I'm with Rob and prefer a folding saw over an axe for the same reason, you can't hurt yourself as easily or as badly with a handsaw as with a hatchet or axe. In most of the lower 48, a person who is lost in the woods is his/her greatest danger.

While you may be a Brad Angier or a C.B. Colby when it comes to axemanship skills, most people aren't.

Jeff