In today's consumer-driven society, when an old tool breaks it's often easy to think, “time to get a new one”. There's not necessarily anything wrong with this thought, as it sometimes provides the opportunity to buy a higher-quality tool, or one that better fits your needs.

In the videos below, Derek explains how to restore this old axe he found in a barn.

However, there are plenty of instances when these old survival tools can be restored with a little elbow grease and a few dollars in supplies. This restoration can be a satisfying process, and it's also a useful skill to have for any survivalist. If you know how to fix your tools with simple materials, you'll be ready if one of them breaks after SHTF.

We've previously mentioned the importance of a good axe or hatchet for survival in the outdoors, as it makes collecting firewood an easy task. So, this three-part video series from Derek's Version on YouTube caught our attention. It shows how to restore a vintage axe, using relatively basic tools and only about $20 in consumable materials (a $5 sanding wheel, and a $10 piece of ash wood, and a little boiled linseed oil).

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Part 1 shows how to clean up the pitted and rusty axe head:

Part 2 demonstrates how to carve a new handle out of ash, after using the old handle as a template:

Finally, part 3 shows the restored axe being tested in the field. Unfortunately, the head came loose on the handle after testing, but as Derek says, it's all part of the learning process and can be fixed with a little fine-tuning.

Written by Patrick McCarthy