The campcraft hawk

[Joe Talmadge]

I realize what I'm asking for may not make sense, you don't have to take the trouble to point that out to me At this point, I'm just wondering if such a beast exists that I describe below.

I've been thinking about a hawk for the backcountry, and for a number of reasons that aren't well-thought-out yet, I'm thinking a spike poll might be interesting even for non-combative functions (yes, I know, a hammer poll will probably always be 1000% more interesting for camp use, but humor me). This hawk would absolutely not be for throwing.

So the question is, do any of the spike hawks have an edge geomtry and steel choice that would make it roughly competitive with (say) the G-B small hatchet or the other various good pocket hatchet choices? I'm looking specifically to hear from someone who has benchmarked a hawk against a good-performing small hatchet. My sense is that hawk steels and geometries are usually more designed as all-arounders (fighting, entry, throwing) rather than optimized as wood cutters.


Joe

 

[crossada]

the atc ranger spike hawk does pretty good at wood chopping but its edge holding isn't the hi point. doubtful if you will find a hawk that will outperform a hatchet such as a gransfors bruks as they are made for chopping wood and the tomahawk isn't so narrowly focused.

i remember a great thread where 2hawks and Cliff Stamp argued the better perfomance but that thread is probably gone now after the overhaul. check out Cliff's website to see how the atc spike compared to the G-B.

 

[NorthStarXO]

Joe,

While the Rainier line is more the "camp axe" style see: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=368523
the Frontiersman: http://www.bmtomahawks.com/store/index.html (click on AUTHOR SERIES) has a longer blade profile and shorter, heftier spike and throws beautifully. You can get both from One Stop Knife Shop.

As for the edge holding on the RR Spike (also can be purchased from One Stop), at least it takes and edge easily in the field and it actually does hold a great edge depending on what you're doing with it. They all throw great and if you get the sharpened hooking edge on the RR Spike you can use it for hunting - either hunting by hawk (which seems like a lot of work to me ) or using it to gut & skin out whatever you've taken.

The Rainier actually works great for hunting as we have a lot of customers who use that beard, which is really sharp, to get in the deer, then rock the handle back and zip it open. All the hawks will quarter out anything you can take down, skin it and butcher it cleanly.

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Thanks for the pointers, will check them out!