Maneuverability versus Power

S

skippyW

Joined
Jul 1, 2013
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Lighter means quicker and easier to maneuver ... heavier means more power, momentum and kinetic energy. You can't optimize both but need to find the right balance for your uses and application. I want to buy ONE high quality hawk. I don't have the opportunity to give various hawks a hands on evaluation ... I live in the Middle-of-Nowhere, New Mexico.

Usage would include an assortment of everyday tasks but one (probably rare) is of high priority:

Self defense against wildlife in gun free areas while hiking with my dog.

I said probably rare but I was actually attacked by a medium sized feral hog a few years ago, fortunately I was carrying a firearm. Open carry is legal here except in state parks (without a permit). I have a moral objection to buying a permit to exercise a constitutional right ... maybe I should compromise my principles and get the damn permit and put myself on the priority list for gun confiscation. Anyway, I have reduced my choices to a RMJ Kestrel (24 ounces) or a Kestrel feather (18 ounces).

Which one??? I am open to other suggestions but not interested in pepper spray, tasers, machetes, Bowies or spears.
 
Choose the bigger heavier model.

I'd take the pepper spray.

And don't be concerned about getting the permit. If you've ever bought ammo with a debit card thery know who you are.
 
Experience, I watched it happen. The hog had already bitten me once and one of the fellows I was working with three times, when the hog returned a 4th time to bite him again, a quick draw of the hammer out of his tool belt and down it went. We were working within a confinement hog barn in Iowa some forty years ago. The hog became conscious again after 4 or 5 minutes. The hog didn't bother any of us working the remainder of the day and did not take his eyes of the fellow with the hammer. It was a learning experience for me having been chased by some big sows on my grandmother's farm when I was 6 or 7 years old. After the hammer incident I never went in a hog pen again without a hammer ... I never did need to use it. It was sort of like carrying a handgun ... it is there if you need it and you pray you never do.
 
Harry Clipper, my Grandfather would use a framing hammer on a hog to stun, then stick him. Before beginning processing. It worked real slick
and didn't require a bullet. I've seen him do 400 lb. hogs in that manner and it was over real quick. You have to be accurate with the hammer. DM
 
Now I have to consider getting a hawk with a hammer poll instead of a spike. I haven't firmly committed yet but I got out my go-to hammer that I've been using for sixty years. 22.6 ounces, 14 inches long. The balance with a similar sized hawk will be slightly different but accuracy won't be a problem with practice.
 
For self defense, I would go with the light one. If its sharp it doesn't need a lot of weight behind it, and you'll be able to chop, reset and chop again much faster.
 
David Martin said:
Harry Clipper, my Grandfather would use a framing hammer on a hog to stun, then stick him. Before beginning processing. It worked real slick
and didn't require a bullet. I've seen him do 400 lb. hogs in that manner and it was over real quick. You have to be accurate with the hammer. DM
Click to expand...
David-I have to admit when that hog went down I thought he had killed! Just a bad headache is all.
 
The light model is still 1/4 inch thick, with lightening fullers.

All the strength you would need.

I had a full tang Rattlehawk that was about 25 ounces. It handled pretty well at that weight.... of I had kept it, I was considering adding another a fuller on flat on the side of the blade.

UPVTIcJ.jpg


I'd not feel under armed with the lighter version Of the RMJ Kestrel either....



Also, don't underestimate a longer fixed blade!!

You need to be able to swing a hawk for better effect. You get a 3-5 Inch or so sharp edge, and rather shallow penetrating points in a thrust rather than a swinging blow.

I have seen a video of a pig vs hawk. A hard swing did damage, but did not stop the small hog from leaping up and running off. Had the hog chosen to fight, it would have likely ended in some nasty bites and lacerations.

You can bash with a hawk, and do a possibly fatal injury in a single swing, but you might not get a second swing.

A long knife has the benefit of being able to be thrust deep, without a wind up or swing.

If you are taking the effort to cary a hawk, a fixed blade knife would not add much weight or inconvenience.

I also have CCW permits in two states (Good in about 33 states). So that is usually an option I take.
 
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one thing a lot of people here made at one point for it's handiness is a framing hatchet on a long handle. it would be a compromise between the shepherds axe and a 20 ounce hammer. now of course it's less convenient than either cause it's not a walking stick and it doesnt fit in your belt but it works good for chopping trees if you're ever attacked by a holly tree i guess
 
Square_peg said:
Titanium hammers are a joke. The math fails.
Momentum = mass • velocity
Low mass equals low momentum. A 1-pound hammer has to travel twice the speed of a 2-pound to deliver the same blow. Physiology limits arm speed.
Click to expand...
My take on them was they came about at the time at the time that nail guns had taken over but there was still a bunch of older guys swinging heavy steel on the framing crews. It allowed the young guys to swing a big hammer just like real framers. It cost at least three times as much and the milled faces where already half worn out. The one thing they did get out of it was a bigger face for a lighter hammer though. Claws on a sheet rock hammer head would be about the same thing but at much less cost. And so it is...
 
Square_peg said:
Titanium hammers are a joke. The math fails.
Momentum = mass • velocity
Low mass equals low momentum. A 1-pound hammer has to travel twice the speed of a 2-pound to deliver the same blow. Physiology limits arm speed.
Click to expand...
Well that is a poorly worded beginning to a general statement that fails to account for the human element. There are two companies that make titanium hammers. They are Stiletto Tools and Martinez Tool Co. Mark Martinez was the founder of Stiletto Tools and sold the company to TTI, the parent company of Milwaukee Tools. The key element that makes a huge difference between something like an Estwing Hammer and a Stiletto is vibration. There is no comparison. There is absolutely no comparison. Any person could smack any hard surface a single time and tell the difference. When I frame a structure I go back and seat the nails I drove with my nail gun where needed and I tap each to simply tighten the joints. Even my 25 y/o apprentice will ask to use my Martinez if he’s doing something that will require several hits or any amount of hard hits. There is no comparison with the fatigue of a steel hammer and a wood hammer just sucks with durability. Mark Martinez sold Stiletto and re designed his hammer with an all steel head to not only give the vibration dampening of the Titanium handle but shift the weight toward the head more. The end result is superior to the Stilletto in striking force and retains the shock absorption of the initial design.
Again, the name of the game here is the human element. I like to have full use of my right hand and elbow at the end of the day, every day. As long as the human typing this post carries and uses a hammer every day it will be a Martinez. The only valid argument otherwise is solely desire to spend less on a tool.
 
Good, not too long review of a steel vs titanium hammer.



Even measures speed, kinetic energy and drives a bunch of different nails to show speed.

(Interesting enough, he found the titanium hammer edged the steel on kinetic energy average) the TI hammer was only 4 ounces lighter, and had a replaceable steel strike face...)
 
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