Heaven Sent: The Story of Priesty Axe Co.

Who doesn’t love a creator’s table at a tournament, especially one laden with high quality products? A standard feature at most of the Pacific Region’s big meets is the Priesty Axe Co stall, where you’ll find axe handles, head sheaths, a flip through book for different leather styles and colours to order custom sheaths, earrings, cuff links, medal display racks, challenge coin holders, and Velcro patches.

More often than not you’ll find Rick Priest there as well, which seems fitting given he’s the owner of the company. Once you get past the small talk one usually engages in with stall holders, hoping to schmooze a discount (still working on that BTW) you quickly discover this mildly handsome, well-groomed gentleman is also a wholly decent and incredibly driven human being.

This article may well form my supporting documentation in my nomination of Rick as both the “Nicest” and “Busiest” Axe Thrower in the Pacific Region. (The keen eyed among you will have picked out that his logo featured on the live stream of the 2025 IATC as Priesty Axe Co. was a community axe fund sponsor).

Let’s talk Origin Stories: 

Axe Throwing

Rick Priest: I started throwing in 2018, I only found out about league when I went on a date night with my partner.

She said, “You should join and make some friends.” About two weeks later, I signed up—and the rest is history.

I’m a bit of an OG thrower in the Melbourne scene. I started before the IATF even existed in Australia. Back then, we used Estwings and internal scoring systems. It was a little less serious, and no one really threw for the clutch!

I’ve been to IATC three times. In 2022, I was fortunate enough to qualify for Round 2 and compete in the main event. I didn’t throw particularly well, but hey, I made it! The following two years, I didn’t qualify for Round 2, but I still went and competed in Close but No Cigar, Doubles, Big Axe, Under 65s, and the Global Skills Competition.

Funny enough, in 2024, I managed to place 8th in Big Axe and 16th in U65s. Since I’ve won prize money at an international competition, I guess that makes me a professional now—haha! If you love axe throwing but don’t quite make the cut, I highly recommend going anyway. The atmosphere is amazing, and the people welcome you with open arms, literally - hugs all around! 

Axe-cessory Creating

Priesty Axe Co. was started around October 2023. The inspiration came from attending IATC and seeing all the creative axes, sheaths, and accessories people were making. I thought to myself, “Aussies have pretty boring brown or black sheaths and generic axes—why not start making something different?”

Some people ask, “How did you learn to become a maker? Were you doing it before?” The answer is no. I’ve always had a creative side and enjoyed woodworking and leather crafting, but I’m mostly self-taught. I also attended some courses to sharpen my skills. I was lucky enough to set up a table at the 2024 Axe Market at Homecoming, and I like to think that was the year Priesty Axe Co. went global!

My biggest takeaway from IATC? Fine-tuning my technique—and now, as a maker, drawing inspiration from all the amazing axes I see!

What are the main differences in the maker scenes between Nth America and Aust 

Over there, people are more willing to pay a bit extra for handmade crafts. I think it’s largely because the scene is more established, and more makers in those regions have pushed the quality and prices up. 

As a creator, knowing there’s a cost ceiling buyers probably won’t go beyond, does that hold you back from going certain places with creating? 

It hasn’t restricted or held back my creativity—if something takes longer to make look perfect, I’ll put the time in. Sure, you can’t always calculate the time spent on a custom piece, but for me, it’s not about making a lot of money. What I charge covers everything, so I’m not at a loss. 

Creation and personal growth

We haven’t even mentioned yet that you’ve recently become one of the go to trophy makers for tournaments around the country. I can personally attest to your growing competence in that department. Along those lines I can hear the passion you have not only for producing stuff, but the inner journey it’s taking you on to learn better techniques, explore new materials, and gain mastery of skills. Can I ask;  you were saying you’ve taken yourself off to some courses to get more tools in the arsenal, what sorts of things have you learned? 

Furniture making, general woodworking, blacksmithing, French polishing, glass blowing, leather punching, and resin work. I do these because I enjoy learning new skills. I work in an office, so in my spare time, I really like using my hands. 

I know from our conversations in the past that you've decked your shed out with some hardware to be able to do more with your creating, what stuff have you got, and what's on your wish list?

I’m lucky enough to work for a tool company, so I have access to a lot of good deals on machines that make the work quicker and more efficient. This includes owning a table saw, mitre saw, bandsaw, router table, trimmer, thicknesser, and of course, my laser engraver/cutter. I also pretty much have every hand tool you can think of. My wish list includes a CNC router and a plasma cutter—though I don’t really have the space right now. 

Have Priesty Axe Co. sales reached self-funding, with the materials, plant investments, your time? We all see the effort and hard work you pour into this, personally I'd like to know you were getting paid for it all.

Priesty Axe Co has reached a stage where it’s self-sufficient and has well balanced books, funding both my axe-throwing journey and material costs. Every dollar I make goes straight back into the business or community. Any major equipment I’ve bought has paid for itself. The most important thing is that I still enjoy it—if it ever becomes a hassle or I lose the passion, I’ll hang up the hammer. I’m hoping to get more into woodworking/ leather making outside of Axe throwing.

ADHD or Insomnia? – busy life, happy wife?

I feel like we’re getting a lot of hints about how hectic and full your life is, can you give us a typical week’s schedule for you, and maybe some pearls of wisdom for us mere mortals struggling to just manage work and home life? 

My normal week includes my day job as a Marketing Manager for a global tool company, throwing axes twice a week, and running my small business. I’ve also gotten into general woodworking, 3D printing, and laser art, which are all my creative outlets. I’m married, and my wife and I train and raise seeing-eye dogs. 

Relationships are important, so my advice is to always put your relationships first and your activities second. However, this isn’t always easy, and it’s possible to fall into routines that neglect those relationships. It’s a fine balance, and sometimes you do have to sacrifice going to a tournament to spend time with your loved ones. I’m guilty of doing this sometimes; you need to figure out what is most important to you and ensure you make time for it. Try not to burn yourself out chasing success in axe throwing.

Some may disagree and want to spend every minute practicing and analysing stats, but always remember that you started this journey to have fun and meet new people.

PAC Axe Community Fund

Recently on top of all that you announced you’re starting up a fund, raising money to support the community down under. (Clearly you just had too much spare time on your hands?) What prompted you to start the fund, and what are the goals you hope it achieves?

The prompt was hearing of and also seeing people within the community miss out on some tournaments simply because they could not afford it or only compete in a couple of events. 

I want to use the fund to give more people the opportunity to attend and compete in tournaments. I consistently hear the disappointment in axe throwers’ voices when they tell me they can’t go to the next tournament because they can’t afford the tickets or travel costs.

My goal is to assist these people financially in ways that can make a real difference. Tournaments and marathons are important parts of your axe throwing journey. They allow you to connect with like-minded people, share knowledge, admire others’ axes, and enjoy each other’s company. Even if you’re an introvert and prefer to sit in the corner and read a book, that’s totally fine too—people know you’re there for the throwing. 

I really think you’re onto something here mate. Enabling people to remain plugged into this community helps with player retention, and therefore talent pool in the region. The more we get to test ourselves against better, improving players the more drive for us to improve, it’s a feedback loop.

Yeah I think that’s definitely a part of it, for sure. You can’t make change overnight, but I hope that we can make a small impact on the community and the sport by showing kindness and respect for our fellow competitors. When I spoke to throwers at a past tournament, I was overwhelmed by how many people were willing to donate a few bucks or buy a raffle ticket.

This shows that while people may help in small ways, collectively we can make a big impact in the lives of individuals. The fund is in its early days, and no funds have been released yet, but sit tight—more details will be released soon. I also hope to eventually establish a panel of throwers to review applications.

Update – I can now report the first funds have in fact been allocated.  2 throwers were selected and received financial support from the fund towards their IATC costs, along with a goodie bag of Priesty Axe Co. merch. Thanks to the incredible hard work and generosity of Rick and the Priesty Axe Co. their experiences were a little richer and their stories will be all the more compelling and motivational within their communities as a result. 

I’ll be sure to catch up with them both of them soon to write about how things went for them and get their insights on the trip and the tournaments.

P.S. In the most exciting of updates, Rick has finally caved to my persistent requests for a discount. He’s graciously agreed to extend it to you lot as well, so you can all thank me next time we bump into each other. All pre-made sheaths on his site are going to be marked down by 40% for Axe Badger readers. Just use promo code BADGER40 at checkout. Offer only valid for a week from date of publication.