- Joined
- Aug 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,745
that's another good insight - thank you again...;
some observations for the purposes of later discussion:
(1) a Cold Steel Trail Hawk, one of the best stock tomahawk heads IMHO, typically weighs between 14 to 15 ounces.
(2) a BUG head weighs about 10.9 to 11.0 ounces. it is usually held at a very specific mass.
(3) as many of us accept, a perfect weight-to-length ratio for a general purpose hawk, a tool that shines as a weapon, but equally shines in utility - is an Ounce-per-Inch-of-Length. - Anything less moves towards Fighter Physics, while anything heavier moves toward Forest Axe and War Hammer Physics - these are generalities, mind you, there are exceptions.
(4) for all of its faults, the Trail Hawk is a pretty stout little head for its weight, and it grows thicker over the years and less refined, as the tooling ages. there is plenty of "real estate" that one can trim away on a Cold Steel Trail Hawk to save weight, or add fuctionality, or both.
(5) the BUG head's new Penetrator Poll is built in such a way that if you didn't care for it, with very little stock reduction on the poll, you could back it up about 1/8 inch and have a much wider poll. the poll is shaped like a truncated pyramid (- roughly speaking - it is actually long in its face, so your strike axis is better; if you look at a good hammer, the bites in the poll from years of work are typically almost completely centered on a vertical line. our proprietary handle cross-section assists accuracy, so you can see where i am going... the need for a larger poll face is less likely to be ever necessary.)
(6) we have a Happiness Guarantee. if you are ever dissatified with what we do - return it, and we'll cut you a check, or just try to fix the issue, your choice. i think it is a square deal. your hard-earned money is not at risk when you do business with the humble Hawk Project. as much as i would love to be a Saint; it's not altruistic of us, it's a Win-Win - if there is a shortcoming in our hawks, we want to find out what it is, we just appreciate that our Investors are also our friends. Imagine what future hawks will be with all this objective input!
see point (5) above please, brother. they are not mutually-exclusive propositions.
the smaller BUG head is the answer to many concerns i have always had with True Tomahawks - their lower mass lets me reduce the length of the handle, while maintaining my ideal of Proper Hawk Physics. Let's think about that;
it's so simple, it's easy to overlook;
if i have a BUG head that weighs 3 ounces less than a Trail Hawk head, and the Gen 1 Mk 4 handle weighs about 1/2 ounce per inch, then i can have simlar Hawk Physics by reducing a 24 Inch Long, 24 ounce Gen 1 Mk 4 Trail Hawk to an 18 Inch Long, 18 Ounce BUG Hawk.
a Trail Hawk might weigh as much as fifteen ounces, so that is another two inches of a conversion possible, to bring a hawk down to 16 inches length with a BUG, and still be a high-performance True Tomahawk.
they both observe the Optimum Ratio, and with Gen 1 Mk 4 handles on the heads, the balance still stays in the high top third of the hawk with the shortened BUG, while with a monolithic composite or wooden handle, the hawk would start feeling and acting like an 18 inch stick. Yuck.
there are a lot of other things that are going on here that i won't bore you with, but i have to mention;
length and width of the head is a huge factor in making a little hawk still perform as a utility tool. the BUG design takes that into account.
lots of little details in hawk-making that will bite you, if you don't observe them.
Oh yeah, and not all kukris are heavy. HI makes the Sirupate and Kobra ones that are specifically for fighting, but with the forward curved blade, are better at "limbing" than an equivalent length and weight conventional blade.
Something for you to ponder. . .
yeah, i am familiar with Kukris and love them.
i have had a Gelbu Special for years - it totally suits me.
i have a hawk design that is a kukri hybrid, in fact.
i think a hawk will beat the kukris though in protracted combatives, all other factors equal. - just as the kukris will beat a hawk in most heavy chores, but not lighter ones. we've already proved that with our early studies between the two to our satisfaction (i am not trying to convert anyone here, which would be stupid and unnecessary IMHO).
i had to keep some friends from ditching their kukri collections and going wild on hawks, because they are cooperative designs, vice exclusive ones with a superior/inferior relationship. now that i think of it, i should have let them sell all those beautiful kukris to me - danggit, hindsight is a bear sometimes ...hehehehe!
they are a perfect mated pair, complementing each other, the hawk and light kukri, IMHO.
a long BUG hawk and a Cold Steel Magnum Kukri Machete would make me pretty happy if i had to fill both hands and go get bloody.
i think if you fought in buddy teams, one guy with a short and long hawk - the other guy with a kukri and a long knife or short sword could be like a steam roller going through Enemy, if they coordinated after a little training and drill practice. my style of combatives is big on the Buddy System, whenever it can be observed.
Hook, Trap, Trip, Chop.
Hook, Trap, Trip, Chop.
Hook, Trap, Trip, Chop.
:thumbup:(ol' vec throws whole friggin' paper towel roll on the drool puddle.)
anyways!
so the BUG lets us get a shorter, well-performing hawk, just from its mass reduction from the Trail Hawk.
added fuctionality, like the Poll Hook, Penetrator Poll, and the Shark's Tooth are just side benefits of the main purpose, which is to reduce the mass.
a sized-up BUG hawk-type head would be wonderful for War Hammers and serious amounts of wood felling IMHO - which would add mass beyond what a hawk is IMHO, and make it more like an axe of some sort. - that is fine, of course, it just won't move like a hawk, which is what i personally prefer.
.....
i think i screwed up another answer.
har!
......
we are moving fast here at the humble Hawk Project, for the intended benefit of all the Investors, and potentially to the advantage of warriors who defend the USA and its Allies.
Shorter True Hawks coupled with Sectionality is going to be interesting.
Hawks are not the Past. Hawks are the Future.
that's what i think.
vec
