I bought this for camping, and man....do I like it for the most part. I filed it immediately just in case, and it was sharp as hell. I was worried it wouldn't split semi-seasoned hard wood, but it went right through it for the most part. It did occassionally get stuck, which was annoying, and I had to pound on it with a hammer to get it out. Which brings up a point: it had visible damage from the hammering, nothing major, but the hammer was fine, which makes me think the axe steel isn't as strong as the metal in my hammer, or the weaker metal would have been the one getting damaged. Still, it held up very well and I'm not 100% I should have been pounding on the axe like that anyway. If the head was wider, or more angled, perhaps it wouldn't have gotten stuck that bad anyway. I'm not an axe expert though, but just from a layman's point, it cut through a 2-3" diameter live tree like butter.  It held up very well, and for a lighter axe, it cuts firewood that is semi-split with ease. It's also excellent for making smaller kindling.