CS Hawk Handle Failure Modes

B

bullet308

Joined
Nov 24, 2000
Messages
19
Hi:

I have a Q for the folks that have mercilessly abused their various Cold Steel Hawks by throwing them, etc: Just exactly do they tend to fail? Please be as ridiculously detailed in your answer as possible. I have some thoughts as to how to "harden" them against breakage but need to know more about how they break, not being inclined to throw them at hard things to destruction myself. :D

Thanks:

>>>BULLET>>>
 
most frequent thing I have done to break the handle on my rifleman hawk is to be too lazy to take the set screw out of the head. Then when you get a handle first hit from a hard throw (I usually throw at about 35 feet) it will simply start a split down the handle.

the other type of break I have had is from many repeated landings where the handle swings around and bounces mid length on the top of the target.

on the bad ax I had to replace one handle because I let some new guys throw it, and one guy kept throwing it like it was Thor's hammer, and he was Thor, and some how managed to make a handle first hit ever single time he threw it. Dead on handle first impact no matter where I had him stand. I would move him forward or backward to correct for how he was spinning, and he would just throw harder, and smack. impacted so hard and often it cracked, and jammed the bad ax handle like an extra inch into the socket, and took me hours to get out.

The only picture I have of the rifleman hawk (before I darkened the handle with fire), is with it's big brother, which I also throw.

IMG011-1.jpg

IMG013-1.jpg
 
Axe.jpg


...where the handle swings around and bounces mid length on the top of the target.
Click to expand...

So, based on your experience, would it be accurate to say that it broke somewhere in the vicinity of the red line drawn above?

Thanks for your reply! :)


>>>BULLET>>>>
 
I throw the Trail Hawk.......I've not had problems with the handle breaking as you've shown but rather with it cracking in the handle just above the loop and eventually spliting. That is the only structure problems, I've had. Now, just to keep down the walking back and forth to get the hawk I throw three hawks one after another. Early in my throwing this was not a problem but as I became more skilled at throwing I sometimes hit the handles and either knocked them off the target or in a lot of cases actually hit the handle and split it. Partner, that will mess up those handles really quick. Most people (in my opinion) throw the hawk entirely too hard and don't let the weight and gravity work for them. Think toss rather than throw...one you get the range estimation down that method will get you sticking pretty good. Just so you'll know, I don't use set screws on the heads of the ones I throw. That's my thoughts, the " Target Throwers" will disagree with me on this but it's what works for me for tactical throwing. Just my 2 cents.

Best
Dwight
 
Yep! That is pretty much it. This is probably because of poor range estimation on my part and either not rotating enough or rotating too much. Least that has been my experience. Please remember that the trail hawk I throw is a bit lighter than that monster you are using. Here is the 'bottom-line' for me on this whole throwing thing. Simply there is no way you can ballistically throw the hawk. You can be the best engineer in the world and throw it technically correct and watch it bounce back in your face. I may sound like an idiot but it is sort of magic....you know a feel that you have every time you release it....and you know it will stick even before it reaches the target. I did not throw well at all until I started moving & throwing or throwing & moving in a tactical manner. Thinking of tossing seemed to help me. I guess when it is all said and done, it more about 'knocking-the-hell' out of an opponent than sticking.
Oh well, sorry to be a bore.

Best
Dwight
 
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