Swung the Fiskars 8lb IsoCore maul today head to head with "Ol Reliable", my 8lb traditional splitting maul. The victims were 40+ inch Red Oak rounds, 16" long. I started out with Ol' Reliable at the stump, then went to the Fiskars to bust up 2 rounds, then switched back to the traditional for 2 rounds, and continued that rotation. That way the Fiskars was not always splitting the smaller round, and vice versa.
I started off with "Ol' Reliable", then the Fiskars. It was close competition. Both performed their intended duties well. It truly was close competition, but as I busted the big rounds up with the 2 mauls, a definite winner emerged...
Each time, the Fiskars just seemed to pop the rounds better. More one strike splits. Fewer swings needed to pop the rounds. The Fiskars never stuck itself in the wood, not once. Traditional maul would sometimes stick hard, using up energy to free it that could otherwise be used for swinging. The traditional maul would pop the rounds, but frequently would require a restrike to fully get through the strings. The Fiskars seemed to pop the rounds apart with more authority, and required fewer restrikes to tear the strings and fully separate the pieces. I guess it has to do with the geometry of the wedge curve.
But, it's not perfect, not invincible. Hard, knotty areas where the traditional maul just bounced off, the Fiskars just bounced off as well.
Like I said, it was close, but the Fiskars is just a little bit better, at least on this big Red Oak.