Splitwood Fire with a Gransfors Bruks Outdoor Axe.

Description

I show how I use an axe and a firesteel to make a splitwood fire.

Gransfors Bruks Outdoor Axe https://www.canadianoutdoorequipment.com/gransfors-bruks-outdoor-axe.html

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Tags: Bushcraft,Survival,Backpacking,Canoe,Dog Training,Knife,Axe,Ontario,Canada,Fire,Bowdrill,HD,Nikon,Gopro

Video Transcription

hey guys Joe here again thanks for clicking on the video I wanted to do a split wood fire today an old-fashioned split wood fire but let's use a grass first Brooks odeur axe and a fire steel which is in my pocket we won't use this saw we won't use a knife we won't use anything else other than that the axe and the fire steel will go from the process of selecting the right kind of wood cutting the tree down bucking it up splitting it making shavings striking the fire steel on the axe to get the fire going let's do that today noisy okay so this is a great tree to use it's a maple it's got a natural check in it it's about risk thick the one next to it even better but it's a little bit big so you can do a couple things really I could probably pull this down but let's make a couple chops just to make it easier and over after all I am I am trying to show you how to do it with an axe so you guys probably already know this but it's a smart idea to move away all the debris and stuff on your your where you going to chop so you don't mess up so you don't trip over it so you don't chop into it and bounce off or anything like that by putting the sheet in my pocket always last thing you want to do is lose a brown sheet on the ground it's all brown leaves so just clean it up a bit I want to chop low to the ground I don't really need to use two hands yet if you want to with this small axe but I like to chop in the same direction I'm not going to be low like this and coming up it's just not necessary for these small trees that stop crying

so you see how if I keep dropping the same direction and I move backs from up to up to the bottom it's it's still taking out chunks as opposed to a v-notch and it's such a small tree like I said that's all you need watch out for falling objects I just give it again move move move and half the time this will happen just going to break out at the bottom anyway no big deal like I said I could have pushed it out put my axe in my axe pocket now I'm good to walk back carrying my stick so now next up is bucking it um you can do this a couple ways too and I'll show you a couple ways that I do it again a sheath is going in my pocket or my bag somewhere where I know it is the first way is you're going to hold it and you're going to actually hit it in midair it hit it while it's standing up in the air with your feet away and then the second way you're going to lay it on a log a bucket that way and I'll show you that too let me let's go find a log first because I'm out my camp now where there is a bench and there is a log that I worked at before but in all honesty in reality if you're doing this exercise for real you're not going to have any of this stuff so let's go find a suitable log that we can be to bring here or do the work at the log choose as a workbench

so I found my log but before we do that let's do this standing up way because it works better as a longer pole so I'm actually gonna flip it around because they've got that chopped part at the bottom and I don't want that giving out on me as I'm chopping so I'm standing my feet back I'm swinging right handed I need my dog to get out of the way so I don't put an axe in his face back now good so I'm swinging right handed right my left leg is way back here my right leg is pronounced forward almost like a bow-drill stance so if I miss hopefully I'm not hitting anything all right that's the idea so can you see there yeah so I just want to make like four cuts at the most probably one or two will do this part of it I was going to go on a 45 hard okay that was kind of broken that doesn't count I'm get hard two in the same spot you're going to turn it you can turn it on its side and do four all the way around but I know if I just hit on this side it's going to go so there we go three leave it leave it go on Scout okay so this will be the most dense part of the wood again I'll try to do it for huts four hits I mean one that was kind of bad 2 3 4 5 ok so you can see how that worked now I'm going to buck it up on the ground I might actually have to get a little bit bigger piece because I kind of split up all my wood already we'll see what happens so this piece of wood here is almost too short to buck up to split our sorry to buck up lengthwise but we'll do it in half just to get my point across so again I'm not making a B I'm not swinging towards myself let's go let's go lay down put down good boy I'm not swinging towards myself so I'm always gonna swing away my knees out of the way my hands are over the way again I'm hitting it in the same spot and then I might flip it over do it again and that's that so there's usually a natural check in the wood a crack if the druid is seasoned and I'll always try to aim for that I want to put my blade right in that crack I'm going to lift the wood and throw the wood down as opposed to like burying my supposed to bury my axe into the wood that's fine too but it just takes a little bit different technique so I'm making sure my hands are going to get pinched in the middle by doing this and moving up couple heads and then a pry and it's broken right let's try to split this piece the axe way swing the axe down on it it's gone it just needs a little pry there we go this piece is kind of punky oh I'm so glad he didn't knock my camera over next I want to make some shavings but I need to find something to collect the shavings in because I'm not going to be able to make proper feather sticks with my axe and leave the the fine feathers on the sick so let's go find a piece of bark that we can collect our savings from on here's a stump of an old ash tree the emerald ash borer has wiped out all the ash in the area but I can definitely use that as a collection device even just that much collect almost shavings right on there just going to put it here on this other side of the log that way I'm doing my shaving stuff alright onto the onto the bark these have to be broken down more anyways but I like to do my shavings first so that I don't make the pieces too small and they're breaking out and all that stuff so with some fine ones collect those maybe put them in a separate pile then your bigger ones so that at the end you don't have to sort through them to try to find your thin ones not too bad with an axe I've got all but the shavings I want it's time to split it down to tender sized kindling size rather which would be pencil lead pencil and thumb size this stuff is actually chipping out on me it's not the greatest wood this maple it's all like in a early stage of decay so its grain is gone that's why it's chipping chipping off on me but let's go get it to work these pieces aren't so bad at all but then like this this will chip out but it'll work so yeah all I'm doing a lot of times too here is I'll just line up the the axe right on the on the wood down the middle of it bring them both down together I'm not trying to like hit it just bring them down together when it's this small it'll work fine so I'm all set up I've got my my small fine stuff here play shavings and my curls all here I've got my thicker coarser curls here I've got my pencil size here my pencil lead which would supposed to be pencil it here that's all and then thumb and actual fuel here so we'll get this all going right now before I do it I just want to show a close-up of how I'm going to do it here's my axe I got it braced against this log in front as long as the integral part I put my knee on the axe and I'll pull away with my fire still right on the blade I know some people don't like to do that but it's really no big deal and I'm going to shoot a video on fuel sharpening on how to fix that right after this video so what I want to do is look for my finest curl probably this one here stick some of that in there and I'm going to just put it right above my axe blade and again I'll brace my axe with my knee pull that nice okay

so well it's still going place it on the brace which are other thicker curls on top hopefully don't smother it tools go away and this back piece will now become part of my fire this backlog which is no big deal you want to brace everything up so that there's air underneath it and as soon as that starts to go I'll just be laying well actually I got these pieces to go on next so I'll just be laying them crosswise crossways crossing the other ones let that build or we shall have a sustained fire I feel comfortable putting on big thick pieces like this it's sustained it's not going out now I can go do whatever I need to do like dig up a sassafras root for some tea so there you go not the most efficient not the most convenient but definitely fun and a really good skill to know so am I looking at my axe it's no worse for wear off that fire steel jello rusty and stuff but I am going to shoot that second video right now I'll probably title it field sharpening tools and I'll sharpen a Scandinavian grind convex scanning of a knife convex knife and then my convex axe all in this video so in this video to come so if that's something you're interested in make sure you tune into that video thanks for watching guys I hope you learned something and I'll see you soon on the next one good bye