As most regular forumites probably know, the American Tomahawk Company has reintroduced Peter LaGana's original Vietnam Tomahawk. Several reproductions of this famous hawk have been offered over the years but, while the design always appealed to me, none motivated me enough for me to make a purchase... that is, until now. The ATC Vietnam hawk is the first authorized version and closely follows LaGana's original design spec with five hand ground cutting edges. I knew I'd have to have one.
I brought mine up to our camp the past two weekends and thought I'd share some of my impressions. My first thoughts on holding it were it's small & light, relative to my other hawks & khukuris, that is. Its weight and size do translate, however, to a CQB tool that is VERY quick and maneuverable in the hand. Also, it's 13 1/2" handle is more suited to cramped conditions than the 18" or so handles on my other hawks. MMurray recently posted an excellent review of the LaGana hawk from a CQB perspective, testing its performance against leather, flesh & bone. Although I did take it through a series of drills, my actual uses were much tamer -- some utility work & a bunch of throwing.
My hawk target consists of a pile of large logs arranged in a triangular manner. Some of the logs were several years old and had begun to rot so I decided to replace them with fresh ones. After dismantling & rebuilding the target, I was left with the issue of what to do with the old logs. Normally, I'd just throw them back in the forest for nature to finish the decomposition process. However, since I had a new toy, I decided to speed up the process a bit. Although the log I picked for my work out had begun to rot, it still had enough structural integrity remaining to provide somewhat of a challenge but it was really no contest. Both main cutting edge & spike did a great job of tearing the 12" + log apart in a very short period of time.
Since the haft (i.e., handle) on this hawk enters the bottom of the head & is secured in place with a wedge from the top, there is the possibility of the head loosening from strenuous work. Sure enough, as I was finishing my demolition project, I could feel that the head had loosened somewhat as I was pulling it loose of the wood. It was not wobbly loose but, by carefully grabbing the head & moving the handle, it was possible to shift it around a bit. Andy Prisco, ATC's co-founder, had previously acknowledged the issue of head looseness and offered some tips for dealing with it. Although it did loosen somewhat, at no time did I feel like I was in danger of head & handle going their separate ways. Here's what Andy had to say about the design of this hawk's eye, "The new ATC Vietnam Tomahawk "eye" provides what we call a "Step Lock", where the upper dimension of the eye is larger than the lower half, separated by a small ledge or "step", over which the wedged hickory spreads and locks." Anyway, a couple of shots with a rubber mallet later, and I was good to go again.
Since I had a new target & I already had a hawk in hand, I figured it was time to play. Now, I have to admit & ATC does tell you right up front that this hawk is not designed as a thrower. Oh, but does it throw well! Since the handle is shorter, it was necessary for me to take a step closer to my target in order to get the right amount of rotation. I won't know if it's simply the fact that I'm closer than usual but I find that I am very accurate with the LaGana. Here's a shot showing a dead-on bull's eye:
As with hard work, the head does loosen after a couple of throws but it's an easy fix & a small price to pay for the satisfying sound of that THUNK as it hits the target. I may try soaking the head in linseed oil for a few days to see if it will penetrate the wood enough to swell the fibers & lock the head in place long-term. I'm also considering removing the wedge & handle, coating the inside of the eye with epoxy, and then refitting everything but I'll hold off on that for a while. ATC has mentioned that they are considering an upgraded handle option that will eliminate the loosening. In the meantime, the slack that develops is something that I can live with & easily correct.
The ATC LaGana hawk is an excellent CQB tool that I'm happy to have added to my collection. I'm looking forward to practicing some more hawk drills and, on the lighter side, doing a lot more tossing with it.
I brought mine up to our camp the past two weekends and thought I'd share some of my impressions. My first thoughts on holding it were it's small & light, relative to my other hawks & khukuris, that is. Its weight and size do translate, however, to a CQB tool that is VERY quick and maneuverable in the hand. Also, it's 13 1/2" handle is more suited to cramped conditions than the 18" or so handles on my other hawks. MMurray recently posted an excellent review of the LaGana hawk from a CQB perspective, testing its performance against leather, flesh & bone. Although I did take it through a series of drills, my actual uses were much tamer -- some utility work & a bunch of throwing.
My hawk target consists of a pile of large logs arranged in a triangular manner. Some of the logs were several years old and had begun to rot so I decided to replace them with fresh ones. After dismantling & rebuilding the target, I was left with the issue of what to do with the old logs. Normally, I'd just throw them back in the forest for nature to finish the decomposition process. However, since I had a new toy, I decided to speed up the process a bit. Although the log I picked for my work out had begun to rot, it still had enough structural integrity remaining to provide somewhat of a challenge but it was really no contest. Both main cutting edge & spike did a great job of tearing the 12" + log apart in a very short period of time.
Since the haft (i.e., handle) on this hawk enters the bottom of the head & is secured in place with a wedge from the top, there is the possibility of the head loosening from strenuous work. Sure enough, as I was finishing my demolition project, I could feel that the head had loosened somewhat as I was pulling it loose of the wood. It was not wobbly loose but, by carefully grabbing the head & moving the handle, it was possible to shift it around a bit. Andy Prisco, ATC's co-founder, had previously acknowledged the issue of head looseness and offered some tips for dealing with it. Although it did loosen somewhat, at no time did I feel like I was in danger of head & handle going their separate ways. Here's what Andy had to say about the design of this hawk's eye, "The new ATC Vietnam Tomahawk "eye" provides what we call a "Step Lock", where the upper dimension of the eye is larger than the lower half, separated by a small ledge or "step", over which the wedged hickory spreads and locks." Anyway, a couple of shots with a rubber mallet later, and I was good to go again.
Since I had a new target & I already had a hawk in hand, I figured it was time to play. Now, I have to admit & ATC does tell you right up front that this hawk is not designed as a thrower. Oh, but does it throw well! Since the handle is shorter, it was necessary for me to take a step closer to my target in order to get the right amount of rotation. I won't know if it's simply the fact that I'm closer than usual but I find that I am very accurate with the LaGana. Here's a shot showing a dead-on bull's eye:
As with hard work, the head does loosen after a couple of throws but it's an easy fix & a small price to pay for the satisfying sound of that THUNK as it hits the target. I may try soaking the head in linseed oil for a few days to see if it will penetrate the wood enough to swell the fibers & lock the head in place long-term. I'm also considering removing the wedge & handle, coating the inside of the eye with epoxy, and then refitting everything but I'll hold off on that for a while. ATC has mentioned that they are considering an upgraded handle option that will eliminate the loosening. In the meantime, the slack that develops is something that I can live with & easily correct.
The ATC LaGana hawk is an excellent CQB tool that I'm happy to have added to my collection. I'm looking forward to practicing some more hawk drills and, on the lighter side, doing a lot more tossing with it.