m :
... what design you think provides the most chopping and splitting power for the weight?
A short head (distance from edge to handle), narrow face (edge length), deep primary hollow and wide convex edge will give the maximim penetration on hard to cut wood* with minimal binding. The small Gransfors Pack axe is a decent example. An optimal splitter has a longer head, much more narrow face, and a full convex grind, the common splitting mauls. In general, a true splitting profile is only needed for very large wood which is also knotty, odd in shape, or well seasoned.
I just finished splitting a couple of hundred pieces of wood this weekend, the majority of it was done with a few small blades (hatchet, khukuri, and a few knives), and the larger bits were done with an Estwing 3/4 size axe, which actually has the worse possible splitting profile. None of it was over eight inches in width, small wood. For the most part, small woods which you can easily fell, lift and move will be easily split with a decent hatchet of a makeshift mallet and long blade.
The most important part of splitting is to know how to deal with knots. Examine the knot flow and avoid having to chisel through the knot, instead split along its grain. The difference between these two cuts is huge, more than 10 to one. Start at the edge of the wood, not right in the middle of the round. Multiple knots can be split often by going inbetween them. If there are many large knots, it is often *far* easier to split a few small sections off than trying to cleave it directly in half.
You can also avoid direct splitting by clearing the bark off the worse wood, and cutting some of the outside clear wood off and leaving it close to the fire to dry. Start the fire with the clearest wood which is easily made into kindling and then split it for fuel. Leave the knotty bits to serve as long burning coal when you need to forage or sleep.
Do you think a hatchet handle gets injured in the act of splitting firewood and do you think it is likely to get damaged beyond usability by a freezing,tired,possibly injured hiker or hunter trying to get a fire going or a shelter up in a hurry?
There is a real possibility of damage if you mash the handle off the chopping block, this will break all but steel frames very quickly. In this situation a long knife is actually more robust than most hatchets as it is near impossible to break a quality tool steel knife in this manner.
Jim Aston has described using few slim knives for such work, and I mean very slim knives, puukkos and butcher knives. He is skilled though, and I would not recommend whaling on a puukko in a sloppy manner, but a decently tough tool steel knife, 3/16" thick or so should ignore all efforts to damage it in such a manner.
In such a light, probably a more optimal configuration would be a folding swede saw, and a decent large knife. I would not recommend one of the folding pruning saws as they will be easily broken if you are sloppy. However the buck saws are very durable, and the swede saw blades are next to impossible to break, even if you bind them badly.
-Cliff
*Axes made to cut very soft woods actually have profiles very similar to splitting mauls. Since the wood is so soft penetration isn't an issue and the main problem is to prevent binding. Generally you don't talk much about these style of axes because little wood is like this (Balsa class density), and it is so easy to cut that you will be very grateful if you find it and a hard wood pattern felling axe will stick a little, but easily handle it. This soft wood style of axe however quickly becomes useless even on medium density woods and is thus very restricted in use.
I bring the hawk cause I know that I will want it, and will miss the utility of it if it is left at home.
