cold steel vietnam thrower ?

J

jwb2468

Joined
Feb 9, 2006
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16
anyone with experience with the Cold Steel Vietnam replica as a thrower? I have the standard frontier hawk and want something different. Any suggestions on hawks under $50 welcome.
 
IIRC the vietnam hawk has a wedge in the handle. If you throw a hawk with a wedge sooner or later you will break the handle. I'm not saying that it can't be thrown, just be aware of the handle breakage issue. The vietnam hawk would be good for SD and camp chores like chopping kindling and digging small holes. The frontier hawk would be your thrower unless you installed a wedge. Its not like you can't use the frontier hawk for SD and chopping, its just that the handle is not as secure as a wedged hawk.
Its no secret that I don't believe any one hawk can do everything "well" : throwing, chopping, nail pounding, SD. I have used my M&W blackhawk thrower to pound nails and chop kindling without a wedge.
Currently I have:
M&W black hawk for throwing
CS frontier for throwing
hand forged hawk that stays beside my bed
old Plumb hatchet w/ hammer pole for chopping kindling and pounding nails

Hopefully this gives you something to think about and don't be afraid to ask questions.
 
I'm partial to the hand forged hawks. You might check out H&B Forge and Fort Turner Forge. I think all the hawks offered by either place are under $50. I have bought from both and an am quite satisfied.
 
I threw mine some. It would stick okay, and it was light in weight. But I have to offer some advice: Stay away from the Cold Steel Vietnam Hawk. Beware. Look into one of their regular hawks for throwing, or if you like the 'Nam design, get a VTAC from ATC.
The CS 'Nam hawk has a small, untapered eye. After ten minutes of light chopping and one or two throws, the head was still on the haft, but was at a 45 degree angle to the haft. Then the head came off. I've rehafted it twice since then on a quality piece of hickory (not the cheap-feeling handle it came with), and the same thing happened after a few minutes of using it.
The useless head sits in its "Oxblood Leather Sheath" and collects dust. Now I'm saving up for a VTAC, and hopefully I'll have better luck with that.
Just my $0.02 Goodluck.

Take care.
 
I have handled a Rondy pard's H&B hawk. I can attest to its quality also. If a quality thrower is what you are after you can't go wrong with one of these. I have never handled a Ft Turner, but they look nice on the web site. Their sheaths look nice too. After reading Madman's post I'll stay away from the CS Nam hawk. I modded my CS frontier and have had no issues with it to date after several sessions of throwing and kindling chopping. Crazy Crow Trading Post has a few hawks you can look at to get some ideas. I'm posting more than usual.... we are snowed in!
 
Don't get one if you want a thrower. It costs more than other CS hawks and does not work as well. Mine started to get loose after maybe 10 throws. One their regular hawks all you have to do is shove the head back on but on this one you'd need to replace the handle.

Considering how it reacts to throwing I wouldn't want to chop with one either. I usually like CS products, but this one was not very good.
 
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