Wish Lust: Kickstarter - Leveraxe

New Leveraxe - The Smart Axe Reimagined. Reinvented. Reborn.

Here's a last-minute plug for a very cool idea. I am a big, big fan of axes,part of my Viking heritage no doubt, and my favorite logsplitter is the Fiskars but I'd be willing to give it away if I managed to lay-hands on one of these weird looking axes, now being re-released on Kickstarter

About 20 years ago a 74-year-old Finnish inventor, Heikki Kärnä, began clearing trees to build a house, an arduous task that led to an obsession with improving on the tools he found at the local hardware store. He spent 15 years building numerous prototypes of his axe at a local steel workshop. Now the product is finally ready to be brought in front of wider public and ramp up the production capacity to take on its competitors. It's unique off-center head enables it to chop and split hardwood logs far easier, and faster than conventional symmetrical mauls and splitters. Check out this video...




Leveraxe took first steps to approach their market niche in the USA. Thus far the feedback from test users has been amazing and interest towards this invention had rapidly spread worldwide. Most importantly there have been no reported accidents with Leveraxe since they started selling their previous models. The popularity of these axes exploded once other bloggers began posting YouTube videos of Leveraxe in action, splitting hardwood. I'm late to the party, but it looks phenomenal.


The main purpose of their Kickstarter campaign is to introduce their product to the US market and find resources to invest in their own production tools.

The original version's handle is made of wood, whilst the new handle will be made of a polyamide, much like the Fiskars axes, which is characterized by high mechanical strength, stiffness and thermal resistance. Most futuristic about this part is that it is hollow inside, making the Leveraxe even more lighter which in turn helps to build up more speed when in action. Furthermore, this polyamide offers high toughness at low temperatures, fr those of you with sub-freezing winters as well as easy processing.

The new axe head will be made of a cast steel alloy, which enables us to produce more complicated products in one step but also offer excellent wear resistance in later use. With the upgrade, they will keep all the proven features of the original design (like the side hook, which clamps onto the log after the swing of the axe), and are even offering the axe in KickStarter Green.



Thus far Leveraxe has managed to make small production batches and distributed their invention in small quantities and have relied solely on receiving customer feedback for advertising purposes. However, to move on produce on a larger scale they require expensive production tooling which is why they have now taken the step to ask people to help them out through crowdfunding.

It's not a small investment, but it looks like it is built to last, and the sheer style of the thing makes it desirous beyond measure.  I want physics to do the work when I am splitting logs, and make all that time in high-school pay off. The payoff in reduced fatigue, jamming, bouncing or over-cutting risks alone would make it worthwhile for a serious wood-fire burner. If it weren't for the exorbitant shipping costs that big items are hit with to Australia, I'd be all over this. Only a few days left, get in quick!

Home Front: Ikea as a bug-out location

In the past, I have discussed several different situations where relocating from the relative security and comfort of home might be useful or needed for your ongoing safety and well-being. I don't live in an especially rugged house, but it's what we can afford, and it's in a very good neighborhood. House-hopping to one our better equipped neighboring properties is an option we've discussed, in the event of a bug-in situation in a fall of society type event. I've also covered some of the strategies and philosophies regarding sheltering from fall-out and CNBR type events. Given where I live is rather close to the Port Phillip Bay, sea level rise and storm surge type events are a more likely type of natural event that would cause us to bug-out. I've investigated the suitability of a self-storage facility as a quiet, out of the way place to dig-in, and even discussed the relative security of major infrastructure facilities like a hospital.

But today, I'm going to discuss the relative utility and safety of bugging out to another kind of location, dear to my The main showroom, with its labyrinth of lounge rooms, kitchens and bedrooms is situated on the second level, at my local Ikea, which is itself two stories up, above a dual-layer car-park. The warehouse starts our under the showroom, but also runs beside it, and stretches three to four stories up. Stairwells and escalators give main entrance to the facilities, as well as lift wells, but the broad concrete construction is fairly stark. Exits are clearly marked, as per whatever construction codes that must be adhered to, but I also noted that there not too many "other ways in". heart. Ikea!

 Tall plate glass windows faced some walls, the rest were enclosed. Skylights dotted the majority of ceilings, allowing natural lighting. Exposed wiring and piping throughout the facility gives a clear indication of the infrastructure, and adds a sense of space.

There is loot, so much loot. Essentially, whole houses can be fitted out by what is in stock at Ikea, so as far as establishing a livable space, there is so much to choose from, and room to do so. Big spaces are hard to heat however, and leaks in the roof could make for a lot of cold wet concrete flooring on exposed levels.Being raised up two floors from ground level gives you a lot of clearance for the "livable" areas, assuming you don't have tectonic collapse to worry about. Lots of concrete and little to no fuel (other than stock) in the construction means it is pretty fireproof.

There are a lot of resources to be had at an Ikea, and our local one is pretty well put together. The concrete ramps and stairwells would be hard to blockade and fortify easily, but that's the price one pays for accessibility in a pre-Apocalypse shopping center.

It's not inconceivable to me that an Ikea could be converted into a reasonably livable village for a small community. It's not a fort, by a long shot, but it is a stocked piece of real-estate, and even comes with more than just Allen keys, these days. A small restaurant and deli section offer only limited edibles, and there are only limited spaces for indoor crop growing, but plenty of materials for glasshouses.Remember that other people might have the same idea, however, and might not want to share.

Something to consider when you are next at a big center like this; look around, check the exits, look for structural flaws and the resources on hand ... You never know where or when you might need to hole up...