Tomahawk

Ask yourself the same question for knives, cars, shoes, etc.. Then consider that there's too many choices to ask such an open ended question.
You'll have to narrow down the specifics like.
traditional vs tactical
use, camping, breaching, or fighting?
long or short
spike or hammer poll
how much is affordable?
 
Last edited:
traditional and tactical (one for both, i am still not sure which to get)

use?

short (med)

hammer

Anywhere up to $100-$120
 
You can get a Frontier Hawk, plus a Pipe Hawk, plus a Trail Hawk for that price range. Then you have a lighter user in the Trail Hawk, a heavier user in the Pipe Hawk and a thrower with the Frontier Hawk. You can use them, abuse them and if you still like them you can mod them up as fancy as your mind can imagine.

If you decide you don't like them you can sand and oil the haft, strip the head and wrap an old shoelace on around the shaft and you can sell it on the forum for twice what you paid! :)
 
You should start at "USE", and go from there. There are so many hawks, each one has a use in it's design. Sure, most hawks are utility tools, some do many things, yet others have a very specific use in mind.
Nothing wrong with buying something that's "cool" looking, I've done that. If you start with a need, and match a tool to that need, then you get to use that tool for the intended purpose. You want to smile when you use a hawk, not get frustrated due to lack of performance.
Again, camping, fighting, throwing, or breaching? I've made some mistakes, based on assumtions in my hawk purchases. I had a use in mind, yet chose something that didn't work for the purpose. Like, backpacking, but choosing something like the Ontario RD Hawk. It's too heavy, and the edge is made for breaching, not chopping. Even if I modify the edge, it's too heavy and short for chopping wood, so is the Renegade, IMO.
Do you want two hawks for that price range, $100 to $120? One tactical(read full tang) and one traditional(wooden haft)? Be weary of the partial tang "tactical" hawks. The M48 and the CS Trench hawk have track records of breaking. I have a SOG Fasthawk, and abuse the crap out of it, it's holding up well to throwing, but otherwise it's not great at anything, edge and spike are too thick to cut, chop, or penetrate.
Two Hawks, Coal Creek Forge, Wolf Creek Forge, and others make affordable wooden hafted, forged hawks. You should start there if you want a real wood chopping hawk.
Throwers should be cheap, they will get damaged, and it's just a fun skill, not a real combat skill. Get cheap ones for sure if throwing is on your mind.
 
I'm fond of Ft Turner. They are hand forged in USA, lightweight but remarkably tough and can be made literally razor sharp.
 
Does anyone have any contact information for cold creek forge looking to get a tomahawk made and I hear they do Excellent work
 
thank you FOX looking to get a Tomahawk made for my son who is currently serving overseas.... Can you reccommend anyone else along with coal creek forge????
 
swcc70 said:
thank you FOX looking to get a Tomahawk made for my son who is currently serving overseas.... Can you reccommend anyone else along with coal creek forge????
Click to expand...
Depends on what type of hawk you're talking about. It seems that CCF hawks would be nice for civilian/camping type of uses. Lots of the designs I've seen look great, the handles are just beautiful, and so are the heads. I'm sure they can take some hard use as well.
Yet, if I were choosing a hawk for combat I'd be looking for a full tang hawk. My first choice would be a combat hawk, mostly a tool but also a weapon. I'd want somthing that could cut me out of a vehicle, cut sheet metal and glass, or a even a cinderblock wall. It would have to be something I could carry(small and light) can take a beating (handle won't break), and have rapid deployment. It should be made out of the correct steel for it's use, 4140, 5160, S7, for example..
RMJ Tactical, Winkler knives 2, JK Knives, Omnivore Blade Works, are all great makers that I would explore. If you're on a tight budget look at the Ontario RD Hawk, the Smith and Wesson hawk, or even the Benchmade hawk(it's a breacher not a fighter).
 
Steve at Coal Creek Forge has made some full tang tactical hawks. I had one of his jackhammer bit hammer poll hawks which a friend final talked me into selling to him. Just received a spike hawk from him a while back. The handling characteristics are MUCH MUCH better on the wood handled hawks. The extra weight of the metal in the handle of steel handled hawks robs them of power and speed.
 
wildmike said:
Steve at Coal Creek Forge has made some full tang tactical hawks. I had one of his jackhammer bit hammer poll hawks which a friend final talked me into selling to him. Just received a spike hawk from him a while back. The handling characteristics are MUCH MUCH better on the wood handled hawks. The extra weight of the metal in the handle of steel handled hawks robs them of power and speed.
Click to expand...

I didn't know Steve had ever made full tang hawks, any pics?

I understand the issue with mass distribution. I own some full tang, integral hawks myself, I started out with some less expensive models. I found the weight to be horrible, until I got a Winkler. The full tapered tang is where it's at! I also now have an RMJ Jenny Wren, the handle is skeletonized and is much lighter at the grip area.
So, yeah I still say that a full tang is better for combat(read utility tool first, weapon second) as long as the maker can put the weight towards the head. The handle and head will not separate, or shouldn't. The weight distribution of most wooden hafted traditional hawks is what full tang hawks should try to feel like.
 
I'm thinking king of an RMJ Jenny Wren myself. I don't have any pics of Steve's full tang hawks but they were shown in a thread by him here on the forums.
 
JMHO... For me it was 99% tool, 1% weapon. I do NOT like spikes on the back. Scar's still there after 40 years. Hammer poll is most useful and helps balance. Metal handles suck in the cold. Rubber is slippery when frequently wet. Slide in wood handles can be custom made to suit length, curved, wrapped, etc. Have found off the shelf Estwing axes to be dependable. Never was partial to 'throwing' away a weapon. Weight in the head where it belongs. 'foxx' says it good. Whatever 'feels' right.
 
When using the hammer end wouldn't the main blade leave a scar as well if used carelessly?
 
I have 2 Coal Creek Forge hawks and they're outstanding. Steve is a great guy and a pleasure to deal with.
His hawks are tough.
When speaking to him he informed me that he does indeed make a full tang tactical style hawk, he sent me several pictures and they looked very nice. When funds are available I'll pick one up.
I also have a couple of cold steel hawks hat work very well, a American Tomahawk Co hawk that's very nice, and a couple of RMJ's that are awesome but quite a bit out of your set price range.

I find hawks to be like knives, you can force one to do many tasks but you'll be happiest with many hawks that do certain tasks- it's also more fun that way ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top