hawk uses and usefullness

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aleyn1975

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Feb 10, 2007
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This is something of a continuation of "hawk in the woods". What environment do you use your hawk in? What design do you prefer? Why? Any tricks you'd like to share? Tomahawk as tool and weapon/hunting? When I used to carry a hawk and kukri in the woods I had problems with those light, tough vines. My tools were too heavy to efficiently cut them. Yes a machete would have been better but I wanted to use the tools I had. I would hook a bundle of vines to hold them securely with the hawk then cut through the whole bunch with the kukri.
 
One of the best all a rounders I've seen on these forums is Vec's hawks with the tube through the center and the ones with the attachment points on the top of the pole. Very multi-purpose.
 
aleyn1975 said:
This is something of a continuation of "hawk in the woods". What environment do you use your hawk in? What design do you prefer? Why? Any tricks you'd like to share? Tomahawk as tool and weapon/hunting? When I used to carry a hawk and kukri in the woods I had problems with those light, tough vines. My tools were too heavy to efficiently cut them. Yes a machete would have been better but I wanted to use the tools I had. I would hook a bundle of vines to hold them securely with the hawk then cut through the whole bunch with the kukri.
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too many tricks to mention 'em all, brother!

rant warning - here's a blurt of unorganized thoughts from your pal, ol' vec.


if you practice improvising with resources in your environment (like survival camping, which is my favorite) then a hawk is really for you IMHO.

i always see folks blasting away on their one good knife, batoning, right next to twenty branches on the ground that would make short work of the whole thing, as wedges.


one thing i will say about a proper long hawk though (an animal that few have experienced and less appreciate) is that it can be a real Back Saver; every once in a while i get to play with some of my brethren that have gotten Gen 1 hawks from me, and we confer, and every single one of us lazy buggers adores a long hawk for using as come-alongs on logs, and even game, etc.

one guy got rid of his kickstand on his mountain bike to save weight because the proper long hawk propped his bike up! har! :cool:

my point isn't to draw attention to these particular things, it is a pathetic attempt to say, "Get a good hawk, and open your mind - all sorts of creative things will occur to you, in your given situation" - the only other tool that has ever made me as happy is a good long blade.

(Dang, good thing it is evening here, i'd be daydreaming about some dirt time now ...hehehehe...!)


....as to your vine technique;

- all that muscle memory from such tasks goes right into your on-board battle computer for combatives too - if you ever have to use those moves and skills hard-wired in, they will be good to have.


that's one of the reasons i love hawks and machetes together, brother.

i love khukris and hope to make some sheaths for the Cold Steel Khukri machetes for some buddies soon. - they should be outstanding with a hawk IMHO.

can't wait to play with them.

i've used hawks with long blades in desert, coastal desert, desert with snow, ocean, tundra, Northern Boreal (Alaska and points east across Canada), Sierra woodlands, Tetons, Rockies above timberline, Philipine jungle (Apayao - i got adopted by the Isnag Headhunters, if you can believe that one) and a few other spots.

i wouldn't say they were for everyone, but i really like combinations like that, and have always returned to it.


flip your machete or khukri over and mill some serrations in the spine at the sweet spot, is my unsolcited advice - the serrations grab and snip all sorts of tough buggers like the vines that you mention, without being supported that way.


if you are carrying a heavier khukri, i advise you to carry a lighter hawk, and vice versa;

if i was rolling with a short hawk, a machete would be it's partner.

as you can see (look at that Commanche Fighter paired with a Cold Steel Bowie Machete on the left);
1.JPG


i've blasted through a lot of cedar up in Snoqualmie Wilderness with that combination, and had dinner on before my buddies came in with their share of the wood. (they ate all the brownies too, those swine. :D:thumbup:)

RawkSheathreversewithfriends%20.JPG


while we are mentioning machetes, and how we love them - let's leverage every tool we carry; a machete sheath, such as this experimental one i just did, should have multiple purposes to it just as a knife or hawk should be a strong generalist tool - you can use this as a Rabbit Stick, a pack frame (great platform with a shoulder strap, to hold your machete/hawk combo, or a bow), and much more.
RawkSheath.JPG



anyways;

a parting thought;

get a hawk-like-thing - if it weighs close to an ounce-per-inch of length, grab it. - all other details on the hawk are derivative of that core characteristic IMHO, which distinguishes a hawk from a hatchet or anything else....

brownie-less vec
 
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I'll definitely have to try that serration trick on the back of one of my machetes. +1 on the back saver, even with a 19 inch handle it has helped a lot. I also like rolling over logs to look under when rat hunting or looking for fish bait. Too many times spiders/scorpions or snakes get into those kinds of places and I was glad my hawk was there instead of my hand. As to the muscle memory point, it's a good one.
Back when I was a younger lad and carried a hawk in the woods 4-5 times a week I'd use it to push vines out of my way, pull, drag (like a comealong) chopping, climbing and throwing. I remember being on my knees and lifting a piece of tin in the woods and a rat came whipping out past me and I backhanded my left hand hawk into it. My first thought was "How the heck did I manage that?" followed by "eewwwww".
 
Oh yes, splitting wood. For me a tomahawk is better for the wood splitting I do. When i split wood in the woods It's cause I'm making a bow. I need a CONTROLLED split to follow a certain grain pattern depending on the piece of wood. I cut a wooden club and tap my hawk right where I want it to go. I use wooden wedges, often just sharpened sticks, to guide the split back if it tries to get away from me. This is a slower process than just splitting a stick to make it smaller but I've never had the need to split wood for a fire on the trail. At camp there are axes for that. On the trail or for an impromptu fire twigs and sticks always gave me a good enough bed of coals to cut logs in half or burn up unsplit wood.
 
Jusyt FYI, I wouldn't serrate the back of your kukri.

I carry a big, heavy one (Himalayan Imports 20" Chiruwa Ang Khola, .5" spine, over 3 1/2 pounds of steel), and it cut ssoft vegetation like a razor. The trick is the edge geometry. Everyone has a hardon for convex edges. If all you do is chop, they're great. But, they suck for soft vegetation. I put a zero edge bevel on my kukri. So the final bevel goes straight to the edge. I probably gave up some edge retention in chopping, but now it sails through everything, hard or soft.

Just a heads-up.
 
I carry my hawk all the time now(ATC V-Tac). The spike is my primary soil breaker for fire pits and sanitation holes and I use it to lift and drag like the other freind said. Its a great little chopper for anything except huge logs, It slices game like a charm and saves my folder when dealing with bones and joints(feral hogs are some tough suckers!) It also dissassembles some of the junk that dummies throw out on back roads so that our outdoors is a little bit cleaner!
 
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