# What to do with a fire axe on a submarine? (Don’t need help fast; I have an axe.)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 12, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652 "2010-02-12T03:51:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/1 "2010-02-12T03:51:28Z")
There’s a thread in the Café about the movie [Total Recall](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=551642). I mentioned one of the scenes in the movie that always bothered me. Near the end of the movie, during a fight that takes place on Mars, someone grabs a fire axe off the wall and goes after Arnold. See the segment [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr-3fZxhb_0).
I’ve always been baffled by this. A fire axe? On Mars? In a building mostly made of metal and with windows you _really_ don’t want to break? Never made sense to me.
Then **Strassia** says that it’s really not all that absurd:
> [@Question about Total Recall (spoilers)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-total-recall-spoilers/528498/18):
>
> I don’t know about the ISS, but they are standard equipment on submarines. I don’t see what the big deal is. There are plenty of flammables all over (cloth, plastics, electronics). A fire axe is not meant to chop wood. It is meant to knock open enclosures or break apart flaming material.
I still don’t get it. If a piece of electronic equipment is on fire, you’re trained to hack at it with an axe? That’s effective? To chop through metal bulkheads? Chop up flammable bolts of cloth? Zombie shipmates? Jack Torrance impressions? I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around this, so figured I’d throw it out to GQ and ask for some details.
What to do with a fire axe on a submarine?
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### Author:  [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/2 "2010-02-12T04:10:33Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> What to do with a fire axe on a submarine?
Axes are rescue and forcible entry tools, great for breaking windows, doors, and generally breaking shit that is in your way. They may be of limited use on a sub, but they are still a big freakin hammer with a sharp edge you could use to sever a pipe or cabling bundle if need be.
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### Author:  [@Apex\_Rogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apex_Rogers)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/3 "2010-02-12T04:18:32Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> What to do with a fire axe on a submarine?
There are enclosed spaces on a submarine and the fire may be behind a barrier. One of the best tools to gain entry would be a fire ax. You can pry open cabinets, hack through locked doors, etc. There are still plenty of uses for it.
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### Author:  [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/4 "2010-02-12T04:51:06Z")
There was a great cartoon in the hardback edition of the RPG “Traveller”. It showed a window on a spaceship (stars and planets visible outside) and there’s a hammer hanging next to the window with a sign reading “In case of fire, break glass”.
When I did my live disaster training years ago we were introduced to fire axes - as others have said, you can use them to get past barriers, pry things open, lever debris up off someone pinned underneath and so on. It’s a multipurpose tool and can be handy in many disasters that don’t even involve flames.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/5 "2010-02-12T05:32:14Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> I still don’t get it. If a piece of electronic equipment is on fire, you’re trained to hack at it with an axe? That’s effective?
Well, you hack through the power cord with the axe (safely, because the handle is non-conductive wood). That converts it from an electrical fire to a much more easily extinguished regular fire.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/6 "2010-02-12T08:23:46Z")
Fire axes can also be used to drag burning or heated materials out of the way if the main part of a fire is inaccessible to be extinguished.
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### Author:  [@Batfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batfish)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/7 "2010-02-12T11:25:21Z")
There were no fire axes on the submarine I was on. (80’s)
You secure power to burning electrical equipment by turning off the appropriate breaker or switch.
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### Author:  [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/8 "2010-02-12T15:13:04Z")
They carry fire axes on airplanes…
From [here](http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Cabin_Fire)
> [@](#):
>
> **Fire/crash axe**. Fire axes are provided to obtain emergency access to areas and parts of the airplane which are not easily accessible (e.g. behind sidewall, electrical or ceiling panels). The handle is insulated to protect against electric shock. In the past, fire axes might be found in the cockpit and in the passenger/cargo compartment but on most carriers, to comply with anti terrorist regulations and policy, the axe in the passenger/cargo compartment has been removed.
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### Author:  [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/9 "2010-02-12T17:29:21Z")
> [@Batfish](#):
>
> There were no fire axes on the submarine I was on. (80’s)
>
> You secure power to burning electrical equipment by turning off the appropriate breaker or switch.
We had them in my computer shop. (CV sailor, in the 80’s.)
You may not be able to get to the breaker. You may not be familiar enough with the equipment to know which/where the breaker is. But the fireax is available as an option, and having more options is always a good thing.
Also, if we had to abandon ship, we were also expected to destroy Classified equipment (if time permitted). The fireax and the sledgehammer were tools for this purpose.
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### Author:  [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/10 "2010-02-12T17:42:11Z")
> [@Valgard](#):
>
> There was a great cartoon in the hardback edition of the RPG “Traveller”. It showed a window on a spaceship (stars and planets visible outside) and there’s a hammer hanging next to the window with a sign reading “In case of fire, break glass”.
This makes sense: the best way to put out a fire would be to remove the oxygen from the room.
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### Author:  [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/11 "2010-02-12T18:07:00Z")
On a sinking ship an axe would be useful if someone was handcuffed to a pipe in the purser’s office, and the key couldn’t be found.
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### Author:  [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-fire-axe-on-a-submarine-don-t-need-help-fast-i-have-an-axe/528652/12 "2010-02-13T16:39:55Z")
> [@Dahu](#):
>
> On a sinking ship an axe would be useful if someone was handcuffed to a pipe in the purser’s office, and the key couldn’t be found.
I wasn’t going to go here, I decided against it, but after the quoted, I feel fine to do so:
You could ask Jack Bauer
Season Opener for Season 8 IIRC. Jack escorts someone up multiple flights of stairs. Jack takes a turn off on one of the interim floors, after seeing an axe he goes into hiding.
Double spoilered just in case :
The antagonists follow up the stairs in chase, Jack rotates into the stairwell right at that moment, and plunges the Axe square into the guy’s chest.