Firewood Processing in the Back Country

[stephane]

Silky f180 is all I use. Lightweight and works great. Need to choose proper wood to burn though because you can’t split bigger pieces like you can with an axe though. Then for fire starting I use cotton balls covered in petroleum jelly.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I like the wyoming saws because I can just switch over to the bones saw blade at minimal weight. Very useful for moose and bear hunting.

 

[Clarktar]

I brought a cordless one handed sawzall. Was awesome.

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[Farmerlentz]

Silky saw even the pocket boy does a great job. You can also just burn branches you can snap or stomp to the right size

 

[Time2fish]

I’ve only been building fires in my shelter for a couple years but, once I got a Silky I haven’t looked back.

 

[gphil]

I have a samurai Ichiban saw I like and a cold steel trail hawk tomahawk that works pretty good too for a lightweight axe

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[mfllood3800]

When I first started hot tenting it, I got the small hatchet- worhtless. Can't generate enough force to cut, and when you do, it wouldv'e been faster and easier breaking it by hand or thru a split branch on live tree.
Then I went to the SVEN folding saw. Way better, but I still found myself just breaking branches with knee, foot or hands. Where I hunt it is an old, old forest with as much dried up blow down almost as standing.
In fact I got really cold one archery hunt in a super sustained down pour, and I still got a fire started easy with all the dried forest.
If I had to choose between a hatchet and saw- SVEN saw.

 

[BigNate]

I use a small folding saw and small Fiskars hatchet. If you're going that deep I wouldn't be without both. They can be good for more than stove fuel. Depending on the area, I'd skip the bigger stove and use an alcohol stove and thermal battery.

 

[Wrench]

I like the wyoming saws because I can just switch over to the bones saw blade at minimal weight. Very useful for moose and bear hunting.

If you get a chance to try the silky on a skull or big bones, you'll wonder why it isn't sold as a bone saw. It's FAST through bone as well as wood.

Coming from a guy with the large Wyoming saw and the silky 180.

 

[AllPNW]

If you haven't checked out Sven saws they are amazing for wood and light and compact. I like that they fold into a triangle so you have really get force and speed going back and forth. The blade inserts back into the handle and can slip into backpack or in side straps. When put together you get a 21" saw at around 13oz I think

Sven saws

Sven Folding Saw - 21" | REI Co-op

With a time-tested, all-metal design built to last for decades, the Sven-Saw 21 in. folding saw is ideal for camping, scouting, canoeing, backpacking, hunting, doing yardwork and more.

www.rei.com

 

[gustafsj]

For Ultralight, I use a Silky pocketboy (6.4 oz) + Mora Carbon Steel Knife (3.6 oz). I use the Mora for batoning / splitting the wood.

For Lightweight and/or need for more wood processing, the Sven Saw (10.8 oz) plus my classic Norlund Voyageur Harchet (21.5).

For serious wood processing, in cold, wet conditions, I will pack my GB Small Forest axe instead of the hatchet. This saved our asses a few years ago on a boundary waters canoe hunting trip where it was 35-40F and misting/raining for 4 days.


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[Will]

I love the Silky, I have the Big boy and use it all the time snowmobiling for clearing trails after heavy snow.

 

[mtwarden]

I’ve used several types/brands of saws and have found that Silky saws perform better. I now own several Silky’s from small to very (very) large.

For hunting I use a Silky 130 Pocketboy wood blade in a custom plastic housing. It weighs a mere 2 ounces and is more than sufficient for processing small wood. I also carry a Silky bone blade with it- fraction of an ounce.

I’ll have a small fixed blade knife that can be used to further process the wood and make kinking. The knife is along for the ride regardless if wood will be needed or not.

 

[gustafsj]

@mtwarden Where did you get that custom housing? That’s pretty slick!


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[mtwarden]

@mtwarden Where did you get that custom housing? That’s pretty slick!


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There is (was?) a guy on backpackinglight.com making/selling them. He was from CZ I think. If you do a google search you’ll find it. Brings the Pocketboy down from 6.1 oz to 2.1 oz. He also makes a 170 handle as well. Blades are spendy, but last.

 

[rcook10]

Sven Saw! accept no substitute! I have my dads original which is probably 30+ years old and has done thousands of miles in the backcountry. All of the benefits of a bow saw and a folder in one package.

 

[canyonhunter138]

Ahhhh… the fire wood harvesting dilemma…



For me it depends on the weather I am likely to encounter on the trip and what type of trip it is. For back country hunting trips where the stove is only going to be used for a little bit of heating and water boiling in the mornings and evenings a silky folding saw (gomboy 240 10 TPI) paired with a SS Mora Garberg works well.



If it is Late shoulder season or colder than normal, I swap out the mora knife for a Hults Burk hatchet with an overall length of 15” (12” handle) and a 1 Lbs. head. The hatchet works well for rounds up to 3 inches. For larger rounds the same hatchet with some small custom UHMW wedges has worked well for me in the past. The plastic wedges keeps the weight down.



If it's going to be really cold, or weight is not the biggest concern go with a small hatchet and silky saw.



Lastly, the wood type and quality is a consideration as well. In a dry area with relatively straight, soft wood (Douglas fir) with few Knots the Mora works fine. But, if you are likely to encounter wet firewood go with a hatchet because you'll have to split more of it into smaller pieces to get the fire going and keep it going.