Hawks still a viable weapon of war

There may have been a few things here and there, but they weren't common.. The VAST majority of hand to hand was for less lethal force and not a life and death thing. And of the tiny amount that were, you have team with you that is going to buttstroke the dude in the head for you. I've known and served with a number of former Rangers and SF, and the ONLY person who ever claimed to have made a hatchet kill or someting similar was a dude who claimed to have been a SEAL... sorry, I mean, "in the teams," so only implied it and didn't say it outright. I um... let's just say have my doubts about his time in, but it was never worth the effort to even ask someone to verify him.
SharpBits said:
As I understand it, the door kickers got into some hand to hand over the years.
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Unicorn161 said:
There may have been a few things here and there, but they weren't common.. The VAST majority of hand to hand was for less lethal force and not a life and death thing. And of the tiny amount that were, you have team with you that is going to buttstroke the dude in the head for you. I've known and served with a number of former Rangers and SF, and the ONLY person who ever claimed to have made a hatchet kill or someting similar was a dude who claimed to have been a SEAL... sorry, I mean, "in the teams," so only implied it and didn't say it outright. I um... let's just say have my doubts about his time in, but it was never worth the effort to even ask someone to verify him.
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I thought I read somewhere about some secret squirrel type using a winkler combat axe to kill some insurgent but yeah so much has to go wrong for you to be forced into true hand to hand combat, even in CQB. Even if you did end up in that scenario I'd say a knife would probably be the better weapon since at that point, you're probably grappling with the other dude trying to kill you. Good luck pulling out your hatchet/hawk in that scenario- assuming it's even accessible, let alone trying to swing it.
 
I have seen what some of our guys can do up close and personal with a hawk or similar weapon (like the Winkler Sayoc design). It is absolutely an effective tool with proper training.
 
kafolarbear said:
I thought I read somewhere about some secret squirrel type using a winkler combat axe to kill some insurgent but yeah so much has to go wrong for you to be forced into true hand to hand combat, even in CQB. Even if you did end up in that scenario I'd say a knife would probably be the better weapon since at that point, you're probably grappling with the other dude trying to kill you. Good luck pulling out your hatchet/hawk in that scenario- assuming it's even accessible, let alone trying to swing it.
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I'm sure it's happened, but I'm equally sure it's extremely rare.
 
I’d be willing to bet 0.0000001% of enemy combatants in the last century have been killed with an axe or tomahawk. I’d guess that more enemy combatants have died accidentally falling down the stairs. I’d guess more people have been hacked or bludgeoned to death with entrenching tools.

“But you cou…”. Sure. You could. But you won’t. Some people need to believe these things are practical weapons for the modern military, but thats more about them and their big imaginations than the tool. Some folks watch too much “Vikings”.
 
EngrSorenson said:
I’d be willing to bet 0.0000001% of enemy combatants in the last century have been killed with an axe or tomahawk. I’d guess that more enemy combatants have died accidentally falling down the stairs. I’d guess more people have been hacked or bludgeoned to death with entrenching tools.

“But you cou…”. Sure. You could. But you won’t. Some people need to believe these things are practical weapons for the modern military, but thats more about them and their big imaginations than the tool. Some folks watch too much “Vikings”.
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So you're saying there's a chance? 😁

I've heard actual stories of them being used as tools more than weapons. And I did read some combat uses in Jack Carrs books that were quite entertaining. Not sure of the realities of their use in combat but daggers aren't used much either, I imagine. Those realities don't seem to stop us from buying them or multiples of them. I'm not sure what reality has to do with ownership.
 
SharpBits said:
🤣 Let’s just overlook eyewitness accounts and keep on snarking!
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Eye witnesses accounts of some guy, allegedly Ukrainian, chasing down soldiers with an Estwing 16 camp axe? I imagine he was holding off a whole battalion.

Or maybe you mean navman’s vague, possibly first hand? account?
 
SharpBits said:
I have no reason to doubt navman. Do you?
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I don’t doubt he has an opinion, but we don’t have much in the way of a first hand account. I sincerely doubt the US military would share the sentiment that a tomahawk is a viable weapon. Tool? Sure, they are versatile tools. I’m just guessing here, but I don’t think the military trains its soldiers in tomahawk combat. Tomahawk for door breaching? Maybe.

The whole thing is silly anyway. If I killed a modern combatant with a flintlock, does that make a flintlock viable? Of course not.

the tomahawk as a viable weapon on a battlefield is history.
 
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