Another good deal from Harbor Freight if you manually split ($10 TWIST Wedge)

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/html/emails/46/RetailB/Images/22.jpg
I have one, it works great, much better than a normal wedge, never gets buried in the wood.

Why doesn't it ever get buried?

Because the twist in the wedge does a better job (compared to a wedge without the twist) of pushing the split apart.

How would you compare to a wood grenade, only place I can get one is Lehmans and probably double incl. the shipping

Not sure. I've heard good things about the wood grenade, people seem to like them a lot. I'd love to try one some time. But I really don't have to use a wedge all that much when splitting, only for the really tough stuff, and I wonder if a wood granade would require twice as many strikes to get an initial split? The reaon being that it basically tries to create two splits at the same time compared to other wedges that only create one split. I guess the double split could be viewed as a benefit or a drawback. But the first split is always going to be the most difficult so I'd think trying to do one instead of two at the same time would be easier (?).

My favorite wedge has some extra little "ramps" at the top to make it especially wide. It's definitely as wide as that twisted one. But it still gets stuck now and then.

the nice thing about the wood grenade is that there is no effort to get it start. a gentle tap and the point sticks in the round and you're ready to swing away.

The wood grenade I used (from Lehmans) usually created one split . . and to your point usually for more difficult splits like a huge round, knots, anything without
a straight away grain. Trouble is, snapped the point off, I gotta get another one. I also liked the grenade b/c it didn't make my hands ring, standard wedge I get
a lot of vibration and feel it afterwards.

Anyone ever use a powder wedge???????? Lots of fun with the real big ones! Never gets buried .

I was wondering about the durability of the twist wedge. I have seen them in my past research of replacing the wood grenade and was wondering how much service are they good for. Harbor freight tends to sell goods with suspect quality which is the reason why I decided to pass on it but I would definitely change my mind with some positive input

Regarding wood grenades I really like them as they work well however, the durability of the Chinese made wood grenades are pathetic. They tend to fracture about 1"- 1 1/2" above the point quite often in my experience with them. In the 3 grenades I have purchased they tend to last for around a cord of wood of duty then they fracture.

Since then I have used an estwing wedge and so far with multiple cords of service without a problem.

Oh, that would be fun! But, I don't think that the neighbor's would approve around here.

I've loathed straight blade wedges all my life...they're a pain to get started. When I was a kid my mother bought a couple wedges that worked fantastically (I assume these are what you're calling a wood grenade), one was basically a cone and the other a pyramid with flattened sides and wedge shaped protrustions on each corner. They worked very well for me as a 10 year old kid swinging a 6lb sledge all day long...easy as starting a nail and they had a top surface area about double that of a regular wedge so the sweet spot was huge. Another added advantage was that they had far less tendency to go crooked while driving if you get in an off center blow with the hammer.

Just wish I could find one.

I have the HF twist wedge. For the money, its been great. Its my go to wedge when the maul won't do it. Starts easy.

I have the twist wedge, a sears 10 lb wedge for REALLY mean wood, and the 5 lb red wedge from HF. I only use the last on when I get the other two stuck.

Plus I have a welded up ax head that starts really easy, but due to it's narrow girth, it is good for creating cracks for the other wedges.

re: black powder splitting-
Man, you guys are having WAY too much fun splittin'!! You are supposed to get hot and stinky with stuff in your eyes and crabby besides due to no help from the other person who will be warmed by the efforts!
Good idea tho for that overgrowed round.