ATC Vietnam Hawk - rehandle journey!

Daniel L

Daniel L

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Joined
Nov 2, 1998
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I had one of the early runs of the ATC Vietnam Tomahawk with wooden handle, which as per the original history of ATC were approved in reproduction by Peter LaGana himself. By comparison I also owned the Cold Steel version which felt heftier by comparison and did not feel as "lively".

Likewise I also owned the ATC V-TAC, the current model synthetic handled version and also did not like its combative "feel" though it was definitely more durable. FYI the head is actually about 10% smaller than the wooden handle version - I assume to keep withing the 1lb original weight specification.

Recently I got the SOG Fusion hawk - a real bargain and it had a longer handle by nearly 2 inches. Significantly heavier @ 25oz versus 16oz for the 14inc OAL original VT, but nice heft. So it got me wondering... could I put a longer handle on the VT and what would it feel like?

I'm not the most skilled with handtools, so felt some risk in doing it :)
I bought a ball pein hammer handle which was 18" originally, and took the plunge.... wasn't as hard as I thought though I needed quite a lot of dremeling to get the handle into the eye. Not perfect but pretty good and if it fails I now know how to do it. That VT eye is really SMALL!!



(Pic shows the original cut off handle and SOG Fusion for comparison. You can tell I love squash racket tape grip!)

It now weighs 22oz and is just over 16.5" OAL, a couple coats of TruOil and feels good. I am really liking the extra length - it makes a huge difference and is much more "balanced" than the SOG Fusion which is all head heavy.

Sure, it ain't no Vector Hawk (I wish!) but it will keep me happy for the time being.
 
Daniel L said:
Sure, it ain't no Vector Hawk (I wish!) but it will keep me happy for the time being.
Click to expand...

looks real good to me!

did ya see brother 7.62 shooter's version of that?

he's got a picture posted somewhere in here....

vec
 
Ask and ye shaaaalll receive!
Picture1305.jpg
 
It was 762 Shooters pic that inspired me - I just couldn't find a handle like his one, as that's what I really wanted since it's slim whereas the ball pein hammer handle is getting thick at the grip end.

Will add my grip tape and see how it feels after that.
 
There was a thread here about 2 to 3 weeks ago about straight versus bent handled hawks. It inspired me to get this one out and kill some air zombies. After a couple of days wacking things with it I am back in the straight handle corner. I love the hawk pictured above but it does have some, er, weakness'. It would be great on a back swing with the spike. Reversing the hawk and attacking with the spike would be greatly affected by the curve at the bottom of the handle. One would be fighting the hawk more than the bad guy. I'm sure Vec could explain this far more eloquently than I. That hawk is very lively in the hand and I would feel like a Valkyries boyfriend with it in my hands but a bent handle has some drawbacks. I like tha handle you have on yours very much. I like Vec's handles even better. Wait. His hawk handles. You new that. I was talking about his HAWK handles. Glad I inspired someone. I gotta go tell my wife. Good thing it's in print. She'd never believe me...
 
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