- Joined
- Jul 2, 1999
- Messages
- 1,347
Hello all,
Well, after a long wait I recently received my Next Gen. Ranger Spiked hawk. I can honestly say that if the wait was twice as long it would have STILL been worth it!
Lets start with the craftsmanship. Absolutely every aspect of this hawk is perfectly executed. From the finish to the grinds to the handle, EVERYTHING is 100% PERFECT. The handle is a real beauty. It is obvious that a lot of thought went into the way they textured the handle, it is very well thought out and really is perfect. It keeps the hawk tight and secure in the hand when you want it to be, yet it does not interfere with smooth releases when throwing. I dont know anything about this handle material on paper but I do know what I have seen and gathered from throwing it. In my honest opinion you cannot break this handle, PERIOD. It is SOLID! I would take this handle over ANY wooden or integral steel handles anywhere. Steel would have to be way too thick, and HEAVY, to equal the strength of a solid plastic pipe. I guarantee, I PROMISE, that a metal handle would bend or break before this handle would. And NO wooden handle can withstand the type of outright abuse that this handle can withstand.
The head: What can be said about the head? Let me tell you, the design is such a beautiful example of tradition meets modern. The shape is great for utility work and is perfect for throwing. After 20 minutes of abusive throwing(if any of you have seen my throwing you will know what I mean by abusive. And I dont always hit my target.) it was still shaving sharp.
Durability: For those of you that dont know me, I throw hawks at distances well over 60. It takes a serious hawk to withstand this kind of throwing, especially when I MISS! I have had this hawk at 3 rotations sailing right passed my target and flying edge first right into rocky ground without ANY damage at all! No blunting no rolling, no chipping. It was still shaving sharp! That was proof enough of the integrity of the head! I then decided to test the strength of the handle and its handle/head juncture. I wanted to see how it would hold up against HIGH IMPACT! So a walked back about 50 big paces and decided to let fly with a sloppy throw so it would hit handle first. LOL, I tried to throw bad but it hit the target edge first. So I tried again, and still it hit perfect. I can say it was strange feeling, for the first time EVER I was getting annoyed that I was getting perfect hits, lol. I needed to throw sloppier. This hawk is so light and has such a nice balanced rotation that it really just tends to always hit head first. So after perfecting the crappy throw(not that hard for me lol) I let it fly 50 away it smashed perfectly flat against the target. The sound of handle smashing tree made me cringe. The hawk went sailing straight up into the air about 10 until landed in the dirt, edge first.(still no damage to the edge.) I tried this ABUSIVE throwing 3 more times. 100% perfect. The handle is not even scuffed. The head/handle bond is perfect and was absolutely unaffected.
Just a little disclaimer, even though Andy and company stands behind ALL of their products, what I was doing with my hawk was definitely ABUSIVE and excessive! You should not have a lot of bad misses when throwing at long distances, the reason being is, if you do, you have no business throwing at 50. If you are not an accomplished thrower, there is no reason to be throwing a tomahawk at distances over 14-20. I proved to myself that it is tougher than hell, but dont abuse things.
Finally, on to what I think is the finest point of this hawk. There are a lot of very well made and incredibly cool hawk like items on the market, such as the hibben integral throwing axes and the VERY COOL looking Ryan Johnson spiked tomahawk, and dont forget the Walter Brend spiked axe thingy. But I honestly feel that all of these products lack the true look, feel and construction of a true Tomahawk. When you look at the Brend hatchet or the Johnson axe you say, wow that is a cool looking axe. But when you look at the ATC Next Generation Spiked Tomahawk you say, That is the coolest TOMAHAWK I have ever seen! ATC has reached a pinnacle that is going to be very hard to outdo. I almost feel bad for you, Andy, because after reaching perfection so soon in your game, what can you possibly think of next to better your products.(As bad as I feel though, I cant wait to see you try)
This hawk is the essence of an age old design, perfected with modern methods, producing the finest Tomahawk the WORLD has EVER seen. Way to go Andy!!!!! Keep kickin
a s s brother!
Until I figure out how to post individual images with Sony Imagestation I can only link to the album. So, below are some cruddy pics of my hawk. I just bought a tripod so hopefully I will get some crisp clear pics soon. Enjoy.
<A HREF="http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4292114853"><IMG SRC="http://www.imagestation.com/images/album/link/my_album_button.gif" BORDER="0"></A>
Well, after a long wait I recently received my Next Gen. Ranger Spiked hawk. I can honestly say that if the wait was twice as long it would have STILL been worth it!
Lets start with the craftsmanship. Absolutely every aspect of this hawk is perfectly executed. From the finish to the grinds to the handle, EVERYTHING is 100% PERFECT. The handle is a real beauty. It is obvious that a lot of thought went into the way they textured the handle, it is very well thought out and really is perfect. It keeps the hawk tight and secure in the hand when you want it to be, yet it does not interfere with smooth releases when throwing. I dont know anything about this handle material on paper but I do know what I have seen and gathered from throwing it. In my honest opinion you cannot break this handle, PERIOD. It is SOLID! I would take this handle over ANY wooden or integral steel handles anywhere. Steel would have to be way too thick, and HEAVY, to equal the strength of a solid plastic pipe. I guarantee, I PROMISE, that a metal handle would bend or break before this handle would. And NO wooden handle can withstand the type of outright abuse that this handle can withstand.
The head: What can be said about the head? Let me tell you, the design is such a beautiful example of tradition meets modern. The shape is great for utility work and is perfect for throwing. After 20 minutes of abusive throwing(if any of you have seen my throwing you will know what I mean by abusive. And I dont always hit my target.) it was still shaving sharp.
Durability: For those of you that dont know me, I throw hawks at distances well over 60. It takes a serious hawk to withstand this kind of throwing, especially when I MISS! I have had this hawk at 3 rotations sailing right passed my target and flying edge first right into rocky ground without ANY damage at all! No blunting no rolling, no chipping. It was still shaving sharp! That was proof enough of the integrity of the head! I then decided to test the strength of the handle and its handle/head juncture. I wanted to see how it would hold up against HIGH IMPACT! So a walked back about 50 big paces and decided to let fly with a sloppy throw so it would hit handle first. LOL, I tried to throw bad but it hit the target edge first. So I tried again, and still it hit perfect. I can say it was strange feeling, for the first time EVER I was getting annoyed that I was getting perfect hits, lol. I needed to throw sloppier. This hawk is so light and has such a nice balanced rotation that it really just tends to always hit head first. So after perfecting the crappy throw(not that hard for me lol) I let it fly 50 away it smashed perfectly flat against the target. The sound of handle smashing tree made me cringe. The hawk went sailing straight up into the air about 10 until landed in the dirt, edge first.(still no damage to the edge.) I tried this ABUSIVE throwing 3 more times. 100% perfect. The handle is not even scuffed. The head/handle bond is perfect and was absolutely unaffected.
Just a little disclaimer, even though Andy and company stands behind ALL of their products, what I was doing with my hawk was definitely ABUSIVE and excessive! You should not have a lot of bad misses when throwing at long distances, the reason being is, if you do, you have no business throwing at 50. If you are not an accomplished thrower, there is no reason to be throwing a tomahawk at distances over 14-20. I proved to myself that it is tougher than hell, but dont abuse things.
Finally, on to what I think is the finest point of this hawk. There are a lot of very well made and incredibly cool hawk like items on the market, such as the hibben integral throwing axes and the VERY COOL looking Ryan Johnson spiked tomahawk, and dont forget the Walter Brend spiked axe thingy. But I honestly feel that all of these products lack the true look, feel and construction of a true Tomahawk. When you look at the Brend hatchet or the Johnson axe you say, wow that is a cool looking axe. But when you look at the ATC Next Generation Spiked Tomahawk you say, That is the coolest TOMAHAWK I have ever seen! ATC has reached a pinnacle that is going to be very hard to outdo. I almost feel bad for you, Andy, because after reaching perfection so soon in your game, what can you possibly think of next to better your products.(As bad as I feel though, I cant wait to see you try)
This hawk is the essence of an age old design, perfected with modern methods, producing the finest Tomahawk the WORLD has EVER seen. Way to go Andy!!!!! Keep kickin
a s s brother!
Until I figure out how to post individual images with Sony Imagestation I can only link to the album. So, below are some cruddy pics of my hawk. I just bought a tripod so hopefully I will get some crisp clear pics soon. Enjoy.
<A HREF="http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4292114853"><IMG SRC="http://www.imagestation.com/images/album/link/my_album_button.gif" BORDER="0"></A>
Thanks for the fine write-up.
Can't wait!!!