Thank you very much for visiting us dear, notice that if indeed the long rod uses it to separate the stones, its tool is the big hammer, it is used to separate the stone when it is hot so as not to burn.
I suppose that washing is very useful to be able to split ice especially if it is going to fish somewhere, or some frozen lake to see when we share a little ice fishing that I have not seen that much around here.
You have every reason to harvest rocks can become a form of foraging, since it is your lifestyle and often when you split stones you can find fungi and some animal that he could eat under the rocks.
thank you very much for the visit is always welcome to receive, happy weekend.
Here is a sample of what we find among the rocks.

A detail my friend showed me that the rock is filled with water, and it is evident that when the bankrupt the area is dampened and you see some drops of water something that I thought was wonderful, that I would have never imagined.
here the sample of a rock or piece very moistened when splitting.