It feels like it's been one of the coldest winters ever and for those who have a wood-burning fireplace that means long hours spent outdoors in the chilly air, splitting wood.
Of course, wood chopping is a full-body workout, especially demanding on the shoulders and back with all the repeated lifting of wood back onto the block after every split.
But one clever Kiwi bloke has shared a hack for easily and efficiently chopping wood without back-breaking bending.
Posting a video on the Upper Clutha community page, Raymi Hurtado revealed that he gathers his larger logs of wood into a group before tightly wrapping a bike tube around it.
"I take a splitting axe and just go to town," he narrates the clip.
The split wood stays standing as it's held together by the bike tube, and the whole pile of wood is quickly cut into smaller kindling.
"And then if you haven't overdone the load you can pick up the whole bundle and take it inside as one," Hurtado explains.
"Time saver and back saver - no standing the block up after every hit. Something I wish I'd learnt ages ago," he captioned the video.
Hurtado told Newshub that for "full disclosure" he got the idea from a European commercial for a splitting axe, where they used a car tire instead of a bike tube.
"I thought the bike tube suited my needs a little better," he explained.
Impressed locals praised the hack in comments.
"Post of the week for sure!" one person wrote.
"So simple - thanks! You're welcome to pop over and practice here," joked another.
"You make it look so easy, thank you for sharing!" wrote another.
