I'm considering hitting the Yosemite/Tahoe region this winter with a hot tent/tarp setup and my hammock.

I expect the snow to be > 2 feet...

In the summer I never pack an axe or saw because the lose wood is always the perfect size.

I suspect that in the winter most of the wood will be under the snow so he only remaining will be larger pieces that are extended and exposes OUT of the snow.

Which would require cutting to burn in my stove.

But this is more weight :-(

Thoughts?

I take a sven saw winter backpacking, typically. The nights are too long to not have a distraction. I've found standing deadwood is often much more reachable when you're standing on 10' of snow, though I wouldn't recommend cutting dead branches from trees in Yosemite.

As for an axe, I'd suggest getting a fixed blade knife and batoning. Mine's about 4oz for a total fire building kit of ~22oz with some firestarters. Well worth it.

Also, I'll leave this photo here of a backpacking trip to the east side of Mt Hood early this year. Winter hasn't come fast enough around Portland. It's still shoulder season sadly.

some like the Bahco Laplander for that task.
http://graybear.com.au/gear/bahco-folding-saw/

If you are new to wood processing, I would recommend a fixed blade knife and a saw. The saw will crosscut and the knife will split by batoning the wood. The size of the knife and the size of the saw will depend on the size of wood you are processing. My choice of saw would be the trailblazer sawvivor. If you want something smaller, a bacho laplander is a good choice.

With an axe, there isn't really a need for a saw since it can crosscut wood well. Axes are best for chopping up long pieces of wood for a big, long log fire. If you are going to tarp camp, you shoulder consider a big ground fire. A stove isn't going to do much unless it's in a enclosed tent. But then you have the issue of sparks flying around and I would advise you to have a cheap bivy and a cheap-ish tarp if you are going to sleep next to a fire.

The issue isn't just the wood being under snow. Any wood that isn't vertical standing will get wet from rain and freeze. You will still be able to find dead branches on trees for kindling. I'm not sure if they would be dry or not since I haven't snow camped before.

Keep in mind that cut wood looks kinda ugly and artificial until it falls over and rots, so I wouldn't do that in a popular campsite or along a trail.

+1 regarding the Sawvivor saw ... strong, rigid, folds into a quite packable size/shape with the blade fully enclosed. Lightest saw I've seen that can cut a 6 inch diameter log quickly. Light enough that it won't be noticed in the very lightest hot tent setup.

+1 Sawvivor
I like the Laplander and Sven saw for harvesting a few branches for an open fire but for processing a lot of wood for a small stove the 18 inch Sawvivor (10 oz) would be my choice. For bigger stoves or base camps a 24 inch Bob's Quick buck saw (17oz) would be a good one.

Yes, and also agree that a brutish fixed blade knife works well for battoning billets.

Great picture Kyle! Thanks

Edited by DavidAdair on 12/10/2012 01:23:53 MST.

I like to take my snowmobile into areas I know Lodgepole is, they usually have loads of limb wood. I can then either pack by the arm load, or use the sled to haul a load at a time in my lap to camp. Watch out for the disappearing campfire. :) Early Spring seems the best for drier wood. I could have had a campfire Saturday night along the PCT up further north here on the Plumas NF, even with all the rain we had a week ago, some of the limb wood was dry. I just went to bed early and read for an hour.
Duane

I sometimes take a folding Corona saw from Home Depot that looks almost the same as Bahco saw

I can saw through 6 inch branches. Nice blade that saws very agressively. Both push and pull. The blade is 8 inches so theoretically you can saw 16 inch logs.

Since the saw sticks out, you can saw through snow to make igloo or whatever

I haven't used it for fire wood gathering but the g3 bonesaw snow saw is under 6 ounces and cuts wood and almost anything else quite well. It has a reputation for being durable (hardened stainless) but if you are doing enough trips to wear it out it could get expensive to have to replace the whole saw and not just the blade.

Get a saw from QiWiz for 8.5oz http://www.qiwiz.net/MEGA_Buck_saws.html and use this handy trick for pieces that are too big around Splitting wood with a saw

Good luck!
I carry a mora too and do baton sometimes but hatchets can be dangerous and are always heavy.