Help me pick a sweet hawk

[Amurr]

Hi All,

Read quite a bit here but post very rarely.

Going to pick up one and only one Axe/Hawk. Like all my things, I buy very low quantity, but very high quality.

I am looking for one ax that will fulfill the following roles:
1) 75% of use: backpacking/camping/hiking: Light weight and efficient for 3-5 days woods excursions. light wood chopping. some light hammering, generally tasks around camp
2) 25% of use: BOB hawk for zombie invasion when i may need to "breach" some stuff or cut off zombie heads

cost is generally not of concern as this is buy once cry once move for me.

I am considering:

1) RMJ Jenny Wren. 19oz. Might try and find a hammer version like the TAD. Seems to be great for compact size and light weight for long hikes/BOB. A little less efficent for larger wood chopping task/breaching
2) RMJ Logger head. 28oz. Nice form factor, seems like one of the most effective for heavier tasks like wood chopping and might be the best breacher of the group
3) Winkler camp ax. 24oz. Efficient and simple. middle of the pack weight wise.
4) Winkler hammer combat ax. 27oz Slightly heavier than the Camp ax. I like the bottom glass breaker/prey bar feature.
5) Winkler Hunters ax. 21oz Nice and compact. Is the blade shape/size ok for the heavier work?

Would love to handle them all but its just not possible. I am sure they are all great. My field knife is a winkler TAD belt knife with rubber handle and I have a line on a winkler TAD combat axe LT with rubber so if that works out i might just take that down to have a sweet pair, but negotiation is dragging on that.

If you choose a winkler, which handle do you suggest? I like the look of the sculpted maple.


Thanks

 

[1AbominAble1]

Well I have the Jenny Wren and a Shrike from RMJ as well as the Winkler Combat Axe.
The Combat Axe "feels" substantially heavier than the RMJ's and the weight distribution makes me feel like it'd be a nice wood chopper splitter. Although the sheath is nice I like the RMJ sheaths much better. I haven't had the Combat Axe long enough to to take it into the woods ( picked others before it ) but I'm hesitant to do so due to the handles relation to the head, it makes me feel like I'm going to be slamming the slabs into any wood I'd be trying to split- take another look at a pic, you'll see what I mean, I'm sure it'd be one hell of a combat axe though, if you had the arms to swing it all day

I love both of the RMJ's that I have and they both do ok on wood. Obviously the Shrike does better, it's longer, heavier, and wider so it splits wood better-but- I always take the JW into the woods instead. I like that I can wear it slung under my arm and forget that it's there until I need it. Then when I do it's easily retrieved due to it's excellent sheath.
Because it's thin it really bites in wood for light chopping of smaller trees but that same thin body makes it less effective as a splitter unless you drive the whole bit in to its fattest point, you can baton the handle at that point to split any tough pieces. In comparison to a large fixed blade I gain more speed in the swing, can still baton. It has fatter blade stock, is as durable as any knife, and has less edge to worry about-but,it can't span larger logs while splitting.
I use mine hunting, just two days ago used it to split a white tailed deers pelvic bone while field dressing it after a successful early season hunt-1 light swing and it chopped right through- it was like cutting air, scary blade

I looked at the logger head but figured that I can use the spike as a Pickeroon while cutting fire wood and that if I wanted a hammer that I'd just cut a baton to use because the hammer heads on most tac hawks are just too skinny for me to use without busting my fingers with a missed swing. Plus I can grub or dig with the spike if I want to or start holes for a bow drill, etc.

I'll try to remember to post pics of them together for you.

If your just looking for a sweet hawk to use in the woods and to suit your other criteria you may want to consider a more traditional style hawk.

Anything from Steve over at Coal Creek Forge would fit the bill and can be had with a true hammer poll if that's what you need. Another good example and far cheaper than the tac hawks you mentioned would be an RMJ designed CRKT woods hawk. The split, chop, hammer, and throw with the best of them and are prob similar in weight to the Winkler Combat Axe.

Good luck picking

 

[Amurr]

First,

Thanks for the feedback. Really appreciate your valuable input.

Second,

I ended up getting a Winkler Combat Ax TAD edition LT.
It has a tapered handle, hammer back, 52100 steel and slightly different head geometry.

It weights 20.5 ounces which is almost as light as the JW at that point. Super excited to get it in my hands. It's basically the combat axe slightly modified to be more like a camp ax.

I know all of the hawks mentioned would probably make me happy.

What tipped me over the edge was that I already have a winkler belt knife TAD edition with black rubber handle. Now I'll have a nice black rubber handle TAD version set of belt knife/axe. That makes me happy!

Was interested to see the tad version was 52100 steel. I know he use to use 5160 and has recently switched to 80cr2.

Anyone have any thoughts between 52100 and 5160? I know he previously used 52100 for his knifes and 5160 for axes but has just switched to 80cr2 for both. How do the 3 compare?

The TAD belt knife I have is CPM 30v which Is suppose to be basically the best of the best.

 

[1AbominAble1]

Congrats, I'm sure that you'll love it, the Combat Axe I have is a BEAST !

If you search the forum a little you'll find a thread where Mr. Winkler discusses the steels he uses and his decision to switch, if I remembered which it was I'd post a link for you- but, I don't

That'll be a very nice set of tools to take into the woods, would you mind posting some pics for the rest of us gear junkies when you get it in?

 

[Amurr]

Initial impressions:
1) Wow its much lighter then i expected. As stated the tad version is almost Jenny Wren weight.
2) The blade size was smaller then i though it would be
3) Sexy...

 

[Storm Crow]

Looks like a good pairing!

 

[Double Ott]

Wolf Creek Forge.

Wolf Creek Forge, email Lisa. wolfcreekforge@bellsouth.net

Tom