How to POWER CHOP! 

I can watch 3 things indefinitely: flow of the river, fire burning and Nicole chopping that wood 😊

This video saved my bacon today. I was visiting my sister in Alaska this week, and the power went down at 10am. It was 6 degrees Fahrenheit out, and the forced-air furnace needs electricity to work. We went from “there’s an optional wood burning stove (fun!)” to “the pipes are gonna freeze if we can’t keep the house heated with wood” really quickly. It’s been 30+ years since I’d last used a wood splitting maul, so I *kinda remembered the mechanics, but I had a maul and splitting setup I didn’t know, knotty and wet (now frozen) wood to work with, and a “must do” situation. I had forgotten ALL the details of technique that this video covers in detail. After taking 20 frustrating minutes with my first log, I came in to warm up and watched this video. “Oh, guide with your dominant hand! Drop the hips and heels. Measure your distance with your *back hand as the anchor. Got it.” I went back out, and had much better success. This video absolutely made the difference for me- thanks!

Those arms look like they belong on an 80's action figure. Simply amazing.

thank you forest lesbian

Nicole is the sensei of wood splitting. Now to write a book, "Zen and the Art of Wood Splitting ". A sequel to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".

Nicole, I realize I am not your target audience, but … damn. You rock.

We learned the power chop, can you now tell us of the ancient, forbidden okie dokie chop?

Finally, a woman that is for real and walks the walk, I do this stuff everyday in our harsh winters in the Snowy Mountains of Australia, but watching you brings a smile to my old face and a warmth to my heart, no nonsense, no semi clad BS and No make up,,,well done young woman from an old soldier and outdoors expert

It's not like starting tomorrow I'm going to cut wood. But it is nice to see the dedication you put into teaching us the best way to cut wood. Thank you for teaching us so much, Nicole ❤

You know what? That what probably the most accurate and lucid instruction I've received on RU-vid....and I'm 65 years old! This young woman saved my lower back and shoulders.

Excellent tutorial! I first started chopping wood over 60 years ago and love your channel. Here is a safety tip I learned from my father when I was about 10. When carrying an axe, hold it by the handle right next to the blade. Make sure your index finger and middle finger are placed along the blade extending toward the sharp edge. This will ensure that if you stumble and fall, your natural instinct to flatten your hand out to catch yourself, will also rotate the sharp edge of the blade away from your body.

Thank you SO much for mentioning the wrist flick at the end! I've been doing EVERYTHING else in this video almost the whole time I've been chopping wood, but that flick at the end for the extra mechanical advantage on the blade NEVER occurred to me until you said it. This is why I love having experts share their knowledge. Thanks so much!

I’ve been splitting wood for 30 years. I really enjoyed this video for the articulation of the finer points.

51, and a country boy, so I've split more than my fair share of wood. So when this came up in my feed I was ... taken aback a bit. Then I noticed the guns you are sporting there, young lady. So I watched, and listened and was mightily impressed. Good education for those just starting, no nonsense, good technique. Respect.

Excellent and accurate job explaining how to swing an 🪓 all the way to your toes and wrists. This translates pretty much to swinging a sledgehammer and Maddox as well. Well done. Love watching you swing.

A long time ago, my grandfather taught me to split wood with an axe, and what he taught me was pretty much this exactly (except I never learned the wrist flick or the heel part, but for an amateur I think I was pretty close!) So I find this video both relatable, and validating ("Is she gonna talk about shifting your grip for better momentum? Yeah! Grandpa was right!")

Having upper body strength and build like you certainly helps!! 🤩 okie dokie!! 😁

This is so helpful as I’m just starting to learn wood chopping - thank you for the tips!

Last weekend I taught Beaver Scouts how to chop wood and used some of the tips from this video. I used rotten logs so they were easy to cut through without much effort, but the look on the faces of 5-7 yo boys and girls when they did this grown-up thing was priceless.

Thank you Nicole. I had some wood to chop recently. I noticed that working at placing the axe where I wanted to cut, then when I was able to do that, adding more power was much better, then starting by adding more power.