I received this camping Axe a few days ago, so these are just my early impressions. Out of the box, I was impressed with the sharpness of the blade and the design of the holder. It took me a few minutes playing around with it to figure out the smoothest way to remove the axe from the holder, (turn the catch a full 180, then pivot the axe so that the flat end tilts up and out of the holder). At first, I wasn't sure if the belt clip was meant to be adjustable and I was afraid I might break it, but it can be swiveled with a bit of force, with it locking at various positions up to 90 degrees +/- from the default position. The clip seems very solid and is attached with a metal screw, rather than a plastic rivet. The handle is made of a high impact, textured, hollow plastic. The handle contains the hand saw, which is help in place by a nylon strap and a metal snap. This snaps securely and the materials seem heavy duty and durable. The knife reminded me a bit of a Ginsu Knife, more than a saw, but it does work well on sawing off twigs and small branches, or finishing off a larger cut you started with the axe. With the handle being hollow, I was a bit afraid of it's durability, but I did a fair amount of chopping to separate a winter-felled young tree from just above the break and to remove some larger branches, as well as shave off some smaller ones. I'm convinced that the handle is indeed durable, but I'll have to see how it holds up under heavier use. No bending, cracking, or shifting of the axe head. The balance of the axe is a little off from what I'm used to with wooden or wrapped metal handles. All the weight is at the head. When chopping, I felt this was a double edged sword; the lighter weight reduced fatigue while chopping by a notable amount; however, it seemed like a job required more chops than a heavier axe might. Not only due to less weight to provide more of an aid from gravity on each downswing, but I also found my swings a bit less accurate than with other hatchets I've used. Not wild swings, by any stretch, but I found when working towards separation that I was chopping out a half inch wide furrow, rather than being able to finely place each swing into a finer grove. (I think the lower weight and balance make slight variations in you wrist position and chopping motion translate into a wider arc of uncertainty). The blade, being sharp and true, lessened the negatives of the wider trough of the cut. It went deep on each chop and easily spit wood from the gouge as I worked at it. All in all, you just can't beat it for the price. Good weight for backpacking. Solid construction. Hefty blade that comes sharp, while also taking and keeping a nice freshly sharpened edge. The saw knife does work well for light sawing duty. I haven't tested the fire starter. It comes with a painted on coating that will need to be shaved off to provide for it's proper function and I didn't want to bother. I will say that the mechanism for holding the fire starter in place is solid and it stays nice and tight, while still being easy to remove, as needed. If you don't need a hatchet light enough to make a part of a back pack or bug out bag, and want something for a heavy workload, you might want to consider something with a solid handle. Better heft, balance and accuracy would be better in such a case. However, this is a great option for camping/backpacking. You lose some weight, but you don't sacrifice quality, by going with this system. Some camping versions of tools and equipment sacrifice quality, functionality and durability to a degree that can make them next to worthless when you actually need to use them. That is NOT the case here. Very happy for the price.
