Anatomy of a fighting ax

[hank_rearden]

probably an old subject but i have not browsed this forum before. descriptions, brands and pictures pls. thanks.

 

[Street Samurai1978]

Light and fast in the hand, not too sharp so your edge doesn't chip out, something on the handle to facilitate a decent grip (ex. handle shaped, scales, leather/rubber wrap etc.). A spike or hammer poll on the back for a backswing is nice. This is just my opinion, as I prefer hatchet/tomahawk sized.

 

[hank_rearden]

thanks. just a follow-up question if you don't mind. how light should the head be? light enough for a fast return (FMA-style) or just light enough to reach max speed on the chop?

 

[Wolf_1989]

IMO a true fighting axe should be pure weapon. Back in frontier times, your best picks for that role would have been one of the smallish spike tomahawks with a very small cutting bit like a chisel, or my personal favorite: the spontoon tomahawk:

 

[untamed]

Hank:

I think you'll like this vid. It gives insight by looking at the tomahawk's history and martial use, from its French ballistic ancestor to ECQC.

[youtube]BO-dIHmz_aE[/youtube]

 

[Storm Crow]

Retention in the hand, a handle that won't break, spike that won't catch and will easily withdraw from a wound to allow for quick follow-up shots, and hooking ability are all things I considered on mine. The ability to hook a limb and re-direct it, or hook a neck or belly and rip are one of the areas of advantage that a 'hawk has over a knife in close quarters.



In fact, making sure the beard was open enough to hook a limb easily was one of the adjustments I made while prototyping.

 

[tirod3]

Note the sharpened beard in the photo. If you need to hook, adding another wound is part of the stroke. The comment about the spike being easily extracted also has significance, some utility hawks aren't sharpened or meant for it - they add ridges for grip when levering.

At about this stage some extras not shown above become options, like a top spike, or a few others that resemble medieval designs. What isn't mentioned is that the handle should be oval, not rounded, with possibly some element to let you know it's orientation - which way the bit is facing. Hawks get their impact from being light with a longer handle than a hatchet. They use speed, not weight.

It should go without saying that practice and training would be needed. The overhead strike of the spike hawk implies pulling it back toward you, and self inflicted knots on the skull from inadvertent impact could be a distraction at the wrong time. It happens as any of us begin to be familiar with a new tool. We cut ourself with knives, bang our shins with axes and mauls, or reach a bit too far back with a hammer overhead rather than to the side. It's just as important with hand tools as it is with weapons, however, weapons tend to inflict much more serious wounds.

Surfing the web for video, most demonstrations aren't at combat speed nor use a "live" blade precisely because of it, and for darned good reason. All that isn't necessarily directed at the OP, we all need a reminder. I just started using a hawk and it's not like a hammer, hatchet, or an axe - there is a difference why it's a hawk and there are different motions in using it.

 

[Snakebreaker]

One of the many reasons I'm such an advocate of the VTAC is due to its hooking applications made possible by by the beards unique design. The blade has no way of hanging up in tough material like bone, cartilage or metal and affords the user enough head length to control whatever limb or body part they choose and still be able to release while "slicing out" at will.

 

[JayGoliath]

Check out this one:
[video=youtube;JCgw2KSUArw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCgw2KSUArw[/video]