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WJC01

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Mar 3, 2006
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Been on the planet 50 years and suddenly decided I must get a tomahawk. I'll be shopping at the Atlanta Blade-unless someone here has a good deal.
Anyone here seriously test a Kahngee or a VTAC-Fondling one from the couch and giving your thoughts don't count, I can do that. The hawk will be a trail companion and hang off my counter-sniper pack. It will perform woods chores but I want the breaching capabilities as well. I may go the route of the Strike if I can get a decent LE price.
Thanks in advance
Bill

A buddy of mine picked up a M-48 by United. Any real world testing on one of those?
 
Thanks for the info on the VTAC. This may be the Hawk I'm looking for. Ever try to use the spike to pry or breach with?
Would like to see you do a head to head comparison with the Shrike.
Anyone else have any word to pass?
Thanks
Bill
 
Yes I have. The VTAC works great for prying and or breaching. The composite handle has specific benefits when it comes to medium type prying. It allows you to "feel" the amount of resistance on the intended object to better gauge the force needed to break or rip open something such as hard metal or wood. This may be someone that's either overlooked or taken for granted for most, but it is a subtle advantage in terms of user safety. By feeling the amount of flex in the handle as more force is applied, it provides you a better estimate of how much more torque is needed to open the intended object without overextending your efforts. A solid one piece design hawk lends itself to generating more force than is needed to complete a pry on a hard object. I'm splitting hairs here, and the finesse to notice a big difference would probably not be felt in most real world type operations, but it is a small benefit none the less.
 
Bill,

Are you on active duty or in another service that does breaching work? My advice would be, if you are on active duty/police/fire/rescue I would only buy the best. This isn't a video game, you only get one life for your quarter!

Most of these Johnny come lately tactical tomahawk companies know full well that 99.9% of these hawks will never do anything harder than slice paper and cut a few water bottles after the unboxing video. And to be honest, lots of them even fail during these initial videos by amatures fooling around in their back yard! If my life depended on it I would be calling one of the best like RJM and waiting as long as it took.

If breaching is just some theoretical exercise and woods type work is your primary task I would stay far away from the tactical hawks. They are too heavy and if they are going to chew wood you would need to change the edge profile, in some cases drastically for them to be effective. Then you would end up with an overbuilt heavy very expensive tool that does no better than the average camp, trapper or woodsman hawk that costs less than a third the price.

The tactical hawks are also a bit like juggling a chain saw and a rattle snake, casually handling one is not a good option. They are sharp "everywhere" and that spike comes back at you with authority and means business. My Warbeast cuts me even when I type a story about it!!!
 
Full time firearm instructor&SWAT Counter Sniper. Survived the last 16yrs on SWAT without needing a Hawk. We have a breaching team. Only real chance at breaching would most likely be an active shooter response so I do want something serviceable. I got "sloppy" with a Condor Parang a couple years ago. 11 staples got my attention.
The hawk will probably get used quite a bit rooting around while hiking. It will not replace my hatchet for camping.
Seems like the VTAC or Shrike would fit the bill.
Thanks for the great responses-I will be scouring for additional information.
Bill
 
Getting my Shrike tomorrow! A friend at work is selling me his. He bought it last year-has been guarding his safe. I'll post pics tomorrow.:D
 
if you like the V-Tac design than get a SOG 'hawk. Same basic shape but with added "whistler" holes that actually are meant to function for pulling it loose from the head instead of prying it with the shaft, which can be rough on the connection bolts. It's good for the money and the Condor Kumunga knife matches perfectly for the same price...
 
Since WJCO1 may be using this tomahawk on duty, I would suggest against a SOG tomahawk. I understand he's already purchased the Shrike, but just a heads up for someone looking for a serviceable tomahawk. Although the SOG tomahawks are all very durable, they are not something I would want to depend on. They are fun and very well made for the price, however the head to handle connection WILL fail at some point during medium to heavy type breaching or prying situations and the stainless steel is rather brittle and prone to chipping under certain cutting conditions. I personally know several people, including myself, who have experienced these issues with the SOG tomahawks. You can obtain the same opinion from the multitude of reports on the web if you search. Again, the SOG is a great tomahawk for the money and will be fine for the majority, but for someone to have to depend on one in an undesirable situation may very well leave them very disappointed when it matters the most.
 
Forgot to add.........if you like throwing the tomahawk..........the SOG throws very well. The SOG fast hawk is a crazy good throwing hawk, even better than its big brother.
 
Snakebreaker is right on about the SOG's. Suprisingly, mine has not broke after lots of throwing, mostly at dead trees. Still, it's not the hawk to stake lives on when there's better/stronger/integral designs.

OTOH, the SOG Fasthawk is about 13" long, same as the Shrike S13. I like to practice with mine, fighting a swinging fence post, with a quick turn and throw, It doesn't have to be sharp or expensive to get some practical use out of. Plus, a small accident with the Fasthawk won't cause the same damage as the Shrike. My Fasthawk's spike won't even penetrate wood or steel without serious effort. The spike on the Shrike would sink in deep compared to the Fasthawk
 
My personal favorites are Jared Cory's (Omnivore bladeworks) Jackal and pretty much anything by Daniel Winkler. While I do respect the RMJ line, the ones Ive played around with simply don't feel as good in my hands as the alternatives. YMMV.

In the case of the Jackal, I know a lot of people may shake their head at a high dollar hawk in 1095. However whatever witchcraft Jared does to the 1095 makes it simply incredible. Despite being in a "higher end steel" , my other two most heavily used blades a SYCKO 7 and a KDSH have needed sharpening several times while the Jackal remains as sharp as day one. I am not a steel guru so I cannot speculate or offer any insight into his methods to achieve this with , however I seriously recommend those who are to check his 1095 out.
 
How do you guys feel the Shrike compares to the Swamp Rat or Demko hawks?

Is RMJ the only place the Shrike can be ordered from?
 
If you're lucky you can score a Shrike on eBay or in the for sale section of the forum, from time to time; otherwise RMJ is pretty much you're only avenue.
 
Hawks are just awesome. I'm thinking about getting a CQC-T as my next hawk.
 
K-5 looks tough as nails, at a decent price. I own a kestrel, and it's a great hawk, but expensive, and not the best for breaching. Shrike's battle tested and praised by many. Their berserker and storm crow also seem capable of breaching. Omnivore Bladeworks also makes a quality hawk, but I'm not sure how well O1 holds up to breaching. M48 ripped off RMJ's design, so I wouldn't support UC. Good luck on your search, tons of options...
 
vzdd39.jpg

Got it. I cut a fig newton in pieces at lunch(now the bomb squad Lt is trying to justify getting one to add to his gear!). This evening I took it out on a hike. The edge is pretty sharp-slices briars and overgrown branches on the trail with ease. The trail clearing is great to practice drawing as well as accurate chops. I can see where the spike warrants due caution when using. Cannot wait for a training day to practice some "official" chores.
Bill
 
Bill,

Did it cut the outer brown layer of the Fig Newton cleanly or did it leave a jagged edge? I let something's go but that is a deal breaker for me.
 
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