Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

EarlyBird said:
Yeah. I've been having a tough time finding material that is in the new Air Force pattern. It's suprisingly tough to find a mag pouch in it...plenty in ACU which I guess I can settle for if nothing else.
Click to expand...

rockywoods.com has the 1000 Denier material in stock currently.

if you are going to get good gear, you might consider calling Sales at Tactical Tailor and suggest that you can send them material for the set-up you need.

ABU is much-maligned by the gear-queers, but fact is, it works well enough for the current unpleasantness and it gives a professional appearance.

stay sharp.

vec
 
It has been a while since I checked this tread out but there is some great stuff. I have a modded Norse hawk that has been stripped ,profiled and gun blued. It was a very small amount of work for a huge improvement.

I am more into the old fur trade style hawks but i have to direct some of my buddies who are waiting for a 200$+ RMJ shrike to check out some of the great tactical looking mods to the trailhawks here. The one with the real clean look and the wire under the 550 cord
under the head and the beautiful flat finish on the hammer and nice over/under cord wrap is particularly nice.

I am a big fan of good hickory handles. I got to look through a box of about 20 Norse Hawks at the local knife shop and picked the best head and handle. It is definitely worth paying a few extra bucks to see what your getting.

I would like to see a test between a 200$ Shrike and a TrailHawk when both used as entry tools? Especially since the Trailhawk is a lot lighter. I would still love a shrike but I would probably leave it in the truck if I had to carry it.
 
Update ,I went to the big city today (Saskatoon) and picked up the new trailHawk to start my new mod project on. It was pricey at the mall knife boutique but worth the 40$
to dig through all the hawks and find the best one. He would have even let me mix and match hafts and heads had it needed it.

I am surprised by how small it is. There is a about half the edge length of the Norse hawk. It is going to take some practice to hit with that small of an edge as i even had some trouble with the norse. Still it is very light weight and has that useful hammer poll.

I LOVE the look of Messer454`s amazing browned hawk. That one turned out fantastic.
One mistake i made on the Norse was using the bench grinder to grind off the paint which left machine marks. It is hard to see under the bluing but this time i will use stripper. I am still planning to blue it although Messers is so nice I am reconsidering.

Great thread ,I actually started one like it on the CGN(Canadian Gun nutz) blade forum.

I will keep you guys updated with photos. i already have a great sheathmaker tapped for a leather sheath. i just am tying to get him to buy his own so i don`t have to send mine away. i will probably use rawhide for the overstrike protection as well and also a lanyard hole.
 
Unsub said:
I am surprised by how small it is. There is a about half the edge length of the Norse hawk. It is going to take some practice to hit with that small of an edge as i even had some trouble with the norse. ....
Click to expand...

i expect that you will be surprised with how accurate it is. - there are a lot of converts from the clumsy large bit crowd to the precise small bit group....

there are also, of course, opportunities to make hybrid designs that will put the advantages of large and small bits to good use, without sacrifice.


the trailing mass of the hammer poll acts as a balancer, which the Norse, and hawk heads like it, lack.

long spikes and polls assist tracking greatly.

i am about done handling a Craig Barr head that has a massive spike on it. - the thing tracks amazingly, despite its blocky design.


if you can, flatten the sides of your handle just a little bit, so as not to cause undue weakness, ...and your control of the hawk will probably go way up. - if you take this advice, and blow it, i have some extra wood handles that might give ya a second try.

while i have your attention (potentially) - a special note to those here who are waiting on a hawk from us, due to the lack of Handpicked CS heads;

the Gen 1 Mk 4 Design is about licked, i think...; then we are going for completeing our own head designs, but we welcome you to find a good store-bought hawk head as some have already done here, and send it to us for a credit and faster delivery. - thank you for your patience BTW, i think you will be really pleased in trade for the wait.

your bud,

vec
 
The TH does have a really nice accurate feel to it. I just finished cleaning up the inside of the head where it contacts the shaft. It was AWFUL! There were very bad edges that had already caused some cracks in the handle and it had never been used yet. The bottom edge was actually several mm's higher than the rest and it took a fair bit of grinding with the dremel to make it flush. This is probably the most important mod you can do.
 
I got the head stripped with polystripper which looks exactly like toxic sperm.
It got about 95% of the paint off and the other bit that was left was easily removed with
a bit of sandpaper. Today i am going to blue the head.

My handle is in good shape mostly but is a very ugly cream colour unlike the nice dark one on my Norse hawk.

Boy this makes a nice bush tool. Between it and my little Mora 511 I have a nice set up for about 50$.
 
Where can one get thin strapping for wrapping the handle? I have tacks to secure it, but most of the "lacing" readily available from craft stores is too thick...
Thanks,
 
taking out the inner line from paracord can make the remaining kernmantle a serviceable flat strap as well.

vec
 
thanks for all your kind responses. the first two (which are basically identical) have been gifted to my father and father in law, they were extremely suprized and impressed.
 
Hey fellas...it's been nearly a full year since I last modded a Trail Hawk, despite the fact that I have an extra pair of Mr. GunSnob's inQredible parkerized 'n polished Trail Hawk heads laying around. Who remembers these?

thawk2-01.jpg


thawk2-02.jpg


Well...I spent the better part of the last year eatin' donuts and watchin' TV...but I finally got back on track: quit smokin', cut back on the drinkin', and went back to the gym. As a result, I've been feelin' a heckuva lot better and I've got some energy to get stuff done.

Around a year ago I had sold my K5 TAC trunk hawk to get me a new trunk hawk which a guy was going to build/forge for me...but he never came through with the hawk...so I've been drivin' around without a hawk in my trunk for the past year. Then...yesterday...I finally got around to transferring all of the preparedness gear I carry in my vehicle from a CrapPack™ into a (like-new) Maxpedition Falcon a friend gave me (ain't she beautiful!)...

maxpack.jpg


After I repacked all the gear I was deeply disturbed by the fact that, while I had lots anf lotsa knives, I carried no hawk in my trunk. This must be corrected immediately.

So here I go boyz...let the modding madness mania begin anew :eek:
 
There won't be anything extraordinary about this latest mod, with the exception of an exploration of Q's New Oil of Lemon Immersion & Moisturizing Processing (Q.N.O.L.I.M.P.:)) Tube for fire blackened/hardened hafts...so stay tuned...much much more to come fellas!

thawk2-03.jpg


thawk2-04.jpg
 
Holy smokes! Twenty nine pages of tomahawk modding. I'm hooked. I just got a Norse Hawk for hiking. Now I *have* to do something to it after seeing all of the goodness in this thread!
 
Part 1: Q's New Trunk Hawk

Requirements for this mod: Standard factory 19-inch haft colored dark so to be as inconspicuous as possible. After all, this is an anti-zombie trunk hawk...no need to attract attention with a psychedelic aberration like the Whack-o-Lantern™ :rolleyes: I built last Halloween.

I'll start El Projecto with a standard Cold Steel factory haft. This one is pretty beat up so I've got a lot of sanding to do to clean it up and get a good eye-to-haft fit. I'll using my trusty Makita hand sander with #60 coarse paper to start.

thawk2-05.jpg


After sanding the heck out of this sucker I switched to #100 medium grit to make the haft nice and smooth. All done...and not too shabby...I'm satisfied.

thawk2-06.jpg


In previous mods I tried just about everything to make a hickory handle black: sharpie marker, stains, paint, shoe leather dye...and (IMHO) I've found that fire blackens the standard factory hickory handle the best. So, for this project, I will use fire to blacken this puppy up. In addition, I've given some thought to the fact that fire may harden the haft, and while I don't know if this is true I sure like that idea...so fire it is...and to bring the fire I've appropriated one of Qjr.'s tools (shhhh...say nothing!...Qjr. is very bad at sharing ;))...

thawk2-07.jpg


Blackening a hickory haft with fire is very similar to spray painting: simply use the fire to "paint" the black onto the haft. I usually pass the fire back and forth across the area I'm "painting" until the area bursts into flames and then I'll pull the fire away. Usually the fire will extinguish itself immediately, and if it doesn't I'll give it a little blow which will put it out.

thawk2-08.jpg


Ah! All done and I am very satisfied!

thawk2-09.jpg


Next up: moisturing a fire blackened haft with the QNOLIMP method! :thumbup:

To be continued...
 
Last edited:
I recognize those hawks pictured. In fact, I have one! As for the hawk that never came through, one can only wonder if it is a track of a moose hawk you might be beating a bush about. I wouldn't fret it. This new project of yours promises to be lemony fresh.
 
762 shooter said:
I recognize those hawks pictured. In fact, I have one! As for the hawk that never came through, one can only wonder if it is a track of a moose hawk you might be beating a bush about. I wouldn't fret it. This new project of yours promises to be lemony fresh.
Click to expand...

Alas...that would be the hawk. :thumbdn:

None-the-less! I am therefore in need of an alternative ZombieMatic Head Detachment Tool! And the aforementioned device...shall suffice...until I am able to procure a more sophisticated tool. :thumbup:
 
Part 2: Q's New Trunk Hawk

So I said to myself, "Q (I said)...Q, that hawky handle sure gets mighty hot when you fire blacken it...fact is you're cookin' it bro...and all of the natural moisture in that wood is probably being cooked right out of that hickory stick!"

Fact is, the last time I fire blackened a haft I had picked up a bottle of "Weiman's Lemon Oil" from my friendly hardware man down at Ace as I had read that lemon oil is a highly regarded natural moisturizer for wood. I dunno...but what I read sure sounded convincing...so what the heck!

thawk2-03.jpg


However, the last time I moisturized a fire blackened haft it took forever to wipe the haft with lemon oil, then let the haft dry...wipe the haft with lemon oil, then let the haft dry...wipe the haft with lemon oil, then let the haft dry. URGH! As my fellow Long Islanders might say "fuhgedaboudit!"

Nay, what was needed was a total immersion method whereby I could soak the parched haft overnight so that it would soak up as much lemon oil as possible. Looking around the CP (basement) I noticed an old piece of 1.5" PVC which I cut to 20-inches and then slapped a PVC end cap onto. Then I dropped the fire blackened haft inside, filled it with lemon oil (the 16 oz. bottle filled the tube up perfect), and let it soak overnight.

thawk2-04.jpg


The next day I pulled the haft out, poured the remaining lemon oil back into the bottle, and let the haft dry for a day.

Hence, Q's New Oil of Lemon Immersion & Moisturizing Processing Tube™ was invented! But that and a dollar won't get me a large coffee eh fellas? :rolleyes:

Next up: A coat of poly, 550 cord wrapping & final assembley! :thumbup:

To be continued...
 
762 shooter said:
At least it will smell good when your are out whacking zombies. Lemony fresh zombies.
Click to expand...
:rolleyes:
​
Shootie, Shootie, S h o o t i e.

The haft will be coated with interior/exterior poly, so there will be no hint of a lemony fresh lifestyle choice. Sheesh...you are fixated on the lemon aspect of this modject bro: wazsupwitdat?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top