After years of splitting kindling the hard way, and coming close to chopping my thumb off many times, I decided to try something different. I keep this right next to the woodstove, along with a small sledge hammer. I couldn't believe how well this works. My husband also loves it. We keep it on a square piece of plywood to protect the hearth. We've been using it all winter this year, and it has not shown any signs that it has worn down or anything. We hope this becomes a standard product, because we never want to be without one again!