How can you get an axe early game?

[Reer123]

I find with most my playthroughs these days if my character doesn't start with an axe I just create a new character. Without a proper axe you can't make boards which are used to push your raft and fish/explore new areas, that's a big part of my early game food supply. Is there any way that I can get an axe early game so I don't have to restart until I start with an axe?

[phoenixshenanigans]

I find with most my playthroughs these days if my character doesn't start with an axe I just create a new character. Without a proper axe you can't make boards which are used to push your raft and fish/explore new areas, that's a big part of my early game food supply. Is there any way that I can get an axe early game so I don't have to restart until I start with an axe?

Usually I either look for axes to trade in villages, or kill a Njerpez to get it 

[amyhistoria]

The way is:

1. "Naked" - you only have basic clothes and some food, no valuable items, or take a challenge to rid all of your inventory:

Make torches by cutting branches from tree, then torches. A torch is very cheap (value <1) and can only trade for a piece of low-nutrition meat, or turnips, a cord, or worse. But this is the only way you can made money from nothing. Then you trade it for some tools like fishing rod (4 for normal quality), or juniper bow, and proceed to step 2.

2. Fine - you have a knife, or fishing equipments. Make simple woodcrafts (clubs/staves) which is slightly better than torches, or fish large ones like pike, burbots and trouts, and optionally cook them. There you get more money, and proceed to step 3.

3. Good - you have a valuable item, like a piece of clothes you do not need, a spear (value 344), or something else, like a culture item (not suitable for crafting) or jewelry. You just go and pick arrows, or other currency to start with, and trade them to a handaxe or better - or luckily, you have something good, like a item more than value 200, you can directly pick an axe, and some food/arrows.

[JEB Davis]

I don't like to state the obvious, but nobody else has mentioned you can make your own stone axe. Probably can't make boards with it, but it is useful.

[PALU]

As mentioned, a stone axe can be made without any other tools than a stone knife (which doesn't require any tools at all). You can't make a paddle with a stone axe, so if you're stuck on an island without a proper axe you'll have to train swimming. A stone axe is an awful tool overall, but you can fell trees with it, even if it takes a long time, even though you can't makes boards with it.

My standard procedure when starting is to try to kill a large animal, roast its meat, and then sell the meat. It's probably not enough to get you an axe, but you can get some useful things (in particular a knife of any kind if you used a stone knife earlier), and once you get some hides that aren't ragged you can sell those for an axe.
There's also a game course event that gives you an axe.

I think there are some starting scenarios that give you useful stuff, although I haven't tried them. A hunting accident ought to give you two persons worth of gear, for instance (and your father's items can probably be sold).

[Plotinus]

You can push a tree trunk next to an axe in a village, and then, without picking up their axe, craft boards with it. By not picking up the axe, you signal to them that you're just borrowing their axe, so they don't demand payment. This might seem kind of cheaty though so you might want to return to the village later and give a generous donation of some kind.

You also get a free handaxe in the tutorial with F5 if you like those.

You can also wander around looking for a njerpez to kill and then sell some of his clothes for an axe.

[Dungeon Smash]

of course, the Beginner unreal world mission tree also rewards you with a handaxe fairly early

[caethan]

You can also use modding - playtesting with my sufficiency mod and a hurt, helpless, and afraid start (i.e., knife but no axe), it took about 2 months of playtime with an autumn start to build up smithing to a point where I could make my first metal axe.

[Shadowdweller]

The lonely settler game start (the one with unfinished cabins) also always starts with axes.  Several others (such as unfortunate hunting trip or not all who wander are lost) increase your chances of finding an axe as well.