Fire wood

For me it is a tossup depending on what else I will be doing on the trip. If I am goin to be bushwaking then I will bring one of my kukuries. If I am not going to be doing that then I will bring my silky pocket boy saw. Depending on which kukuri I bring the saw is between 3 and 15 oz lighter

What it will also depend on is who big is the stuff I am planing on cutting. If I know i am going to have to split it then nonsense in bringing the saw

If weight is an issue, it would be a very good folding saw (Silky or, if not that, the cheap Lowes Corona, or a Sven) plus a fixed blade knife large enough to "baton" with to produce kindling, say a good 4 inch bushcraft blade. It has to be a good saw, though, or else you'll be killing yourself.

For a few more ounces, you could do saw plus the Granfors Bruks mini-hatched that was recently reviewed in an BPL article.

I have folding, lockblade saws like the Gerber Switchblade, and a folding triangular Sven saw. Both do very well cutting wood faster than an axe and they weigh much less.

After having tried various lightweight hatchets, decent bushcraft knives, and folding saws…I'm happiest with the QiWiz Little Buck saw when there is substantial firewood to be cut. Have only used it a few times now, so no report yet on long-term sturdiness, but it's made it possible to use larger branches than before and thus spend less time cutting and more time enjoying the fire.

Not worth it unless you actually want/need a larger fire, though. Around here downed twigs and 1" diameter stuff is always abundant and can just be broken up by hand.

My Bahco Laplander is the best folding saw I've ever used for backpacking. Cuts like a dream and only weighs 6.55 oz on my scale. For the short hike and possibility of a large family sized campfire weight probably doesn't matter, though, in this case.

Also, I personally think a small folding saw is the way to go if only taking one wood working tool. Axes are nice but relatively dangerous and unnecessary for most fire building projects, especially in the summer when all the wood is dry. Splitting is almost never worth it unless trying to get to the inner dry wood in winter and shoulder seasons.

I am the very proud owner of a Gransfors Bruks Hatchet and I take my bushcraft and woodcraft pretty seriously as compared to most people here on BPL, but being true and honest an axe is almost always overkill, especially in summer.

Does make me feel more manly when I take it, though. =)

I love mine! Got it as a door prize at one of our hiker gatherings a couple years ago and didn't really think much of it until I used it. I carry whenever I do trail maintenance. For the weight it's a sweet little saw!

I must be missing something… Why do you need a saw/hatchet again? Are you camping in the middle of winter and cutting down your firewood? I'm perplexed.

I have been cooking over campfires for 15 years while backpacking and have never once needed a saw or a hatchet.

IMO, if you need a hatchet to cut up a piece of firewood for a backcountry fire then either the firewood is not dead enough (you should be breaking firewood, not cutting it) or it is too big.

Where are you getting your firewood? Seems like the only time you'd need an ax or a saw would be to actually cut down and process an otherwise live tree, which is a terrible source of firewood for anything other than homesteading, where you'd actually be stacking quartered wood to dry and use for the winter.

So again, why do you need these cutting implements for backpacking?

A saw is a lot easier to cut biger stuff. On the trails, it also helps a lot with blow downs. I usually have a Sven saw with me. I used the littler one, but that was too small to get any real work done. The 21" just fits into my pack next to my fishing rod.

I have the teeth reset, to a slightly wider kerf than standard, since most of the cutting on the trail is 8-12" trees. 12-36" trees I have to leave. Often 8-12" logs are left around camp, piled around the camp fire by firewood scavangers that simply break stuff off, then try to burn through the log. Often 2-3 cuts will set me up for the evening. Three or four 8" pieces will usually burn about 4 hours. It is the difference between 9-10 pounds. I often do not carry it in summer, though.

I could never make a hatchet pay. It was always more work, 'cept for a little wood stove.

Every year to two my wife and I do a canoe trip in Algonquin with friends and camp at the established campsites that must be reserved many months in advance. Because it is a very popular (read: high use!) area there is very little blow-down available for easy fire-making. Fires are quite legal, but one must hike at least a short distance from camp and chop/saw some rather serious lumber and drag it back to camp and cut it up. We use both an axe and a lightweight, foldable saw in this rare circumstance.

The only time I build a fire here in NY is during the winter, and then only rarely. However, there is so much good, well seasoned blow-down that I simply drag a few small tree trunks, uncut, to the campsite and feed them into the fire. Much easier.

"I must be missing something… Why do you need a saw/hatchet again? Are you camping in the middle of winter and cutting down your firewood? I'm perplexed."

This place we go, the 4 of us, is 3 miles in from the road and hosts backpackers and mountain bike campers, mostly backpackers though. It is very popular, so by August when we go, there is little in the way of small branches, 1-3" in diameter on the ground. There was however, a huge hurricane that blew in a few years back. Remember Irene? It took down a huge amount of medium sized trees, say 4-6" and that's just about all that's left. We camp in place for two – three nights with small day trips and enjoy a nice fire in the evenings. This place doesn't get a ton of sun during the day so much of the stuff on the ground is damp.

Why would you backpack to somewhere so popular, well used? It was the first place we brought our kids to try backpacking, they loved it and it's a tradition that is easy to keep. There are a couple convenience factors we couldn't pass up when introducing them to the wonderful world of backpacking, the pit toilet, and the bear box, proximity to a cool natural attraction, and proximity to extremely clear cold water.

"Where are you getting your firewood? Seems like the only time you'd need an ax or a saw would be to actually cut down and process an otherwise live tree, which is a terrible source of firewood for anything other than homesteading, where you'd actually be stacking quartered wood to dry and use for the winter."

I never EVER cut down green wood. Ever, period. I camped in Baxter State Park every single summer until I was an adult. Cutting down green was instilled in me very early as a cardinal sin in the backcountry.

Just get a sawback machete. That way you get both. I would probably go with Ontario Knives as opposed to Gerber or SOG.

Check out the modified saws our resident David G sells:

http://www.GOLDGear.co

If you can track down the thread where these were developed its a great read.

I have the Eka saw with the 21 inch blade
http://www.eka-knivar.se/en/products/5/outdoor

It weighs 358 grams with the wood saw blade (the metal saw and the meat saw blade weighs 40 grams each)

+1 for the David Gardner saws. Very lightweight and effective.

I've gone for years with no more than a campfire or two per year, but this past winter I caught the bug, and had several on back-to-back weeks.
I've been a knife nut, and used hatchets and axes, since I was a child, but real chopping tools are heavy. Always hated saws, but decided it was that or nothing due to weight.
The Corona 10" saw from Lowe's for $20 that Joe S. mentioned has worked well for me. Takes up very little pack space and cuts through most woods with minimal effort. A fixed blade around 5" would be plenty, but rather than buy one, I've been carrying an old Blackjack #1-7 that I've had for ~25yrs. Makes splitting wood for kindling simple and fast, which is especially important when everything is wet.
Because my part of the world is heavily wooded, campfires have been a breeze, regardless of how heavily picked over spots.
Uploaded some pics(I'm constantly "reviewing" gear, even if just for myself):

Took these out of curiosity over how long it actually takes me to get the fire going once the materials are collected(which took only a few minutes since this campsite had been visited by a crew with chainsaws to clear a bunch of fallen trees after a storm).
5:59pm

6:11pm. Wood sectioned, kindling split, shavings made, ready to kick off with a trioxane tab.

6:14pm

Half an hour later.

Don't know if I'll have any more fires until it gets cold again, but it's been fun to play with this winter.

I prefer a small pull saw. Less weight, effort and risk to cut through something compared to an axe. We have lots of spruce here so I target the low, dead branches still on the trees – 1/2" diameter stuff. They are drier than anything on the ground and therefore burn cleaner. It doesn't make a huge, long-lasting fire, but I prefer a small, less smoky fire.

That said,
>"with my family" "3 mile walk"

makes me think saw AND axe. You can carry anything for 3 miles and then you've got a great activity for the kids – after covering axe safety, they can practice preparing kindling and fuel. And they can compare a saw to an axe for different tasks.

A nice tie-in could be a meal or two that are all open-fire cooking. Hot dogs (gourmet hot dogs for adults), hamburger in aluminum foil, boiling water in a disposable tin can for hot chocolate, samores, etc. All of which taste better when you built the fire yourself.

Heck, do fire-starting competitions (you only get one match and if unsuccessful, it is someone else's turn) and on subsequent trips up the ante – no artificial tinder, wet wood, etc. Channel that sibling rivalry!

Either a Gransfors Bruks and/or a Silky Saw.

I always like david's idea's for kids.