reliable, affordable production made "tactical" tomahawks?

Joined
Jul 2, 1999
Messages
1,347
Hello all,
What do you recommend these days in a synthetic handled tomahawks that would be well liked by military folks. Sturdy, sharp, reliable. SOG, cold steel etc?
 
I I don't like the SOG's, UC's and CS' tactical hawks. The price reflects in the quality. You could stick to RMJ, Hardcore Hardware Australia, Winkler - there are so many options out there, everyone here has their favourites. But it always depends on how much you wanna spend. There are also mid prized hawks like the Kill Devil Sniper Hawk or the Rattle Hawk. I'd also recommend to check out Storm Crow's 'hawks (also mid-prized, 200+ for real quality work). I really need to order one from him but I can't afford them right now - freaking apprenticeship. Just search for his name here.
 
Thanks for the info. Its going to be for some folks that are military, and under paid. Seriously on a budget. Price point around $100 or less. Do any of the mass produced hawks hold up to real use?
 
I think for a hard use tool you should always go custom or extremely high end production. A failing blade can be extremely dangerous and I would personally never trust a cheap mass produced tool for hard work.

There's a ton of great makers on this forum who provide excellent hawks like Storm Crow, Wolf Creek Forge BRT bladeworks, and myself. And then there's good companies like RMJ, Winkler and Swamp rat that make a high quality production product. My advice is to invest in a tool that wont fail on you. There's no substitute for good materials and American craftsmanship, especially when you life could depend on the tool in question.
 
Synthetic handle...liked by military...sturdy, sharp, reliable and around $100.....check out the VTAC.
 
Check out the kangee at 100 bucks. Excellent hawk designed by a fella at RMJ. Made by Columbia River. Another vote for VTAC. Kangee better for woodworking and can be used as an ulu or VTAC for general not-awesome-at-anything except breaching kinda hawk.
 
For your criteria of synthetic handle and $100, I'd throw my vote in for the ATC VTAC. Very tough piece of gear.

I'd avoid anything with a rabbet tang, wooden handle, or a cast stainless head.
 
http://www.estwing.com/ao_black_eagle_tomahawk_black.php

This, no doubt. Estwing stuff is solid and made where it should be, is widely used for breaching, and we were stoked when they started making hawks. Cannot be beat for the price. Several brothers of mine rocked these on multiple trips and broke A LOT of crap with them.

I carried one when some type of light mechanical breaching ability was needed, but didn't want to carry an entire tool kit.
 
How 'bout the very compact/inexpensive ( @ $100.00) Ontario RD Hawk II, with sheath.

Ontario9423 BM Ranger Hawk_RD Hawk_s&r.jpg
 
Another vote for VTAC meeting your list. They even carry a NSN#.
I like the idea of a modified Estwing that I saw posted elsewhere. The poster claimed they were done by RMJ. The only way you could get them done for $100 bucks is if someone donated the work to modify them and the sheath.
estwing_1.jpg

estwing_2.jpg

estwing_3.jpg

camo_hawk_2.jpg
 
For your criteria of synthetic handle and $100, I'd throw my vote in for the ATC VTAC. Very tough piece of gear.

I'd avoid anything with a rabbet tang, wooden handle, or a cast stainless head.

Wooden handles aren't exactly the dainty frail little things some of you guys think they are.
 
Wolf -While I agree that wood handles aren't frail would you use one on a hawk used to breach and pry vs a full tang unit. I believe the intended use is for military folks.
Speaking of military folks:

Thanks for the info. Its going to be for some folks that are military, and under paid. Seriously on a budget.

Having two sons in the service, all my cousins, and myself served a while back- I'm sure they could actually afford a serious hawk IF they choose to. For what my kids spent on cars, bikes, etc they could have bought an RMJ a month-but would they. . . .;) (unless they are enlisted with families)
 
Wooden handles aren't exactly the dainty frail little things some of you guys think they are.

I've had wooden handles last for a long time through a lot of work, and I've had them break on literally the second hit. No handle material has felt as good in the hand to me as a good chunk of hickory, but it's a tradeoff worth making for strength on a tactical 'hawk, in my opinion. That, and the kind of prying that a tactical 'hawk may be called on is going to be very hard on a wooden handle.

I've spent too much time in my life replacing wooden handles I've broken to trust a soldier's life on one. That being said, I'd rather have a hickory handle when chopping brush.
 
And what if you manage to break or bend a full tang hawk? Don't say it can't happen. It can. I've seen a crowbar snap before. I'd rather have something I can easily replace myself instead of having someone reforge it much later.


Who am I kidding, I might as well talk to my dogs about this.
 
I would bet pretty much anything a full tang hawk like an RMJ....Kangee....etc.....will out last a wooden handle hawk per the same amount of use hands down in every situation you can name. BTW....since RMJ switched over to 4140 I believe 7 or 8 years ago......not one has been called in for failing. Id like to see any wood handle deal with the abuse a good full tang hawk will endure.
 
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