Survival Axe and Hatchet Better than a Knife when SHTF

While many die hard survivalists can live in the bush with nothing more than a knife, a good axe can make life so much easier. When building a fire for warmth or cooking or even cutting down small trees, I would much rather depend on a small hatchet or midsized axe. This will make it much faster to process firewood or kindling. For a large amount of firewood cutting,  using a hand saw is your best bet. This remains the topic for another post.
Warning - It is very easy to injure yourself with an axe so be extra careful and whenever possible reach around the tree to put it between yourself and the axe. Also, watch out for overhead branches when cutting off limbs, so it won't bounce off an upper limb and cut your skull open. An injury in a survival situation should be avoided at all costs due to limited medical personal and supplies.

Best Survival Axes

These are my two favorite axes made by some of the best companies with a long history of axe making.

Estwing E44A 16-Inch Steel Campers Axe is a little longer than a standard hatchet. It's all metal construction will hold up for many years. Estwing has been building axes and hatchets for many years. Their axes feature a comfortable rubber grip handle that cushions your hands and keeps it from slipping. It's strong one piece forged handle and head design, ensures it will never separate from the handle. This axe comes with it's own leather sheath to protect it and also the user from getting cut while transporting. The sheath also has a belt loop so it can be carried on your belt.


The Gransfors Hatchet made by a family owned forge Gränsfors Bruks in a small town in Sweden. These hatchets are the finest money can buy. They leave the factory razor sharp and will provide a lifetime of useful service. While the price is a little higher than a Gerber or some of the other, lower cost hatchets. The Gransfors will not break when you absolutely need it the most.

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A retirement survival kit is a funny twist on a wedding survival kit. The great part about a retirement survival kit is that you can put it all together yourself! This can be a really great gift to give during a retirement party because it can be sure to garner a few laughs.

Here are some tips on creating a memorable retirement survival kit:

Survival Tools

Retirement Survival Kit Container

One of the first things you will need for a kit is a container to put all the goodies in. This can be a way to think of something creative related to your retiree. For instance, if you all live near the beach and the retiree plans on spending more afternoons there, then consider using a beach pail as a container. Or if your retiree had a job that required him to carry a briefcase or laptop bag everyday, then consider getting him a tacky travel bag or even a real piece of luggage so that he can actually use it.

Survival Kit Goodies

Finding the best and funniest goodies to put into a retirement kit can be a lot of fun. If you are working with co-workers on putting together a gift, then ask each of them to contribute their own ideas of what is necessary in a retirement survival kit. For instance, you can do a beach theme and include suntan lotion, funny sunglasses, a beach towel, and some sandals. Or you can do a traveling theme if your soon-to-be retiree has already booked a trip. A travel themed kit can include passport holders, a travel pillow, maps, a funny fanny pack, and other little travel related trinkets.

Sentimental Items

Survival kits can also include some sentimental items, so the retiree will remember those great working years and will know how much you all appreciated him or her. A personalized plaque or coffee mug might be a fun gift to include. Or an engraved pocket or watch can be a great gift to slip in among all the other funny goodies.

Extra Treats

Survival kits usually have some treats, too. So if you want to include some treats into your retirement kit, consider some of his or her favorite candy bars or snacks. Or maybe some homemade cookies. If your office has a vending machine, then you might want to get a few of the vending machine snacks which would be a fun and funny way for him or her to remember the workplace.

A retirement kit can be wrapped in cellophane or you can just tie a great big ribbon around it and present it to the retiree that way.

Make a Retirement Survival Kit