Truper Super Wedge, WG-4X, 4 Lb.

I bought this wedge three or four years ago, but never used it much as I had good wood that split easily with just the maul. This year however I got open-grown Spruce, and it was knotty all the way from top to bottom. I soon realized that I was going to be using a wedge a LOT! I also learned that a standard wedge is a real pain compared to this wedge that drives straight where you place it and opens up even the toughest round if you stay with it and drive it hard with an 8 pound sledge (as opposed to the backside of the maul). Whoever engineered this thing had it figured out for standard length rounds - up to about 25 - as the shape of the wedge will ultimately force open the tightest, knotty-est round. I was finally almost finished with my five cords of splitting when the tip broke off this wedge, about 1 up. That ended my use of it for initially opening up a piece, but if I used my other, standard wedge to get a crack started at least a half inch wide, then I could insert the broken wedge with the blunt point and finish splitting the piece. So I'll keep that one and just get another one that will hopefully hold up as well to my 'blunt force trauma'!