Welshy,
If you are camping IC and having a fire, then you need an an axe.
Just treat all tools as tools, not dress accessories, and you will be fine.
If you follow the “everything must be LARP-safe” line of reasoning to it’s extreme, then you can’t use tent-poles either, as they are essentially staves, and someone could use one to beat someones head in…
Mallets, Axes, Cooking Knives, they all have their place in camp.