CHOPPING COMPETENTLY

We’ll go out on a limb here and say the extent of most people’s ax education is probably a talk about the “safety circle” and a warning not to cut in the direction of anything you don’t want to cut off, like your leg. Just about everyone who has received some sort of formal education on using a hatchet or ax has heard about the “safety circle” — as long as you’re still using an ax, you probably still have all the body parts you started with. We get it; you’re not supposed to use an ax if you don’t have a safe place to swing it, and no one wants to get cut. It’s good advice. Unfortunately, too many people fear what the ax can do, and their lack of ax training and knowledge of the tool limit their ability.

For many ax owners, the extent of their skill is splitting pre-cut campfire wood on a picnic bench at a private campground or hacking away at branches within reach. What we’ll show you