Estwing Fireside Friend

[DianeB]

http://www.amazon.com/Estwing-Fireside-Splitting-Nylon-Vinyl-Cushion/dp/B000HAEI1A

Any one have one of these things? I am looking for something small to make kindling myself. Just a few reviews on amazon and they sound positive.

 

[DianeB]

much cheaper at sears
http://www.sears.com/estwing-fireside-friend-splitting-tool/p-00979493000P

 

[n3pro]

FWIW I have http://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Yard-and-Garden/Axes-and-Striking/X5-Hatchet-8

The place I ordered my bigger one had a deal, I picked up the smaller one for 1/2 off with the purchase of the bigger one.

 

[pyronut]

Diane,

This is my absolute favorite tool to make kindling and split small rounds. It comes in very handy and is well made and well balanced. As you can see I even post it in my signature. You won't regret buying it, well worth the money.

 

[bogydave]

Should work nice & have good control.
(Made in USA , a rare find)
Do you use allot of kindling?

 

[onetracker]

how about this one? must be a misprint

http://www.sears.com/estwing-axes-ff4-fireside-friend-splitting-tool-with/p-SPM6088594904P

 

[Woody Stover]

Diane,

This is my absolute favorite tool to make kindling and split small rounds. It comes in very handy and is well made and well balanced. As you can see I even post it in my signature. You won't regret buying it, well worth the money.

I've been using a plain ol' hatchet. It's hard to tell from the pic; Does that thing have a wider head? If so, I'd think it would pop kindling apart easier than a hatchet. Not that I'm looking for ways to spend more money...

 

[Vincent]

I've been using a plain ol' hatchet. It's hard to tell from the pic; Does that thing have a wider head? If so, I'd think it would pop kindling apart easier than a hatchet. Not that I'm looking for ways to spend more money...

I got one last year at Lowes and really like it.

 

[Jags]

(Made in USA , a rare find)

Dave - they are literally made just outside my office window. Estwing is my work neighbor. There are times that I can "feel" their big punch presses.

And Ramsplitter log splitters are just down the road a few blocks.

 

[bogydave]

Dave - they are literally made just outside my office window. Estwing is my work neighbor. There are times that I can "feel" their big punch presses.

And Ramsplitter log splitters are just down the road a few blocks.

Cool
I bet they (Ramsplitter) comes to your shop to as questions on what features to put on their new designs for log splitters.
Do you get a consulting fee? $$

 

[Jags]

Cool
I bet they (Ramsplitter) comes to your shop to as questions on what features to put on their new designs for log splitters.
Do you get a consulting fee? $$

Baahahaha - uh, no.

 

[Nixon]

http://www.amazon.com/Estwing-Fireside-Splitting-Nylon-Vinyl-Cushion/dp/B000HAEI1A

Any one have one of these things? I am looking for something small to make kindling myself. Just a few reviews on amazon and they sound positive.

Thanks for bringing this up ! I've been looking for something to go along with my fiskars hatchet but with a bit more weight for seating wedges.

 

[Lewiston]

Useful tool for opening up a split to check the MC.

 

[pyronut]

Should work nice & have good control.
(Made in USA , a rare find)
Do you use allot of kindling?

I use to split a lot of kindling, but now I use Super Cedars with a lot less kindling.

 

[pyronut]

I've been using a plain ol' hatchet. It's hard to tell from the pic; Does that thing have a wider head? If so, I'd think it would pop kindling apart easier than a hatchet. Not that I'm looking for ways to spend more money...

The head is much wider and has a nice weight to it. It easily splits kindling and I rarely use my small hatchet to split kindling anymore. My wife is also a big fan of the Estwing fireside friend and also grabs it before I can when we are preparing the kindling. I purchased one at Home Depot for around $30 a few years back.

 

[Clarkbug]

I picked up one of the Fireside Friends this past winter to help my wife split up kindling when I wasnt home. Not great for accuracy, but its a 4 lb head, so it really makes quick work of kindling. We keep it next to the boiler, and it has worked amazingly well for us. Very glad I made the investment, works better than a hatchet for me.

 

[DianeB]

Diane,

This is my absolute favorite tool to make kindling and split small rounds. It comes in very handy and is well made and well balanced. As you can see I even post it in my signature. You won't regret buying it, well worth the money.

I bought one today at home depot - $33. Brought it home and started to test it out. It is definitely something I can handle for making kindling. My husband was splitting up the big stuff that was still left from a maple coming down in our yard. I was able to take the half splits and create kindling size pieces no problems. I have not tried it in oak or ash. Our neighbor was over and he was a bit surprised to see me splitting as I am usually the stacker. Definitely a good ab work out I must say...tell my kids all the time to forget about the gym - just come over and we will give them a good work out. The whole family did take a nice hike out to our wood lot - we did not take the jeep and glad we did as the road had so many wash outs. Hike out was about 2.5 miles, quick a rocky road now and mostly uphill.

 

[BrianK]

These things are great for making kindling. I picked one up this summer and am very pleased with it.

A word of warning. They are very sharp. Don't ask me how I know...

I found out the hard way tonight. I have no idea how I did this. I was splitting a bunch of scrap 2x4s for kindling. I must have steadied a small split with my left hand and the Fireside glanced off the side. Dumb dumb dumb. 46 years old and never had stitches. Got 8 tonight. At least I was in and out of the ER in under 1 1/2 hours.

 

[DianeB]

These things are great for making kindling. I picked one up this summer and am very pleased with it.

A word of warning. They are very sharp. Don't ask me how I know...

I found out the hard way tonight. I have no idea how I did this. I was splitting a bunch of scrap 2x4s for kindling. I must have steadied a small split with my left hand and the Fireside glanced off the side. Dumb dumb dumb. 46 years old and never had stitches. Got 8 tonight. At least I was in and out of the ER in under 1 1/2 hours.

That must have hurt big time!

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

I hate when that happens!

 

[Woody Stover]

Ouch! Hard to believe you've never had stitches before. I must be way dumber than you...
I picked up an FF, and it works great. The Buck 91 needs a lot of flame in the box to get up to temp from a cold start, so I've been splitting some soft Maple into 1.5-2" splits. The 4# head is great for that. The kindling yields a good coal bed quickly and gets the stove temp up in a hurry, then I pack in a full load...

 

[DianeB]

Just a couple of weeks ago I started to wear learther work gloves when making kindling after a split piece flew up and hit my hand jscraping off skin. Guess I should put the darn safety glasses on too.

 

[Gary_602z]

These things are great for making kindling. I picked one up this summer and am very pleased with it.

A word of warning. They are very sharp. Don't ask me how I know...

I found out the hard way tonight. I have no idea how I did this. I was splitting a bunch of scrap 2x4s for kindling. I must have steadied a small split with my left hand and the Fireside glanced off the side. Dumb dumb dumb. 46 years old and never had stitches. Got 8 tonight. At least I was in and out of the ER in under 1 1/2 hours.

At least you get some bragging rights!

Gary

 

[schlot]

These things are great for making kindling. I picked one up this summer and am very pleased with it.

A word of warning. They are very sharp. Don't ask me how I know...

I found out the hard way tonight. I have no idea how I did this. I was splitting a bunch of scrap 2x4s for kindling. I must have steadied a small split with my left hand and the Fireside glanced off the side. Dumb dumb dumb. 46 years old and never had stitches. Got 8 tonight. At least I was in and out of the ER in under 1 1/2 hours.

Brian wins this thread!