Cold Steel Demko and Warhawk Tomahawk Durability

J

JohnR001

Joined
May 4, 2022
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Is the Cold Steel Warhawk better than the Cold Steel Demko Tomahawk in terms of impact strength durability for the handles?
I know that the Demko is carbon steel, and I ordered one a few hours ago. How durable is 65Mn Steel?
 
IDK about the hawks ,but Cold Steel machete / swords are coming now from China with 65Mn .

My new "Chinese Sword Machete" seems to be pretty tough, so far . Not used crazy hard yet , however .
 
DocJD said:
IDK about the hawks ,but Cold Steel machete / swords are coming now from China with 65Mn .

My new "Chinese Sword Machete" seems to be pretty tough, so far . Not used crazy hard yet , however .
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How good are the axes though? I was thinking of filing them down with a steel file to shave down the axe to give it a look like an RMJ Tomahawk.
 
I can't speak to the Demko hawk, but the warhawk is pretty decent. Their hawks overall are a good value, as long as you're willing to put a better edge on it (especially the ones with wood handles). The warhawk I received was actually good right out of the package and besides sucking for splitting (like all hawks where the handles wraps around the bit), it's a decent axe for chopping, demo, and whatever else you might want to use such a tool for. Mine rides in the back of the car now.

One big plus, to me, over the wood handled hawks was the included sheath. It's actually pretty decent for the money. Even most small axes and hatchet around that price point don't come with anything to cover the edge.
 
I've used a lot of these steels over the years. This hawk will be tough overall... but will need consistent edge care if you use it on any tough material. For example, using a similar steel in the 1065 family, with what I now know was an overly acute edge angle, I got light edge deformation and small chips on seasoned pine knots (easily brought back with a fine file). This sort of 1060-ish steel will not hold a cutting edge very well, but should hold up to pretty hard use if you have a thick enough edge.

If you look at Ryan Johnson's comments about why RMJ Tactical transitioned from 4140 to 80CrV2 to finally land on 1075 steel, you'll get a good picture of the compromises that go into a good hawk. Your Cold Steel should be able to cut through a mild steel hasp or a hardwood knot without cracking a big hunk of metal out of the edge. You can expect the edge will get ragged pretty quick on hard materials but you can bring the edge back quickly with a file and a stone axe sharpener.

To get the most mileage out of this kind of steel, file the edge to make it more obtuse. For example, a durable knife edge is around 40 degrees inclusive (2x 20 degrees). If you only expect use it on hardwoods, file a hawk edge to an inclusive edge angle of 50-60 degrees. Take it to 65-70 degrees if you expect any mild breaching (sheet metal, door jambs, locker hasps...). That will put more steel directly behind the edge, making it significantly stronger and resistant to deformation.
 
JWBirch said:
I've used a lot of these steels over the years. This hawk will be tough overall... but will need consistent edge care if you use it on any tough material. For example, using a similar steel in the 1065 family, with what I now know was an overly acute edge angle, I got light edge deformation and small chips on seasoned pine knots (easily brought back with a fine file). This sort of 1060-ish steel will not hold a cutting edge very well, but should hold up to pretty hard use if you have a thick enough edge.

If you look at Ryan Johnson's comments about why RMJ Tactical transitioned from 4140 to 80CrV2 to finally land on 1075 steel, you'll get a good picture of the compromises that go into a good hawk. Your Cold Steel should be able to cut through a mild steel hasp or a hardwood knot without cracking a big hunk of metal out of the edge. You can expect the edge will get ragged pretty quick on hard materials but you can bring the edge back quickly with a file and a stone axe sharpener.

To get the most mileage out of this kind of steel, file the edge to make it more obtuse. For example, a durable knife edge is around 40 degrees inclusive (2x 20 degrees). If you only expect use it on hardwoods, file a hawk edge to an inclusive edge angle of 50-60 degrees. Take it to 65-70 degrees if you expect any mild breaching (sheet metal, door jambs, locker hasps...). That will put more steel directly behind the edge, making it significantly stronger and resistant to deformation.
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I think Ryan Johnson started working with 1075 on his first hawk, eagle talon, then switched to 4140 and than moved all the production to 80crv2. He occasionally still uses 1075 on some models, but most of production is made out of 80crv2. I think it's his wish to continue making Shrike with drop forged process, but the problem is 80crv2 availability in the right sizes. Please, don't quote me on everything I've write.
 
I think the Demko Hawk is nice. It truly is. I saw it snap during a pipe test. I was just curious on how hard it would fare in just one hit at that exact spot.


Around Timestamp 08:35. It looked like a place of concern for that part of the Tomahawk.
 
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bikerector said:
I can't speak to the Demko hawk, but the warhawk is pretty decent. Their hawks overall are a good value, as long as you're willing to put a better edge on it (especially the ones with wood handles). The warhawk I received was actually good right out of the package and besides sucking for splitting (like all hawks where the handles wraps around the bit), it's a decent axe for chopping, demo, and whatever else you might want to use such a tool for. Mine rides in the back of the car now.

One big plus, to me, over the wood handled hawks was the included sheath. It's actually pretty decent for the money. Even most small axes and hatchet around that price point don't come with anything to cover the edge.
Click to expand...
The Cold Steel Warhawk Tomahawk saved my life at some point. I was hanging on a "flying unit", and I hung on for my dear life. I already ran out of strength from all the fighting. My 2 other squad members pulled me up.
 
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