Tomahawk Design

[Binalith]

Not being in the armed forces or law enforcement I have not ever seen a need for a spiked tomahawk besides maybe throwing, but having done a ton of demolition and construction, I would think a hammer poll would be awesome for breaching. An estwing framing hammer is a seriously powerful tool in the right hands. I do have a cs pipe hawk and I like it a lot, thought the poll is too flat and I have been meaning to round it off a bit to reclaim some of the swing angle missing from it's geometry. And obviously the wooden handle has limitations. I haven't done any serious destruction with it, but I do feel like I could do some serious rough building with it. Now I realize a steel door is whole other thing to get through than wood, plaster, and glass, but I think a 'full tang' hammer polled tomahawk would be awesome for most common breaching operations. I know I can get through most suburban walls with my 20 oz. estwing in short order. And I know this isn't practical/tactical but the hammer does have a long history in battle, particularly in the heaviest armor periods of medieval Europe. Many had a spike I know..anyway: What do you think? Would this completely remove the 'can opener' capability, and is that a crucial feature in modern combat/breaching?

This thread made me rethink the spike somewhat though, very cool. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ts-Element-or-is-it?highlight=shrike+survival

Thanks, and sorry for the rambling approach.

 

[Simple Jumper]

My 2 cents: you can pry a padlock open with the spike, or you can smash it with the hammer. What ever tickles your fancy. On the other hand, the spike is also useful for breaking up ground (having been to Afghanistan I can attest that the dirt, combined with occasional rain and blistering summer sun, becomes hard as sh1t, a hammer would do little to break up ground if you were (for example) trying to dig away around a UXO, etc.
Different options on a similar tool offering different advantages and disadvantages.

 

[Binalith]

Hadn't thought of the ground breaking idea, good point, thanks. I would think that the combat based tomahawks were rarely used for any real woodwork so chopping ground with the bit wouldn't be much of a problem?