another day hike: tomahawk vs. axe.

[JV3]

thanks to bearthedog for introducing me to the h&b forge shawnee tomahawk...i liked using his a lot so i bought one for myself immediately...for this trip my goal was strictly to just do a chop-off to see where it fits in my collection. i used them both as much as possible except for the last step - feather sticks, to get the camp fire going...the snow was melting and everything was either ice covered or soaked so it was the perfect day for this test.

h&b forge shawnee tomahawk vs. gransfors bruks small forest axe (sfa).

i did bring the gb wildlife hatchet but a few chops on the same wood and it was immediately clear i'll never use it again because of the tomahawk...the hatchet felt like a 1/4" thick, 5" knife compared to say a normal 4" belt knife that's nimble and fast in the hand...just not for me.

two-handed swing...went in deep.

one-handed swing...pretty deep too.

...still my goto tool for woods processing though.

 

[JV3]

time to split some pieces to get at the dry parts.

the tomahawk has a tendency to dig in deep without splitting though.

whereas the sfa splits it just fine.

maybe it was a fluke so i kept doing it.

not a fluke...because of the narrow profile it tends to bind more often than the sfa.

it will get the job done though you just have to work a little more...after this trip i definitely don't like the wildlife hatchet anymore but i still like the sfa. if everything's wet or frozen and i know i'll be splitting a lot then i'll bring the sfa but for when dry twigs are all over and not buried deep in snow then the tomahawk will be my choice for the trip.

cedar bark was a no go since it was soaked too so had to resort to just feathersticking a dry twig.

awesome lightweight combo.

gotta love cedar...the feathers lit just fine without anything else...the exotac firesteel nearly fell off on the last trip though even though i put a dab of blue loctite on it...i completely soaked the threads the night before this trip and it hasn't moved since then.

 

[JV3]

mmm...clif bar apple pear strudel.

this fella was eye'ng my lunch.

nite-ize bottle clip.

one of the many things i've learned from rb is keeping emergency gear with me at all times...that includes a water container.

i love winter - i get to have fire without sweating like crazy and ice-cold pepsi

my kind of religion

angry tomahawk face!

i may not be manny pacqiuao but i just need to get lucky and land one and it's lights out! haha.

another thing i learned from rb...jam the tomahawk's heel of the bit on a log to hold it steady for feather sticking.

definitely wasn't a fluke...i like it a lot! will always be in my pack like my folding saw unless i have a specific goal and i have to bring one of my heavier axes or machetes.

an estwing no. 5 mask fits perfectly too.

 

[daizee]

angry tomahawk face!

Epic!
Can you get it with an orange haft?

 

[plue]

Nice post. Not sure about your heavy dislike of the Wildlife Hatchet though. The one I have is light, is sharp enough to use as a knife, chops great, and splits perfectly without binding. It's also compact enough to fit inside my pack, and light enough that I can always carry with me.

 

[The Warrior]

Awesome stuff Jay, thanks for postin' it up.

 

[jdk1]

Angry hawk face is the new classic:emot-yarr: Great review. Is it that the Wildlife Hatchet is just too small and too large at the same time? Sometimes shrinking a large tool or enlarging a small tool doesn't work well. While not a hatchet or hawk man, I love khukuri. After trying different brands and styles, I definitely noticed a personal preference. A blade which felt good in the past became a brick after I discovered the right type/size for me and my use. Thanks for the enlightening and entertaining thread:thumbup:

 

[jmh33]

Nice pics!! And review too!!! Keep learning new stuff here!! John

 

[ivan51]

those new mora's look like a great neck knife:thumbup:

 

[WILLIAM.M]

Very Cool Bro

Thanks for sharing

 

[Student762]

Really nice :thumbup:

 

[JV3]

Epic!
Can you get it with an orange haft?

thanks, daizee! a micarta/g10 half did cross my mind for a dedicated thrower to prevent constant replacements...but wondering about the weight difference between it and wood.

Nice post. Not sure about your heavy dislike of the Wildlife Hatchet though. The one I have is light, is sharp enough to use as a knife, chops great, and splits perfectly without binding. It's also compact enough to fit inside my pack, and light enough that I can always carry with me.

thanks! not heavy dislike, just a preference for light and fast tools (i guess growing up with machetes i'm biased towards that end of the spectrum)...the hatchet just felt like a 10" long, 1/4" thick chopper compared to say a true machete (what i'm most comfortable using having grown up in the philippines). the tomahawk is just a hair over an ounce heavier than the hatchet yet it chops almost as well as the sfa even with one hand. granted it binds up more when splitting but i find that i chop 99% of the time and rarely have to split with it (if i know i'll be splitting more than that then out comes the sfa or the scandinavian forest axe).

the real test really came down to this: i felt like fondling the tomahawk and needlessly chopping things well after the camp fire was already established just for fun! the sfa and hatchet were sitting there on my pack while i had the tomahawk with me wandering around camp.

Awesome stuff Jay, thanks for postin' it up.

thanks, warrior!

Angry hawk face is the new classic:emot-yarr: Great review. Is it that the Wildlife Hatchet is just too small and too large at the same time? Sometimes shrinking a large tool or enlarging a small tool doesn't work well. While not a hatchet or hawk man, I love khukuri. After trying different brands and styles, I definitely noticed a personal preference. A blade which felt good in the past became a brick after I discovered the right type/size for me and my use. Thanks for the enlightening and entertaining thread:thumbup:

haha! this was deliberate whereas the angry machete face just comes naturally whenever i'm holding a machete without knowing it! i think i need to photoshop slay 2-3 bears one on top of the other just to top that angry machete face.

yup! every time i chop with the hatchet i always feel like i should've brought the sfa. i think the hatchet's head is a tad too heavy for such a short handle...i'm actually entertaining the idea of a sfa-handle length with the hatchet's head...it gives it that machete-like tip speed to the head that will enable it to bite just as deep as the sfa without the weight penalty.

i honestly think the h&b tomahawk bridges that gap between a 4" belt knife and the sfa better than the gb hatchet...at $50 for a u.s. made product i think it's worth the risk of at least giving it a shot too.

Nice pics!! And review too!!! Keep learning new stuff here!! John

thanks, john! keep an eye out for bearthedog's threads - he's the real deal around here. i just tend to hang around here and make sure there's pics of spam cooking in a thread once in awhile

those new mora's look like a great neck knife:thumbup:

thanks! so far that mora 510 is turning out to be my favorite out of the line up (their lefty-friendly sheath helps too).

Very Cool Bro

Thanks for sharing

thanks, dr. bill!

Really nice :thumbup:

thanks!

 

[Mossyhorn]

Thanks for sharing a great review.

 

[thanakrit]

Nice picture. I love your tomahawk.

 

[Woods Walker]

Those test are totally not fair cuz the H&B Shawnee is such a good hawk. Maybe we need something from Cold Steel for comparison. LOL! I have the leather sheath H&B sells for the Shawnee which works great when the hawk is on my belt but terrible if inside a pack etc so made one out of Kydex.

 

[JV3]

Thanks for sharing a great review.

thanks and you're welcome!

Nice picture. I love you tomahawk.

thanks!

Those test are totally not fair cuz the H&B Shawnee is such a good hawk. Maybe we need something from Cold Steel for comparison. LOL! I have the leather sheath H&B sells for the Shawnee which works great when the hawk is on my belt but terrible if inside a pack etc so made one out of Kydex.

nice kydex. yeah, i've heard the leather that h&b sells is way too overbuilt for such a light hawk...maybe it was you who said it, haha. i remember reading a bunch of threads before buying my hawk.

 

[upnorth]

thanks to bearthedog for introducing me to the h&b forge shawnee tomahawk...i liked using his a lot so i bought one for myself immediately...for this trip my goal was strictly to just do a chop-off to see where it fits in my collection. i used them both as much as possible except for the last step - feather sticks, to get the camp fire going...the snow was melting and everything was either ice covered or soaked so it was the perfect day for this test.

h&b forge shawnee tomahawk vs. gransfors bruks small forest axe (sfa).

QUOTE]

Interesting. I like my SFA but it does feel pretty light for splitting after a certain diameter. But the hawk is what really caught my eye. I have an interest in the North American fur trade and that hawk head reminds me of a late 1700's belt axe that I found while metal detecting. What I find different about this found head is that it's comparatively thick from the eye to edge, compared to many modern axe/hawks. Must have been a decent splitter.

 

[upnorth]

Those test are totally not fair cuz the H&B Shawnee is such a good hawk. Maybe we need something from Cold Steel for comparison. LOL! I have the leather sheath H&B sells for the Shawnee which works great when the hawk is on my belt but terrible if inside a pack etc so made one out of Kydex.

It's right here. Considering that the primary focus here is on wood processing, I would bet that my modified Cold Steel Rifleman with its size and mass, properly sharpened, would out split the hawk and SFA.

 

[JV3]

Interesting. I like my SFA but it does feel pretty light for splitting after a certain diameter. But the hawk is what really caught my eye. I have an interest in the North American fur trade and that hawk head reminds me of a late 1700's belt axe that I found while metal detecting. What I find different about this found head is that it's comparatively thick from the eye to edge, compared to many modern axe/hawks. Must have been a decent splitter.

that's an awesome find! it should clean up nicely.

 

[Quirt]

JV3 you're an awesome reviewer! I learn from your posts and enjoy them. Thank you. I guess you came to the same conclusion many of us did a long time ago...a mule can be used as a horse but a horse doesn't pack like a mule. The hawk is a fighting tool and is designed for quickness, tip speed and deep-deep cuts which are to pass through bone, muscle and flesh. It isn't designed to split or separate the interlaced fiber of plants/wood. It is designed to be nimble in one's hands to be use as a bludgeon and long knife all in one. An effective splitting axe and wood processor it does not make. A hawk can be used to process wood but unlike its cousin the hatchet or axe it is really as effective.