When I was in "Boot camp" in Cornwallis "74" we went on a bivac in the boonies. 10 groups of 3, and 6 axes. My comrades were not quick enough to grab one while I was grabbing some pre-cut saplings. I improvised, with a suitable piece of slate and a green branch, and made a crude and semi-effective axe in which I was able to trim the saplings for support poles. After I was nearly finished, one of the instructors came by with an axe, and I told him we didn't need it any more. He looked at what I was using, smiled, nodded, and walked away. Later, I heard a comment while I was going past a few of the instructors, "There's the cave man I told you about" at first I was offended , until I thought about it, and it was a compliment of a sort, because he was the one that saw me with my stone axe.
I have always said, "If you haven't what you need, use what you have."