Why Most Bushcraft Axe Chopping Tutorials Kinda Suck!

Comments · 212

• BU

  @bushleague3472 · 9 months ago (edited)

  Lol, even trying to be bad you're still better than a significant percentage of bushcraft videos. A couple deviations on your excellent technique I've adopted, I do tend to come down on more of an angle and open the top of the log more, just because I think it makes getting through the bottom without tagging dirt or damaging the handle easer. Too, I err towards a wide notch, probably because I do most of my chopping in the Canadian winter... frozen wood thats not overly large.

  68

• FL

  @Flashahol · 9 months ago

  I see this lesson as martial arts applied to axe cutting. Aim between your legs, harness the power of both arms at once , aim your entire body properly and work smart.

  49

• KE

  @kennnuthatch5724 · 9 months ago

  I've learned more in 12 minutes from you than decades from others, well done!

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• PA

  @PATCsawyer · 9 months ago

  Ha. My trail crew buddies have always called poor axe technique "beavering ". It's not just bushcraft videos, it just about every YT video. Newbies can be excused for lack of skill, as most axe work in the USA is "splitting". True story: After a trail day spent chopping out blowdowns (and getting axe practice), I was having a pint at a local pub when a guy next to me sees my crew T-shirt and chats me up about axes. He and his daughter had just hiked the trail I'd been on and she had picked up some of my chips as souvenirs (not knowing they were mine).

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• BR

  @brianfoley3925 · 9 months ago

  The boy can chop down trees alright. The type of axe makes a difference, a lot of "Backpackers" use too small of an axe. Excellent tutorial, just brilliantly done. The filming and narration is excellent...but the audio is fantastic...I've done some axe work myself and I can attest to the authenticity...this 100%...I swear I could smell the wood and feel the air. Well done Sir, well done indeed.

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• XD

  @xddddddddddCX · 9 months ago (edited)

  funny how quickly we lose nuance in both skill and design when the subject matter isn't as needed as it once was. only very basic ideas are carried through and I think because it's mostly done as a hobby the need / requirement to improve efficiency isn't really their anymore. Doesn't help either that marketing  appeals to as wide an audience as possible which in turn keeps the culture at a very basic level too.

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• RO

  @robertmoore7199 · 9 months ago

  Agreed Sir! I used an ax 8hrs a day for months working forest thinning. You learn to do it right. The one thing we learned was to keep a wet stone on the truck for touchups. I&apos;d tell the new guys...<br> &nbsp; &nbsp; An ax weight you can swing all day and properly shaped blade finished with a razor sharp edge will give you 50% reduction of effort.

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• MR

  @mrkiky · 9 months ago

  Saw the first clip and was already prepared to comment &quot;what if I&apos;m not a competition chopper though?&quot; as a joke. Turns out he actually did competition chopping 😂😂

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• JA

  @jackhume1525 · 9 months ago

  This is exceptionally valuable. Spending hours hacking and hacking away and not getting anywhere and exhausting yourself doing it ruins your day and can mean less wood for the fire. I went camping with my mother and we didn&apos;t have the ability to bring firewood with us. So after camp was set up I got some supplies and headed out to bring back wood. I dragged a 20 ft tree back and I remember spending two agonizing days hacking it apart with my hatchet. Luckily it was not the only wood I brought back with me.<br><br>Thank you for this technique.

  3

• CA

  @CatapultCarnage · 7 months ago

  New favorite axe channel. Love the European axe pattern videos

  1

• DA

  @David-y1u1t · 9 months ago

  I thought I discovered this with a little hatchet just by trying to get pruned branches small enough to fit in the yard waste bin lol.

  3

• US

  @User-11-h9z · 8 months ago

  Thanks for mentioning Mors Kochanski Canadian legend 🇨🇦 ....👍👍