Thanks for thee feedback. Very interesting and provacative
My experience has been more positive. After a few decades of use/abuse the leather handle on one of my hatchets was in bad shape. I simply wrapped it in tape and it now works quite well..

My 4" Bowie is solid one piece construction, quite thick (4mm), probably the sturdiest knife I own.

When did you get your camper's axe? I wonder if they might have upgraded the construction after getting reports of failures like yours.....