New to tomahawks - a little help?

[Little claw]

Well, I originally brought this up on the ATC forum, cause I had a few brand specific questions, but three weeks, 125 views and no responses is a little disconcerting. Maybe I should have asked here.

I'm new to Tomahawks and trying to decide what to go for first. My primary interest is as a martial artist, however understanding their practicality as a tool is important to me as well, so I have a few questions. Here goes:

Why does the Vietnam tomahawk have a straight edge when most 'hawks seem to have curved ones?

What advantages does this offer over a curved edge and what are the tradeoffs?

How are Tomahawks normally employed as entry tools - hack through doors/smash glass, etc. or more subtle techniques?

What disadvantages do Tomahawks have against a similarly sized hatchet/camp axe when compared as tools?

How is tool use/safety affected by the inclusion of added weapon features such as a spike or beak, or sharpening of the hooking edge?

What is the weight of the ATC Ranger filed grade (wasn't on the site)?

Thanks

Dom

 

[HighTen]

I don't have great answers for all your questions and I don't even have good answers for some of them but I do have some thoughts on one of them.

I have a thought concerning your question about tomahawks and hatchets as tools. The way the head of a tomahawk stays on the handle seems better than the way the head of some hatchets or axes stay on. A tool gets a lot of use and really has to stay together. All that handle wood above the tomahawk's head really holds the head on! However, many of the axes and hatchets I have used don't have a good fitting handle and the wedges may not be put in properly so the heads tend to come off slowly. I think the tomahawk is neat because it keeps the head on with such a simple technique. Just my opinion though.

 

[Little claw]

Thanks High ten, I bet you have some good answers for the other ones, too I am really just a beginner in this area so even answers that seem obvious will be valuable.

I hadn't considered the mounting method. I was thinking along the lines of whether features such as a hammer poll or spike would compromise the chopping function much, or be dangerous to the user. I assumed the attachment method to be a bit of a trade off (say, when splitting a log) because of the bulge it creates.

Are you saying that you think the attachment method will make it stronger, or just easier to maintain and repair?

 

[m]

As far as the tomahawk as a camp tool goes it has an advantage over the average wood handled hatchet in the fact that the handle is easier to replace in the field ,you can even separate the handle from the head on some for easier carrying,and the blade is soft enough to sharpen easier in the field,but the average 'hawk has a lot of disadvantages in my opinion too. The average 'hawk has a round eye that tends to get caught at the top of a split when splitting wood for a fire, and when you use a baton to pound the back of the eye to get the 'hawk thru the split on tough wood the eye on some (if not most) 'hawks are left soft enough that they will deform from the pounding of the baton.Also the handle on a lot of tomahawks are quite a bit thinner than the average hatchet handle which makes them less comfortable to chop with and more likely to turn in your hand and probably weaker too.I think H&B forge offers a camp hatchet that may be the best of both worlds, I would like to try it sometime. I think the blade on a lot of tomahawks are too soft for good utility work also.I would really like to see Gransfors offer a hatchet with a tapered eye that would make the handle easier to replace in the field.Does anyone know of any hatchet shaped heads that have the ability to replace the handle as easily as on a tomahawk?

 

[HighTen]

Are you saying that you think the attachment method will make it stronger, or just easier to maintain and repair?

I think it's both. To me, the simplicity is the key. When you don't have all those little metal or wood wedges in the handle, every swing is making the head stick on better, not pulling it off slowly. This is stronger and easier to maintain. Also, like m said, this would be easier to repair in the field or at home for that matter.

To answer one more of your original questions, a tradeoff of a vietnam style hawk having a straight edge is it would be harder to stick when you throw it. The curve lets the axe stick with some over-rotation. Just look at the Iltis Oxhead throwing axe, it has just about the most curve I've ever seen! (I don't know a websight to see one at the moment)

edit - just for fun, here's a link for that Oxhead throwing axe http://www2.westfalia.de/shops/werkzeug/handwerkzeuge/forst/aexte/18281-wurfaxt.htm So beautiful!