Chopaholic. BK9 and CS Trailhawk

L

Lakanen7

Joined
Dec 24, 2012
Messages
141
On a unseasonably warm and rainy day here in Ohio (60 degrees in January) my dog and I were itching to get outside and play. So, we went for a walk and decided to bring the King and his new stable mate the CS Trailhawk with. As we were banging through the woods I figured we should try to hack down a couple of small trees the same size to see how they compared. Here are some pics:

Obviously the Hawk is longer. Should make a difference in the Rotational Inertia and impact of the tool.

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I hacked down a small tree/brush with each (maybe 2.5 inches) to see how they did

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This is my first attempt at anything like this with the 9 as I just got it. I have a history of over 30 years in the woods with axes, hatchets, and hawks. For a blade this size I was impressed with how it made its way through the first task.

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I then found 2 trees of similar height and girth and tried out the hawk.

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I was impressed with the sharpness as it was out of the box for the first time. It did well and obviously the length of the handle make it faster and hit harder.

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Then I tried the same with the BK9. It was definitely an impressive tool for this type of task compared to my early premonitions of what it would do. I did have to get used to the angle at which the blade hit the tree in order to be as efficient as I am with the Hawk. It did take about 2x longer with the 9 to get roughly the same size tree down.

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This definitely shows that multiple blade systems are good, but you can definitely get away with only one if you have to. My bet is always on 2. Or 3. Or why not even 4.....

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GarnetandBlack said:
Love the 9 and man, that hawk looks great! These picture threads are dangerous for my bank account.
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Thanks! This site as a whole has had an impact on me as well in many ways. Let's call them all good as my horizons are being broadened as I used to believe a blade was a blade. I am learning much just as I have with other outdoor equipment, guns, vehicles, etc... So many hobbies, so little time!
 
Looks like it was a great day out.

That first thing you chopped down looks like bush honeysuckle.
You will do the woods a huge favor by chopping down as much of that as you can find.:D
 
cbwoods67 said:
Looks like it was a great day out.

That first thing you chopped down looks like bush honeysuckle.
You will do the woods a huge favor by chopping down as much of that as you can find.:D
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Pretty sure it was Honeysuckle. Ohio is filled with it and it is now trying to take over some nice pines the country planted so I just might hack as much of it down as I can.
 
Lakanen7 said:
Pretty sure it was Honeysuckle. Ohio is filled with it and it is now trying to take over some nice pines the country planted so I just might hack as much of it down as I can.
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It is the same way around here, too. Every time I take my Machax in the woods with me, I do my part to hack away at it.:D
 
Nice work with the 9 and the Hawk!! I really like the CS trail hawks, but opted for the CS Pipe Hawk. I love my BK and my hawk. Bringing them both to BeckerWest :D
 
Looks like you got one of the good Trail Hawks. I got one in this week, and it was really dull, and the handle had the grain going exactly perpendicular to blade. I'm going to have to sharpen and rehandle this thing. No problem, though. For a $28 hawk, I was expecting as much. The nice thing is, the Trail Hawk cleans up really well, and should be a fun project, along with it's brother Frontier Hawk.
 
What advantages would a hawk like that have over my Fiskars X15? I've give that lil axe a workout the last 8 years, and its never fumbled. Would I benifit from a change to a hawk?
 
What advantages would a hawk like that have over my Fiskars X15? I've give that lil axe a workout the last 8 years, and its never fumbled. Would I benifit from a change to a hawk?
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There is not much of an advantage of hawk vs. and axe or hatchet. The appeal of the hawk is that its light weight and you can throw it. It's a multi purpose fun little tool.
 
I've used a hatchet most of my life and never used a hawk until this summer. There really isn't any difference in performance. But I will concede, I had a lot of fun pretending I was Dan'l Boone or one of Roger's Rangers. Can't get that type of entertainment from a hatchet.....outside the nuthouse that is :cool:
 
bsmith_shoot said:
What advantages would a hawk like that have over my Fiskars X15? I've give that lil axe a workout the last 8 years, and its never fumbled. Would I benifit from a change to a hawk?
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I agree with the others. No real performance advantage but they are really fun to throw, if you like throwing things. Throwing knives and hawks is fun. There are many different weights and styles. Check some out for fun. There are a multitude of ways to make targets as well.

Cheers,
 
panzertroop said:
There is not much of an advantage of hawk vs. and axe or hatchet. The appeal of the hawk is that its light weight and you can throw it. It's a multi purpose fun little tool.
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Some would say the hawk is at a disadvantage for processing wood, though not so true for the one pictured, more so for the more primitive style than this one. The advantage normally attributed to the modern/new world/American style axe/hatchet, is that because of the weight behind the handle (the poll), moving in the same plane as the cutting head, you get less chance for deflection of your stroke. YMMV.

Erik
 
i swore i would not buy anymore knives for abit but all these bk9 pics ginin, me the itch it would look great with my 2 and 11 and 13!
 
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