making the wood more dangerous and thought this would help.

It didn’t. Most fir pieces wouldn’t even fit until they were so small it was pointless. Those that fit were 15″ x 5″ and the blade broke almost immediately. We are hiding it from our daughter. We don’t want to hurt her feelings.

But really, who makes junk like this. Very disappointed Lehman’s, very disappointed.

The box looked small at first, but it works great, even on our larger split wood! Good quality and seems very safe to use too. Simple, old-fashioned. Love it!

I saw the videos on the Kindling Cracker and noticed they always used pretty much straight grained wood. After I mounted it on a stump I made a point to use the most gnarly pieces I had in the wood pile to test it.

It breezed through them in no time. Needless to say I was impressed. I used a 4# short handled sledge hammer for the task. The jag of kindling in the pic was completed in well under five minutes.

Really to light to be effective for the long haul. Can split small short logs but too much effort required to use for medium to large logs. Needs to have longer stroke and heavier slide to power through even average wood.

I ground the wedge angle steeper and sharper and that helped but still too much work involved to split wood. Use a maul or wedge and sledgehammer, much easier.

I had a couple of Mulberry trees cut down and asked that the wood be left. I figured I would rent a splitter and finish the job as I am getting a little old to swing the old maul. When I saw this, I thought, what the heck, for that price it’s worth a try.

When I received it, I thought it was a little heavy. After using it, I was impressed with the ease of splitting this stringy wood. It appears to be well constructed, and is easy to use.

Requested this for Christmas as an alternative to my splitting mail. Shoulder arthritis prevents me from swinging a maul overhead, so this is a great choice. Tried it some on Christmas morning on a bit of oak.

Performed as I expected.

nice handle. doesn’t not hurt the arm when strike. sharp knife edge. good quality

TranslateShow in original languageSie ist scharf, sie hat ordentlich Gewicht. Perfekt fr Lngen bis 33cm. Meterstcke lassen sich damit nicht spalten, zu oft bleibt sie stecken. Man sollte darauf achten, sie nicht fallen zu lassen, die Schneide ist schnell beschdigt.

Tipp: Immer eine Flachfeile in greifbarer Nhe haben. Ich wrde sie immer wieder kaufen.

TranslateShow in original languageAxt, die nicht in einem Protokoll gespeichert werden kann. Feder systematisch, daher unmöglich, 50 cm lange Stämme in mehrere Stücke zu schneiden, ohne einen Keil verwenden zu müssen.

Ich bereue diesen Kauf.

Spent the fall splitting wood at my off grid home, made the job easier and faster. Definitely a solid wedge worked with ease on the hardwood 10-14” logs wet or dry. Held up great from the impact of the sledge hammer.

Would definitely recommend, easy to use and a good weight to it! A must item for your tool shed!.

This is a good wedge, the metal is soft enough not to damage your axe but hard enough it won’t wear out quick. For people new to splitting wedges, they are a wear item it won’t last forever but your axe should.

With this being a canadian tire product its convenient to get with so many locations.

It is a sharpened wedge of steel that splits wood. No gimmiky designs or other nonsense. You might consider having two on hand as some species of wood will split nicely while others are harder to split and may cause the wedge to get stuck in the block.

I have been using two for splitting cedar rails. Could probably use a third to make it quicker.

It’s Good Quality, I’m Well Enough Pleased With It Too, & It Will Certainly Do What I Intend To Use It & Bought It For! I’d buy It Again, Without Question But, In My Mind’s Eye I Could Never Look At “A Stick Chopper” & Think “I’m Amazed Out Of My Underpants With This Chopper!” (PUN NOT INTENDED) So, Please Forgive Me For Not Using The Word “AMAZING” FOR SUCH A PRODUCT! Please Accept That I’m Very Happy With It & I Consider That My Comments Reflect That Too! “Have A Nice Day!” Starcycle69.

02-11-2018.

I have been watching a lot of Survivalists and Preppers on YouTube some carry saws, knives and axes. I have been chopping wood since I was knee high to a grasshopper and the most valuable tool is the “Stick Knife”, “Shingle Froe” or “Kindle Knife” which can be bashed (battoned) with an axe, hatchet or hammer to cut your sticks.

I do not possess a big knife and don’t need one, I am not impressed by men who carry big knives. I think they are carried by men who have diminished testosterone or a tiny phallus or both.

Pro #1 – Durable: As an adult, I bought one of these in 2011, and we have split enough wood with it to fuel two stoves through the Northern Virginia winter from then until 2021 prior to it breaking. (That includes it being well misused by two teen sons learning how to split wood for the first time during those years).

There is no other maul on the market more durable. Pro # 2 – Fast Splitting: As a teen, I used this design to split red oak, hickory, white oak, cedar, post oak, sycamore, black jack oak, and anything else Gramps cut up for sale.

I averaged about 1/2 a cord a day after school, prior to milking chores and homework. No other maul comes close to the speed and ease with which this maul tackles wood. Con #1 – Strength Requirement: You have to have well above average back strength and cardiovascular stamina to keep up with the maul, but if you do – you will feel like John Henry.

I used to dare people to beat me with their mechanical splitters, and none of them could come even close. Con #2 – Handle Length: The handle is a tad short. If it was about three inches or so longer, this maul would be a much better fit for my natural swing (as a 73″ guy with long arms).

That said, you can still swing this like a sledge and hit the exact same spot every time with no trouble at all if you have the strength required (see Con #1).

I bought this because I sometimes get large knotty rounds and I figured a heavier maul would make them easier to split. The handle is too short. It is completely round and enters the very back of the head making it hard to grip and it will spin in your hands a lot of the time.

The handle is also metal so it absorbs nearly none of the shock, it all goes straight into your hands. Some of this would be forgivable if it split well but my 8lb true temper takes half the swings with none of the negatives of this 12lb.

I have owned this maul for ten years and finally I have bent the handle and now I am replacing it. I have split a lot of logs and this is the best and fastest way to split wood. You need to have upper body strength and strong shoulders and back.

I sharpen the front area with a bench grinder to make it perform better. I had to replace it due to bending of handle. I broke many ax handles over the years and it took me ten years to destroy this one.

I am very strong and break a lot of tools due to brute force. I have gotten my money’s worth out of this one. I would not recommend this to someone with little upper body strength. You need to swing this like a sledge hammer letting the maul do the work or you will wear yourself out.

This gives you a great workout and you can cancel your gym membership. Be careful using this tool. It is not a toy.

it is a middle weight axe, handle is ok but a bit deceiving. I was expecting the black parts of the handle to be grippy like normal rubber handled tools. The head has 2 small holes in it (defect maybe? ) the wood sticks to one of the holes a little bit because its slightly jagged.

I ordered a hart axe also and that has a grippy handle like i was expecting. Like other reviews the axe came with couple small rust spots. I don’t think this axe is junk but for the same price point the hart and steelhead brand axes i ordered seem better quality.

If i didn’t order the other axes i would probably of kept this but seeing the small differences like oil on the head of the hart so no rust, and better blade guards on both other axes i will be returning this.

I bought this product because I was at a friends house and he had one. It worked amazingly. I went home and shopped around for a good price. Orvis was selling it for less than other sites and it was the cheapest by far.

Order came quicker than expected and I was thrilled. I scratched my head when I removed it from the box. This product seemed small. I used it for a few days and then my friend came over. When he saw it he remarked on how small it was.

I then looked the product up online again and saw that there are 2 sizes. The one I ordered gets the job done, but wouldn’t recommend buying this exact item. Get the bigger unit. I wish I had known.

i first saw this product on This Old House and searched the web for it. Orvis had the best price on the web. as soon as it arrived i put it to work and it is just great! it splits wood easily, unless there are knots in the wood.

i have filled two garbage cans full of kindling since it arrived. this is the best new tool purchase i have made in a long time. you won’t be disappointed with this tool. it’s really great!.

Love the idea of this but it’s embarrassingly small. The diameter is only 3 3/4”. I have a 1/2 cord of firewood 16” in length and not a single one will fit into this splitter.