Pickaxe dimensions

[motto (RIP)]

The nomenclature being used confuses me. In Australia the implement being discussed is known as a pick. I have never heard it referred to as a pickaxe. No part of it is an axe. It has a chisel at one end and a spike the other.
The Americans seem to have settled on the pick mattock as their standard on board digging implement. That is what their vehicle mountings and standard U.S. pioneer rack were designed to take. They are not readily come by in Australia. I picked one up (no pun intended) in the Northern Territory where the Americans were involved in an exercise some years ago and it has been very handy around the property. I have found it to be a more useful tool than a pick.
Just as an aside, when we were staying on South Sea Common Portsmouth prior to crossing over to Normandy in 1984 there were a couple of reenactors dressed as MPs on gate duty who were carrying white painted pick handles.
I said to them I hoped the handles were balsa wood. The response was"they're not balsa, they're bloody good hickory". They took the job seriously.

David