New AXEM 4.0 from Steel Life

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have been informed that these will be shipped to me on Monday, which means I could potentially start sending them out before the end of next week!

For those of you in Europe I am working with Steel Life to have yours sent directly, rather than have them come to Canada and then be shipped back to Europe since that doesn't make a lot of sense.  I'm not 100% certain that will happen, but it is looking good. 

Def

[Antti Lammi]

Awesome, im waiting now even more to get my hands on it.

Only Tools Matters

[Grant Lamontagne]

So far they have proven to be a very easy company to work with.  I hope that is reflected in the quality of the product.   

Def

[JBW1]

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

European members that purchased the AXEM 4.0 tools will have to wait.  I have been given this shipping quote for each of you:

United Kingdom  --> € 25
Finland      --> € 33
Sweden     --> € 27

Unless you guys want to pay double for the tools, I think we will go back to the original plan of them coming here and then heading back out to you!   

Def

[Antti Lammi]

Ouch, well gotta wait then. Im not that exited on tool that i would pay double price for it, with those shipping prices my tool would cost around 80€ and thats way too much for me

Only Tools Matters

[RF52]

For that price I can be patient

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[Grant Lamontagne]

I think the Italian Post office is a bit crazy.  the shipping on my order from them was also insane.  if it goes up anymore I will fly to Italia and pick it up in person.   

Def

[Antti Lammi]

Has these arrive yet

Only Tools Matters

[Grant Lamontagne]

They were shipped to me on Monday, so I expect them some time next week.  As soon as they arrive they will go back out to their new owners.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

And they are here!

I'll post some pics momentarily, but two things I noticed immediately.... the packaging is fantastic and the toll itself is a lot heftier than I thought it would be.  It feels remarkably robust, and I am looking forward to getting one very dirty and scratched up this weekend!

Def

[Wspeed]

Look forward to hear how you get on with it 

[Antti Lammi]

Awesome, ill think it arrives end of next week hopefully before it so i can test it immediatly on my work place, my job on government building is done and im returning back to my old jobs doing all kinda things so it will be really usefull

Only Tools Matters

[zoidberg]

[Grant Lamontagne]

Sorry for the delay in the photos- I was in a hurry to get them packaged up and sent off to the folks that ordered them, or else they wouldn't go anywhere until Tuesday!   



As you can see, the packaging is fantastic.



In case anyone is still under the impression that it is a credit card sized tool, here it is next to my yellow scaled Compact for a size reference.



And here is a size reference for the spear point.



These seem like very nice tools indeed!

Def

[Wspeed]

Looks good 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I decided that I didn't want to wait until I got out to the woods tomorrow to try this out so I decided to grab some kindling and test out the saw.  It actually works quite well, although I did make two important discoveries.



Number 1- wear gloves.  The cutting edge is sharp enough to do many jobs but isn't razor sharp like a lot of us do up our blades.  It won't cut your hand, but between it and pointy corners you'll appreciate protecting your palm and fingers, both of which help a lot in a survival situation.



Number 2- make sure you remove the O rings, spear tip and screwdriver bit before sawing, or the sawing will get rid of them for you.  Now I need to find a new o ring to replace the one I used to learn this lesson.   



With all of the smurfty credit card tools with saws on them I was curious to see how well this one would manage, but, given it's size (much bigger than a credit card tool) it actually fits the hand really well.  You can either hold it between your thumb and forefinger like a big guitar pick to use the saw, or you can hold it between your fingers and the butt of your palm with the teeth sticking out by the edge of your hand.  It's a little less effective that way, but it takes a lot less energy.



Still, it put a nice notch in the kindling with very little effort.  The teeth really bit in, but no so much as to make it difficult to draw.

No, it's not going to compete with a dedicated saw, but what multitool saw will?  I mean, besides a Wender/Delemont Ranger saw? 

I have to say, I'm somewhat impressed so far, and I am looking forward to more testing tomorrow!

Def

[Wspeed]

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I had hoped to get some video of the AXEM in action, but I couldn't find a decent log to use as a haft.  All the deadfall I found was pretty rotten, and I didn't see the point of cutting living wood just to play with a new toy.  I'm a bit of a hippie tree hugger like that.   

But, I still managed to play with it, and get some photos that I thought I'd share.  You can tell this is me, because they would likely have used a better (and cleaner!) pair of gloves if it was a real shoot!   



The saw is surprisingly useful.  As I said before, I really don't care for saws on card type tools, but the size of this one and the properly cut saw teeth make it quite effective.  It's not the most comfortable multitool saw on the market to use, since it lacks a handle, but it absolutely does work.  And, remember, this is a survival tool, not an EDC tool, and, if I was lost in the woods with no other saw, I'd be happy to have this one.



Even though I didn't have a haft to use, I still managed to test the axe head but just holding it in my hand and chopping away.  I don't recommend this as a realistic course of action as it started to hurt my hand eventually, even through my gloves, but then that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.  There is a reason why early man started putting handles on axes!



Still, it was remarkably effective at chopping- more than I thought I would given the lack of a haft.



Again, in a survival situation, it's nice to know that it could work, at least if you had to use it to cut a haft.  And, I am sure that actually having a haft would make a huge difference, and I could see this actually being an effective light duty axe.  One problem though:



That point for the can opener (notch just inboard from the cutting edge) is remarkably sharp (duh, it has to pierce a can) and poked through the padded palm of my work gloves.  Fortunately it didn't make it all the way into my hand, because that would have made me very unhappy.  Also, please note that I was not using the too as intended when this happened- I was supposed to have a haft on it to use it as an axe, not my hand.  Still, once I was aware of the problem, I was also able to work around it, so I don't see this as an overly significant issue.

I'm hoping to get another chance to play with it today or tomorrow (after the ceremony today that is- I have not forgotten what day it is) and I will make sure to bring something to use as a haft, just in case I can't find anything suitable again.

Def

[GrandpaPatch]

 
Nice to see a 'out in the field' review. Thanks.

[ReamerPunch]

 
Now open a can with it. 

[Wspeed]

And fit a handle to it

[GrandpaPatch]

Now open a can with it. 

Don't forget the bottle opener. Every decent OPT has a bottle opener!

[Grant Lamontagne]

And fit a handle to it

That is certainly the plan.  It works well without a handle, I think I'd really like to see it with one.

Def

[Wspeed]

And fit a handle to it

That is certainly the plan.  It works well without a handle, I think I'd really like to see it with one.

Def

That would be nice 

[Grant Lamontagne]

For those of you in Europe, there is now an official distributor in Germany!

https://www.schweizermesser-essen.de/AXEM-40-Machine-for-Survival-Multitool?fbclid=IwAR0VRk9soiAPggzzfd3qzxGTcKfUns3ajOw7Nxp6RTEDkg5Ub1ahiF8ZIV8

Make sure to tell them that Def sent you!

Def

[sawman]

Nice to see a 'out in the field' review. Thanks.

   

I can’t wait to get my mitts on one of these!

My take on the specs (especially thickness) is this appears not only to be a well built (machined in Italy is a good thing in my book), but the fact that the saw seems to work so well... I’m anticipating this to hold up when/ if it is actually needed.

As mentioned, I would also like to know how the can opener functions.

I’ll take two 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I had planned to do a nicer video of the AXEM 4.0 in axe mode over the weekend, but the place we ended up in was somewhat swampy.  The high moisture level coupled with the freezing temperatures meant that all of the wood I found was not suitable for use as a handle.  I didn't want to take a chance that my axe handle would shatter and send the axe blade sailing through the air at random.   

Instead I figured I would do some "real world testing" in the parking lot behind my house.  I took some leftover firewood from a summer camping trip and tied the AXEM 4.0 on with an old boot lace, figuring that you aren't always going to have a nice shiny new length of paracord to tie it on with, and started hacking away at another hunk of firewood.  These are the results:



I have to say, I was expecting it to come apart, or have the lace come loose, the impact to knock the AXEM loose... but instead it worked beautifully as you can see.  I was actually not putting a lot of strength into those hits and the wood chips were flying.  I am not sure how hard I would want to hit things with it, but for this test at least the AXEM did not budge.

My plan was actually to just try it like this, then, after it failed, I was going to use the saw to try and notch the handle for the AXEM to fit inside, but as it was so effective the way it was, I didn't bother going any further with it.

It's nice to see the AXEM being able to actually walk the walk!

Def

[Wspeed]

Excellent video 
I think for emergencies it is doing a good job 

[RF52]

Looks like it does the job
But I must say I was worried about your thumb at one point

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