We literally get into the swing of things this May/June issue with our special section on chopping tools. When you really need the wood chips to fly, we show you how the tomahawks, hatchets, machetes and axes we cover can get the job done. Reuben Bolieu uses his excellent bushcraft skills to spotlight the many uses of lightweight tomahawks and puts the Viking-inspired TOPS Storm Vector machete to the test. Meanwhile, editor Steve Barlow gets to work with the Woox Forte, a mid-sized axe with lots of chopping power. He reminisces too about some of his favorite all-time hatchets. We have reviews of knives, of course. Tim Stetzer tests the SOG Pentagon XR and Michael D’Angona takes us through the inner workings of CRKT’s lastest takedown folder, the Bona Fide. Kevin Estela introduces us to a fixed blade and a folder from Jake Hoback: the Shepherd and the Radford. In case you want to put more knives on your wish list, we take a peek at some of this year’s new products from makers such as Gerber, Benchmade, Buck, Spyderco and SOG too. And martial arts expert Patrick Vuong gives us some insights on how to select the best blade for self-defense.