Throwing Hawk

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Knifemaker
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I have decided to go ahead and buy a throwing tomahawk and need a recomendation. I am looking, of course, at Ragweed Forge. I like the hammer hawks, for style and as a tool. I want to learn to throw it, and have a usable tool. Don't know if the hammer is bad for that. Also what is the best weight for a thrower? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Nothing wrong with Ragweed forge . They have many fine brands available there including Helle blades . I would stay away fromCold Steel offerings . Thequality of their wares varies too widely and haveslightly misleading advertising in some cases . The Helle blades on the other hand are excellent and vary in quality like cold steel except you get what you pay for and more . I,ll let somewone else speakthe the quality of the rest of the Hawks aside from coldsteels offeringsas they won,t ship to Canada and so I have no direct knowledge of them .
The best Hawk I got and for less than most of Cold Steels offerings came from another forge was a British infantry light tomahawk with a hammer poll on the back end which turned out to be just an axe back which turned out to be perfect for banging in stakes and whatnot . 22 bucks and forged in the good old U:S:A: .If you want Icould scare up the name of the forge .
The big thing to remember when getting a hawk is that for the most part it should serve light duty as an axe .
 
Thanks Kevin. Yea any reading I can do would be appreciated. Plus a forge is a cool read anyway.
 
You want the Allan Foundry Hawks in 6150 from Ragnar. They are extremely tough, have excelent edge holding capabilities and can be used for more than the 410 stainless ones. They also get a nice patina on them that is very traditional.

You don't really want a hammer poll for throwing.

I'd suggest any of the French (Francesca) Hawks, woodland, hand-forged, octagon, Apache and Weaping Heart.

My personal favorites are the Viking Belt Axe and the Viking Bearded Axe. The Viking Belt Axe is too large for competition and the bearded axe throws well but is balanced more for work and fighting than throwing.

The Salinsky Hawks are also very good choices.
 
Thanks Cabbit, and good to see you posting with us again. We never intended to chase you off.:foot: Hope you are around more, I'll need more hawk advice.
 
Well, I'm still out of the game and dislike most of you, but I don't hold grudges and never hesitate helping someone who asks for it regardless of personal differences.
 
Appreciated. I will also apologize for my part if I offended you. And, respectfully, would like to say you have this place, and these people particularly, pegged wrongly. I hope you hang out and change your mind.
 
Cabbit,

I'm a little sorry you feel that way, but if you don't want to communicate with folks here, don't.

John
 
The good Hawks from Ragnar usually come with a decent coating of rust. This is normal and historically how they were. Just keep wiping them down with mineral oil, Ren Wax or other rust inhibitor and it'll turn into a nice black patina. Use flitz or one of the other rust removers along the edge, but you don't want to remove the patina from the whole head as it really protects them very well.
 
Thanks for the info. Will do.
 
I tried looking up the name of that forge in my address book .I think it might be toast . Give me a couple of days to get it back up and running . I,ll go over to the Throwzini website and get the name there . It,ll be worth it as its really a well made Hawk .
I think the forge name ended in son but Mr. Al Zheimer won,t let the rest come through ! L:O:L
 
Andy I threw a regular old hatchet for many years and years with no trouble.
Personally I like the double edged Hawks like the Nessmuk but the poll Hawks will work for throwing, just what a fellow gets used to himself.
Whatever you buy when you find one you like buy a couple of extras if you plan on throwing much, it's habit forming by the way.
The reason you want at least three of the things is that it will save you a lot of walking.

If you throw at 30 feet you have to retrieve your Hawk, walk back to your line, throw it again, walk to the target and then back to your line over and over again. With three or more it saves a helluva lot of steps.:thumbup: :cool:
 
The reason you want at least three of the things is that it will save you a lot of walking.

If you throw at 30 feet you have to retrieve your Hawk, walk back to your line, throw it again, walk to the target and then back to your line over and over again. With three or more it saves a helluva lot of steps.:thumbup: :cool:[/QUOTE]

Its good advice normally except I only throw one hawk at a time when I am
standing as close as thirty feet . I use one of my hairs as a target and I can,t afford to lose three hairs each round ! L:O:L
 
Good advice guys. Thanks.
 
I would avoid the ones sold by Throwzini due to their shaft design.

Instead of being slid on from the bottow of a tapered shaft so that the head is held on by the wider end, and thus impossible to fly off, the heads are held on by a screw that keeps them from flying off.

This is a less safe way of doing it as if the screw pops out ther'es nothing to keep the head attached to the handle.
 
I'll keep that in mind. I didn't know how the handle was mounted.
 
Cabbit said:
I would avoid the ones sold by Throwzini due to their shaft design.

Instead of being slid on from the bottow of a tapered shaft so that the head is held on by the wider end, and thus impossible to fly off, the heads are held on by a screw that keeps them from flying off.

This is a less safe way of doing it as if the screw pops out ther'es nothing to keep the head attached to the handle.
Click to expand...

If you are referring to the hawks Imentioned when I mentioned throwzini it is evident we speak of different hawks . The Hawk I got was of a very good quality . A well forged reproduction of a period tool .

I agree with your statement that a screwed on head is possibly an inferior design in some cases .
Here is some that are good and the one I spoke of that is excellent .(especially for $22 As my link might not work it is the Jas townsend company . The forged british light infantry hawk is great .

http://jas-townsend.com/product_info.php?cPath=20&products_id=60
 
Ragnar has some information about how to select a thrower at the top of the page that they're sold on.

He's right.

I have little experience throwing axes with two bits but I can't see how they wouldn't stick better than an axe with only one.

If you haven't already (and I haven't checked), try the tomahawk forum here at BF. There are some throwers on there who have some good ideas on what to look for.
 
Thanks Dave. I'll definitely be getting one from Ragnar eventually. First I wanna get a beater and screw it up real good though. Maybe I'll hate throwing hawks (right). I'll definitely want a good carbon steel one later on and I'll more than likely hit up Ragnar. I've bought several things from him already, hes a good guy, recommended by some of the best folks I know, and the shipping is fast and cheap.:thumbup: :cool: :D
 
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