How the PAXE was developed.

I originally developed the PAXE= (Panacea Axe), for the TV survival challenge show, ALONE. Where contestants are allowed to bring 10 survival items; so I had the need to combine items where I could. An Axe/ shovel / Ice chisel would be a useful calorie saver I reasoned.

The PAXE (M) works well as an axe, both chopping and splitting! I have a fairly long handle 25.25” on the PAXE (M). I made the handle long for safety reasons; so that the PAXE head and edge would hit the ground before it could cut me, while splitting wood. That way, I would not have to split wood from my knees in inclement weather. The 2 pound head also works very well for digging! Especially in rocky or clay soil. I know axe lore says, ‘never let your axe touch the dirt’. In a survival situation I feel it is necessary to think outside those limiting beliefs. Further, the axe edge of the PAXE rarely has any dulling, as it is set back away from the digging edge. I have dug seep-wells near a spring with the PAXE and basically, as with most seep wells, I was digging in compacted, very rocky soil, (streambed), and the edge of the PAXE still stayed sharp. It would have been possible to dig a good seep well with a digging stick, but it would have taken a long time and used more calories. So, I think a shovel head on an axe is a valid survival concept.

Here is a stretch, you can use the machined pocket of the shovel to boil water in an emergency! I know the heat-treat could be damaged, but boiling is at ~200 degrees F and tempering generally occurs and higher temps like 400 degrees, F. Anyway, in an emergency with no other way to boil water, you could do it. I have actually cooked foraged meat in and early version of a small PAXE, see pic.

The beard on the PAXE is designed to be a ‘log handler’ and a reverse grip knife. I use the log handler when I am splitting wood, and a piece of wood jumps away after the split; I can reach over and pull it back to me using the point of the beard.

The PAXE (M) can also be used as an ice chisel. Digging a hole in thick ice with an axe or a shovel is difficult, but with the weight of PAXE head it chips through ice very well! The handle has a hole in it for a lanyard, and so with your lanyard secured around your wrist, you won’t lose your PAXE down your fishing hole.

Last, by reverse gripping the PAXE, the beard can be used as a knife in an emergency.