THOUGHTS ON WHAT IS AVAILABLE AND WHAT YOU PAY
Have not contributed much the last many weeks .... the body is rotten
and the priority is shop time trying to finish the 70 hawks on back order.
My apologies to all that have been waiting patiently. Have been picking
away at this one during "break time" when too tired to do other stuff.
Over the years have had a lot of questions about "how much should I pay
for a tomahawk" and "who makes good tomahawks" and similar. I don't have
the ultimate answers for any of those questions, but I might be able to
provide some kind of a "guesstimate" schedule for evaluating ads.
When I mention a maker it is because I know his work (which fits the
category) and there are obviously others who do the same quality work.
Sorry that I don't know you or forgot you. When I mention a supplier
it does not mean that the only thing they offer is what I have seen
from that company. They may have better or worse stuff that I don't
know about. The categories where these folks are placed are entirely
due to my opinions based on a number of years of using hawks, buying
hawks, making hawks, and looking at a LOT of hawks made by other folks
that I did not bother to buy. It is strictly opinion, just like a
review of a new Broadway musical, and if you don't agree with me that
is no big deal. You also have your opinion .... but if you know a bit
about another hawk I haven't seen please contribute your views.
JUNK (WITH SOME SURPRISES):
These are rough hawks made overseas and sold for about 17 bucks by mass
market retailers like Atlanta Cutlery. They generally have poorly fitted
Asian hardwood handles and are very crude. Sometimes there is a surprise
with these .... a few years ago I picked up some India-made heads with
very good steel in them. The handles were junk and the eyes were so
crude that it was about impossible to fit the handles but what do you
want for 17 bucks.
CHEAP HAWKS:
A lot of the stuff you see at Rendezvous falls into this category, and
they sometimes provide a real value for the dollar if you don't care
about finish or can do your own. There's actually 2 categories that
fit the $40 to $60 price range:
Forged Heads: Most of the Rendezvous hawks fit here ... watch
for poor hammer welds, layer separations etc. The very best
forged head hawks are those from H&B Forge and while crude and
hard to fit handles to (due to inconsistent eyes) they are
very reliable in the field and should last forever. Look for a
rough-shaped varnished handle hydraulic-pressed into most of
these with no attempt at fitting to the head. In the historic
sense, these are probably the most accurate match for the cheap
stuff actually traded to the Indians in the 1700's and 1800's.
Cast Heads: There are a lot of hawks available using investment
castings (like a lot of rifle parts). From what I have seen they
are generally sound but leave a lot to be desired for design and
finish. These are sold "as-cast" with black spray-painted finish
and generally have a crude machine-finished handle hydraulic-pressed
into the head. Some are sold with a crudely rough ground cutting
edge. Examples are hawks sold by Track of the Wolf and Dixie Gun
Works and the Canadian Black Hawk sold by a lot of folks. If you
have the time to re-work these you can make a decent hawk but the
metal in these is often 410 stainless steel and cannot be blued or
browned for a traditional finish.
QUALITY FIELD TOOLS:
I'm a bit hesitant to open this category since it has been my own specialty
for a number of years. I have seen a few very good quality working hawks
at Rendezvous and shows over the years, but most of what I have seen has
been either cheaper hawks or expensive "show" replicas rather than good
solid working tools. These are the $100 to $200 well made hawks intended
to be used by packers, trappers, hunters and other folks who spend a lot
of time in the woods and are more concerned with utility than "replica"
historic accuracy. Likely to incorporate modern alloys and engineering
while based on traditional head designs.
THE MILITARIES:
There has been a recent resurgence of interest in primarily military-use
tomahawks. As a result, you can find "military" hawks ranging from $20
Vietnam-hawk overseas copies to high quality $400 "special tools" for a
combat environment. The tomahawk has long been recognized as probably
the most deadly close-quarter battle tool, and more recent fine-tuning
of the design has resulted in more effective head and handle engineering.
The ultimate 21st Century modernization of old battle-tested designs from
the 1700's is Ryan Johnson's Eagle Talon with an integral modern steel
head and handle and effective fighting head geometry. Andy Prisco's
American Tomahawk Company developed a virtually unbreakable synthetic
handle which they have fitted to Peter LaGana's old Vietnam Hawk design
and an arrowhead-spike head based on a 1700's hawk. My Warhawk designs
use more traditional materials with head geometry designed to permit use
of the hawk as a thrusting weapon like a knife in a combat environment.
There are probably a lot of other models available that I haven't seen.
QUALITY REPLICAS:
Somebody else might be able to come up with a better name for this
category, but my feeble old brain was not able to. These are the fine
handmade $300 to $400 hawks intended more for display than any field
use and characterized by historic accuracy, very fine finishing and
embellishment (such as silver or pewter handle inlays) and fancy head
designs. These are without a doubt investment-quality hawks, and all
that I have seen were of very high quality. Good examples are the RMJ
Forge "standard" items (I would consider them "special" but Ryan says
they are the regular stuff) and Szilaski's lower-priced units.
ART TOMAHAWKS:
Here we have a couple of possibilities. There is the miserable crud
that looks like something from a science fiction movie but still sells
for big bucks in the mass-market catalog area, and some very finely
crafted handmade works of art which would fit very nicely into an
exhibit in the Smithsonian of 1700's edged weapons.
The crud ranges from $29.95 to whatever. The true quality hawks can
range from the high $500's to over $2000 depending on how much work
goes into them. They are impeccably accurate historically, and are
made to standards that the world seldom sees any more. An example
that comes readily to mind is the better hawks made by Szilaski.
I wish I could do stuff this nice. But I'm just a toolmaker and
never claimed to be an artist.
SUMMARY:
There's a wide range of tomahawks available. Any of them will work
better than a sharp rock for cutting things (exactly why the traders
were able to get high quality fur in return for cheap iron axes).
I tried to sort what I have seen in today's market into categories and
provide some kind of descriptions. Probably screwed up and made some
people unhappy but you can sign on and vent your own opinion.
JUNK - $17 stuff from overseas
CHEAP - $40 to $60 rough but functional
TOOLS - $100 to $200 quality tools for field use
MILITARIES - $JUNK to $400 specialty tools for combat environments
QUALITY REPLICAS - $300 to $500 made better than the originals
ART HAWKS - $JUNK to the good $2000 stuff that belongs in a museum
I AM SURE THERE ARE A LOT OF FOLKS OUT THERE WHO EITHER DISAGREE OR
WANT TO ADD SOMETHING .... SIGN ON AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE DIALOG!!!
PS: There have been some rumors floating around that I am dead.
Do not believe rumors .... I am just old and sedentary.
TWO HAWKS
http://www.2hawks.net
Have not contributed much the last many weeks .... the body is rotten
and the priority is shop time trying to finish the 70 hawks on back order.
My apologies to all that have been waiting patiently. Have been picking
away at this one during "break time" when too tired to do other stuff.
Over the years have had a lot of questions about "how much should I pay
for a tomahawk" and "who makes good tomahawks" and similar. I don't have
the ultimate answers for any of those questions, but I might be able to
provide some kind of a "guesstimate" schedule for evaluating ads.
When I mention a maker it is because I know his work (which fits the
category) and there are obviously others who do the same quality work.
Sorry that I don't know you or forgot you. When I mention a supplier
it does not mean that the only thing they offer is what I have seen
from that company. They may have better or worse stuff that I don't
know about. The categories where these folks are placed are entirely
due to my opinions based on a number of years of using hawks, buying
hawks, making hawks, and looking at a LOT of hawks made by other folks
that I did not bother to buy. It is strictly opinion, just like a
review of a new Broadway musical, and if you don't agree with me that
is no big deal. You also have your opinion .... but if you know a bit
about another hawk I haven't seen please contribute your views.
JUNK (WITH SOME SURPRISES):
These are rough hawks made overseas and sold for about 17 bucks by mass
market retailers like Atlanta Cutlery. They generally have poorly fitted
Asian hardwood handles and are very crude. Sometimes there is a surprise
with these .... a few years ago I picked up some India-made heads with
very good steel in them. The handles were junk and the eyes were so
crude that it was about impossible to fit the handles but what do you
want for 17 bucks.
CHEAP HAWKS:
A lot of the stuff you see at Rendezvous falls into this category, and
they sometimes provide a real value for the dollar if you don't care
about finish or can do your own. There's actually 2 categories that
fit the $40 to $60 price range:
Forged Heads: Most of the Rendezvous hawks fit here ... watch
for poor hammer welds, layer separations etc. The very best
forged head hawks are those from H&B Forge and while crude and
hard to fit handles to (due to inconsistent eyes) they are
very reliable in the field and should last forever. Look for a
rough-shaped varnished handle hydraulic-pressed into most of
these with no attempt at fitting to the head. In the historic
sense, these are probably the most accurate match for the cheap
stuff actually traded to the Indians in the 1700's and 1800's.
Cast Heads: There are a lot of hawks available using investment
castings (like a lot of rifle parts). From what I have seen they
are generally sound but leave a lot to be desired for design and
finish. These are sold "as-cast" with black spray-painted finish
and generally have a crude machine-finished handle hydraulic-pressed
into the head. Some are sold with a crudely rough ground cutting
edge. Examples are hawks sold by Track of the Wolf and Dixie Gun
Works and the Canadian Black Hawk sold by a lot of folks. If you
have the time to re-work these you can make a decent hawk but the
metal in these is often 410 stainless steel and cannot be blued or
browned for a traditional finish.
QUALITY FIELD TOOLS:
I'm a bit hesitant to open this category since it has been my own specialty
for a number of years. I have seen a few very good quality working hawks
at Rendezvous and shows over the years, but most of what I have seen has
been either cheaper hawks or expensive "show" replicas rather than good
solid working tools. These are the $100 to $200 well made hawks intended
to be used by packers, trappers, hunters and other folks who spend a lot
of time in the woods and are more concerned with utility than "replica"
historic accuracy. Likely to incorporate modern alloys and engineering
while based on traditional head designs.
THE MILITARIES:
There has been a recent resurgence of interest in primarily military-use
tomahawks. As a result, you can find "military" hawks ranging from $20
Vietnam-hawk overseas copies to high quality $400 "special tools" for a
combat environment. The tomahawk has long been recognized as probably
the most deadly close-quarter battle tool, and more recent fine-tuning
of the design has resulted in more effective head and handle engineering.
The ultimate 21st Century modernization of old battle-tested designs from
the 1700's is Ryan Johnson's Eagle Talon with an integral modern steel
head and handle and effective fighting head geometry. Andy Prisco's
American Tomahawk Company developed a virtually unbreakable synthetic
handle which they have fitted to Peter LaGana's old Vietnam Hawk design
and an arrowhead-spike head based on a 1700's hawk. My Warhawk designs
use more traditional materials with head geometry designed to permit use
of the hawk as a thrusting weapon like a knife in a combat environment.
There are probably a lot of other models available that I haven't seen.
QUALITY REPLICAS:
Somebody else might be able to come up with a better name for this
category, but my feeble old brain was not able to. These are the fine
handmade $300 to $400 hawks intended more for display than any field
use and characterized by historic accuracy, very fine finishing and
embellishment (such as silver or pewter handle inlays) and fancy head
designs. These are without a doubt investment-quality hawks, and all
that I have seen were of very high quality. Good examples are the RMJ
Forge "standard" items (I would consider them "special" but Ryan says
they are the regular stuff) and Szilaski's lower-priced units.
ART TOMAHAWKS:
Here we have a couple of possibilities. There is the miserable crud
that looks like something from a science fiction movie but still sells
for big bucks in the mass-market catalog area, and some very finely
crafted handmade works of art which would fit very nicely into an
exhibit in the Smithsonian of 1700's edged weapons.
The crud ranges from $29.95 to whatever. The true quality hawks can
range from the high $500's to over $2000 depending on how much work
goes into them. They are impeccably accurate historically, and are
made to standards that the world seldom sees any more. An example
that comes readily to mind is the better hawks made by Szilaski.
I wish I could do stuff this nice. But I'm just a toolmaker and
never claimed to be an artist.
SUMMARY:
There's a wide range of tomahawks available. Any of them will work
better than a sharp rock for cutting things (exactly why the traders
were able to get high quality fur in return for cheap iron axes).
I tried to sort what I have seen in today's market into categories and
provide some kind of descriptions. Probably screwed up and made some
people unhappy but you can sign on and vent your own opinion.
JUNK - $17 stuff from overseas
CHEAP - $40 to $60 rough but functional
TOOLS - $100 to $200 quality tools for field use
MILITARIES - $JUNK to $400 specialty tools for combat environments
QUALITY REPLICAS - $300 to $500 made better than the originals
ART HAWKS - $JUNK to the good $2000 stuff that belongs in a museum
I AM SURE THERE ARE A LOT OF FOLKS OUT THERE WHO EITHER DISAGREE OR
WANT TO ADD SOMETHING .... SIGN ON AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE DIALOG!!!
PS: There have been some rumors floating around that I am dead.
Do not believe rumors .... I am just old and sedentary.
TWO HAWKS
http://www.2hawks.net
