I've never bought an axe, only thought about it from time to time.
Some years ago I walked down from the summit of Hellvellyn, via Striding Edge in the winter with two friends. It was a sunny and a bitterly cold day and had been like this for over a week.
We walked beyond the stone wall into a large steeply sloping grass field with a stone wall at the bottom.
We relaxed and were chatting away, when suddenly one of my friends, without warning instantly slipped and careered down the grass slope on his back! The field was a solid sheet of ice and we had not noticed! We were rooted to the spot and could only watch him slide away from us! Luckily he managed to hit the stone wall at the bottom with his feet, it could have been so easily his head!
We managed to get down to him, his hands were cut badly because he tried to use them to stop himself and his trousers were rather shredded at the bum area. His small rucksack helped him but that too was really damaged as well.
Lots of people came to help and we managed to get him down to Glenridding. He went to bed in a state of pain and shock. Although his hands were still painful, by the morning he had recovered and we then drove home.