A couple if years ago I bought some firewood from a male friend of mine and I told him I had always wanted to learn to split wood and he asked me incredulously, “Why in the world do you want to learn to split it when you have and know how to use a chain saw?” There are several reasons I’ve wanted to learn, but being able to do it safely and effectively IMO has many benefits.

@Daniel Sloan No, unfortunately I’ve not. I’m still going through a long medical process with my hip replacements. I’m about to have what I hope will be my 5th and final surgery on my right hip but recently found out I won’t be able to wait too losing before having my left hip replaced. This whole mess has impacted every aspect of my life. My best friend and I have an RV we bought in August ‘22 and while we got two good years of use from it so far, we were barely able to use it last year and may not be able to this year. I went out to start the generator about 3 weeks ago and Medes to use the pull start. I realized pretty quickly I shouldn’t be yanking on any kind of pull start! Eeek! After all this is over, I want to learn to chop wood. In the meantime, I bought an older two-bit axe in pretty good condition and it needs a new handle. I also found an older draw knife and it needs new handles, but I’m having a hard time finding replacements for it. 🧐 Finally, I need to build a cart of my air compressor and plan to ask the group about this soon.

I still live in a small apartment and I had just one metal cabinet for all my tools. When my tools kept creeping farther across my living room floor, I bought a heavy duty shelving system and now all my tools (and several other items) have a home. I know where everything is and can find stuff quickly!

I love this! I enjoy learning and practicing primitive skills, campcraft and bushcraft. My go to fire is exactly this—because it just works so well. Seeing someone repeatedly douse their campfire with lighter fluid only to have it repeatedly go out causes the Girl Scout in me to cringe.