5 Best Axes Under $50

Six million people have watched the video below, featuring some guy swinging an overpriced, state-of-the-art splitting axe to turn a tire filled with logs into perfectly split matchstick kindling… It’s like a Home Shopping Network advertisement for a new kitchen tool that turns a potatoes into perfect french fries in seconds. The rub is that this “magic axe” can be yours, for one easy payment of… $350. I can almost see your eyes roll… At best, we can only assume that the folks watching this video with eyes bulging (wondering why they haven’t seen this in the Brookstone catalog) are […]

16 Brick Rocket Stove

While much of the US is covered in forests, that doesn’t mean that you can count on readily available firewood during a crisis. Hoarding, over-harvesting, and simple supply and demand will make firewood hard to come by in many local areas (as it is in many third world nations). One way to safeguard your own supply is to set aside a cord of wood… But even then, you can’t afford to waste this precious resource. How can you stretch your cooking and heating fuel? Perhaps the best way is to build a  “rocket stove,” a simple stove design that will allow […]

DIY Paper Log Hack [VIDEO]

It’s hard to beat the smell of seasoned pinion pine logs burning in your wood stove… but there comes a time when even the sweetest of smoke smells get pretty dang tiresome. During a long, cold winter like this one, you may get sick of smelling like a fireplace every single day. Even more likely, you’ll run out of seasoned wood and turn to burning junk or even fresh cut or green wood. While it does provide warmth, unseasoned wood isn’t the best, cleanest, or the cheapest option. In fact, wastepaper logs can burn for 5-6 hours, substantially longer than […]

How to Stack and Season Firewood

Summer’s over and the cold fronts are already starting to move across the country. Finally, it’s fireplace season (or fire pit season) once again. But of course, you’ll need something to burn… Stacking and seasoning firewood is by no means rocket science, but it’s not as simple as piling up a bunch of logs either. There are many subtle tricks of the trade that, when taken into consideration, can save you headaches down the road. Even if you do have a stockpile of firewood stacked neatly in the yard,  you may want to take a moment to check your work. 3 […]