Fun little thing I saw posted elsewhere: ATAX.

Very interesting...

It is a special gadget. It was designed by Ron Hood, and works pretty well for Ron Hood, despite the obviously cut fingers in the picture from where they encountered the back of the blade. It is in the same category as the Tracker knife, designed by Tom Brown for Tom Brown. Both get sold on the strength of their reputations and are probably taught to their students. Both are very expensive, and both are hard to find due to the limited production. Both come with manuals on how to use them. If you know how to sharpen your knife, you shouldn't need a manual to maintain and use your knife IMO.

One of the few knives like this I've seen that don't leave me cold is the Pathfinder from Dave Cantebury. That looks to be pretty much idiot proof- it is a mini kukri type blade with a bit of saw tooth on the spine for making notches. But generally, I'd rather have a good, simple knife, and either a SAK or a multi with a saw blade for making the notches and to have as a back up blade.

Honestly? People take that knife seriously?

People are always trying to stretch the lengths of credulity. Wasn't that the same with Hal Gibbons knives? Great designs but to see any real enthusiast trying to use them for more than a movie prop or collection was just ridiculous.

There is a reason why fixed blades like the Mora, Gerber LMF, Ka-Bar and the Pathfinder listed above are styles of choice of hunters and military for decades.

The more instruction something needs, generally the more useless it becomes.

another gizmo..grown up version of the 10-in-one match case,compass--so on..it sort of fits the bill for those who think "if i had just one magic survival item to could do anything".
i have not see the video of him using it but i'll bet it's like the guys at the State Fair--"it slices--it dices--makes french frys"---you use it once and go back to the same old kitchen knife--

This is a public forum, not Amazon's feedback panel. If you do happen to have an ATAX, feel free to share your experience (and maybe post a picture or two)

While true that I do not own one, nor have I used one, does not necessarily mean that I can not make observations about it. Like the others that have made postings about it, I too have seen a number of items that claim to 'slice, dice, mince, chop... ad nauseum. I too have found them to be lacking in all of the areas and have found that they are a jack of all trades but a master of none. Given the many years that I have experienced these things, I too find myself thinking that one good knife is better than the gadgets......

Please don't hesitate to provide us with some real experience with it....I am interested in what it can really do and has really done.

I can't find it.

The Pathfinder from Dave Canterbury.
















and

Pathfinder Knife

The thing with multi-purpose tools is that there is often a compromise. It will seldom do all its functions as well as a device that is designed to do a particular function exclusively. That said, it is better to have a hatchet that is also a mediocre hammer than to have nothing but a stick to drive a stake. If you are happy with the compromises, and are comfortable using a tool, then go for it. If you think it's a gimmick... don't get it.

I owned an ATAX, and I've handled the tracker, Spetznaz survival tool and the late Chris Janowsly's Ranger ( a VERY interesting knife.)

They all share one very salient feature; they are either out of production,no longer imported or prhibitiively expensive.

I'll stick with my woodburner autographed Mors Kochanski Mora.

I've handled one of the older ones. Wasn't convinced. Not a fan of holes in knife blades, even less so in axes, so the wrench is a down check for me. It's light for an axe, to me it felt more like an ulu dressing up and trying to be an axe head. In either case, I found the grip clumsy, which made it more risky to use than a normal knife. The arrow launching thing, IMO, is gimicky. The inclinometer is something who's use I just kinda wonder about, and the spindle is worthless to me. I've been trying to make a bow drill work for about 20 years- notice I say trying. :P

I've tried the Tracker. Wasn't convinced there, either. It felt like an itty bitty hatchet, but with a draw knife for a shaft, so you can't really choke up on it for fine work, and made it harder than I would have liked for using the saw. And the finger grips are in the wrong spot for my hand size, but my small hands have the same problem with a lot of finger grooves.

The other problem is the cost. A nice hatchet can be had for less than $60. A good 4"-7" knife runs under $70. And a Vic Huntsman with a pair of small pliers or a decent multi with a saw (eg LM Juice Cs4) goes around 40-45. So for less than the cost of an Atax or Tracker, I've got better tools that actually do their job well, as well as a couple of screw drivers for fixing my gear, a pair of scissors, pliers, and a back up knife blade or two. Yes, it is a little heavier, but it also means that if Miss Fortune steals ONE of your tools, you aren't out everything. And if you need to replace it, you aren't on a months long waiting list.

And with the $20-30 I've saved, I'll add a ferro rod, a spool of dental floss, a few fishhooks and sewing needles, a bit of wire, a whistle, some aluminum foil, a vial of cotton balls and a heatsheet. Of course, I could spend $20 on a Mora, and add a flashlight, mirror, duct tape, a water bottle, and a vial of PA tabs. *grins* Which one is a better usage of $200 dollars?

BTW, welcome to ETS, I'm the same Ironraven you've seen in other places.

People who invest $300 +- in a exotic 300 use tool are passionate about their choice. It's usually because some idiot is out there doing the same stuff with a $30 tool.
People are free to post opinions, and there will be no censorship based on actual possession.
I've seen far more uncomplimentary comments online from knifemakers over other's unseen work.
Own one, like it? Fine. At day's end we all crawl into our own Wiggy bags, no room for others to debate it's insulation.

My brother was the gun guy in the family-everything from an M-1 carbine in .218 Zipper to a marlin lever action in .444 Marlin. But occasionally he came home with an edged weapon, and on one occasion it was a Skatchet. Strange little item, hind of a hammer-ulu crossbreed. The finish was surprisingly good, and it would cut, and chop, and hammer modestly well. It felt sort of good to hold, and made a satisfying weight on your belt, but it was hard to see it as a replacement for things that were actually designed to do each job. De gustibus non est disputandum.

I have to admit, it looked pretty ridiculous to me. However, if you like it that much, and it really is that useful, I would love to see a comprehensive review from you with pictures.

I've been wrong before, I'll be the first to admit.

With TWO Ataxes you can lash them to your boots with paracord and skate across frozen lakes.

$250 for a domestic kukhri, without a sheath? The maker may want to invest some of that $250 in something besides a cotton tshirt, jeans and baseball cap for woodsmanship.

i recall when the Skatchet first came out..60's??..i thought it was the ultimate in survival gear..well i was young..about that time that first big wave in survival and gear seemed to be passing thru..i still have a couple of those big paperbacks loaded with photos that covered every angle from loading the car for desert travel to building a fallout shelter..these waves of interest seem to bring out new and better multi-tools..if anyone is at a loss for something to post a few photos of what you have would be of interest..

I don't have any experience with the ATAX, not even seen one live, so I can't comment on how well it does what it says it does.

But I do have a concern with the whole idea of the "one tool does everything" idea. It could lead you into a false sense of security and cause you to rely only on having that tool. What happens if you lose it/break it? You just lost all or most of your tools.

IMO, a group of individual tools is safer; lose/break one, and you still have the others.

Well, that's an argument against multi-tools as well.

Well, yes and no. A good multi tool is capable of incorporating particular elements that are at par with an equivalent single use feature, such as the knife blade, the pliers, the scissors, the bottle opener. The idea behind a good multi tool is that the parts that make it up are designed to be as good as, and in some cases better than, what you would find discretely. For a 3" pocketknife lock blade, my Leatherman Wave is arguably as good as any other knife blade I can put in my pocket right now. It will do the same job at least as good as any other 3" folding lockblade I can find. Same with the serrated blade. I discovered long ago that the pliers on it work just as good as the electrical pliers I was using before, and I could cut and strip wire, hold parts while soldering, and undo nuts and bolts just as easily with it as with any other pair of pliers of equivalent size and shape. The screwdriver tips were probably the biggest compromise for functionality. Despite this, I ended up using the Wave's screwdriver tips more often because they were still good enough to get the job done and more convenient.

It is most likely due to the functions around which the multi-tool is designed and some good engineering development that make a multi-tool such as my Wave less of a compomise than what the ATAX and skatchet appear to be.

To funny Chris.

After an hour or so of google, I discovered that Chris Janowski founded a survival school in Tok, AK, and that the Militia of Montana is retailing his videos. Did not know that militias had websites. Anyway, cannot find an image of the identified ranger knife. Could we have more details or a lead to a site? Thanks-

I thought it was funny. They are shaped like ice skates.
Just the kind of gentle kidding that would go on among
friends.

Chris didn't call anybody names either.

A moment of silence for the departed...











thanks everyone, now back to our regularly scheduled dickheadedness...;^)

John E

*laughs* Chris, I was poking back at the uninformed opinion part. Molawns has been in a lot of places I have- he probably half expected further clarification from me if I had hands on. :P

It's not a need, it's a gift.

True. And I would make it if anyone suggested only a multi-tool was required in a survival kit. I think every list on this site that I have read has a multi-tool in addition to a large variety of other tools, but most especially a good fixed blade and/or folding knife, and usually both. Back up in depth; don't put all the eggs in one basket!

Cold, exhaustion, dehydration etc. can cause you to put something down, forget to pick it up and walk away from it...

YMMV

Man, thin skin there...

Sorry if it sounded that way; was not my intent. Just thought I should try to clarify my earlier post.