Bought this to take for 3-5 day backpacking trips where we needed to cut and split wood for fires. This axe was great for cutting smaller limbs, but really was nice for splitting and shaving down. For kindling. The axe was sharp out of the box and after a 2 trips remains so. The weight and wedge to the blade seem good, need at least a bit of heft to split wood. The blade guard could be better but overall I am really happy with it and would recommend it. When used with a camp saw they make a great combo.