What is a good inexpensive tomahawk?

L

lonestar1979

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Mar 2, 2014
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I have no experience with these,which one is best for price?It will be used for utility and camp work.Is it better to get a hatchet?Which smaller hatchets are inexpensive and are of decent quality?
 
I have a "trappers axe" (tomahawk with poll) from crazy crow. Hand forged -- probably in India :) and not finished real pretty, but I sharpened it up and have been impressed with how it handles hatchet/camp type tasks for ~$22. It's a little lighter and smaller than my throwing hawks, and the poll is definitely useful!
 
Crazy Crow is around the price point of Cold Steel, crazy crow tomahawks need about the same amount of work IMO, and they offer more styles. They're "hand forged" but I've seen a few axe models of theirs marked PAKISTAN or INDIA. The few that I've owned in the past have held decent edges once sharpened.
 
if you can wait for them to make one for you H&B Forge is the best hawk out there for the money. if you want to try a hawk before getting too financially involved get a cold steel frontier and play.
 
For a tight budget it's hard to beat the Cold Steel tomahawks. They have enough models from the light Trailhawk to the much heavier Riflemans hawk. You can leave them as they are and hit the woods or you can modify them as can be seen in the sticky threads above.

I like the 2 Hawks models also. I have the Longhunter and Warbeast and they are out of the box ready. They feel great and hold a very good edge.

Steve Liley at Coal Creek Forge makes an incredible Jack Hawk that has to be seen and used to believe how good they are. They are a little heavier but hit like a jack hammer. I doubt you could dull one doing average work. A bit more money than the CS products but about the same (if I remember correctly) as the 2 Hawks. But both are work every penny. Steve can be reached on this forum.

Granfors Bruks makes great small axes or you can get a Fisckars or Lowe's hatchet if you want to go that route.

Good luck.
 
hatchet - fiskars x7
hawk - crkt woods chogan hawk with Estwing sheath #5 leather or #15 nylon
 
I have become more of a vintage U.S.A. axe/hatchet guy than a tomahawk guy. That said, I do have a CS trail hawk and like it. It has a 22" handle, penetrates deep for it's size, stays sharp, and is very light, 22 oz. No modifications other than a paracord wrap for overstrike, and a paracord knob at the end of the handle. I haven't compared it to other hawks, but there's nothing I find lacking. I started cheap with a CS just to see if I liked a hawk. If I had it to do over again I would have bought a "made-in-America" hawk just because I like that. First on my list for the next hawk is H&B Forge. I would consider Coal Creek Forge, but I can't find a website to look at their catalog. It looks like it's one of those businesses that requires you to have a facebook page to look at their stuff, which annoys me. On the other hand, I may just haft a 1 1/4-1 1/2 pound hatchet head on a 19-22" handle.

I already have a 18.5 oz. plumb hatchet head that I hafted on an 18" handle, so it kind of acts as a tomahawk sized chopper/splitter for me. FOR THERE SIZE, if the tomahawk chops 10/10 and splits 6/10, the hatchet chops 9/10 and splits 9/10. That's comparing them to each other. I have no idea how the plumb would be compared to another hatchet on an 18" handle, or the Trail-hawk compared to another tomahawk. I have also considered a Spike-hawk for the ease of digging with the pick end.
 
stevep said:
if you can wait for them to make one for you H&B Forge is the best hawk out there for the money. if you want to try a hawk before getting too financially involved get a cold steel frontier and play.
Click to expand...

This H & B Shawnee
 
shortwinger, I see you mention Steve Liley at Coal Creek Forge. I've been attempting to contact him through this forum as well as the last e-mail address I could find for him (from a 2010 posting) but no replies as of yet. Was wondering if you have a better method of contact for him. There doesn't seem to be a lot of success with googling his name or company. I wasn't sure since it was an old post if he is still in the buisness or not. but your post is 2016 so only 1 year old. There may still be hope left. Thanks in advance.
 
Iv got a cold steel riflemans hawk. I really like it. It was my first hawk and I will now go on to buy most of Cold Steels other Hawks.
IMO the cold steel hawks are all good buys. And with a little bit of work can be turned into some very attractive and useful tools. Cant go wrong I dont think.
IMG_2703_zpsq4s7uoqi.jpg
 
Crkt woods chogan. Needs sharpening, after that a great hawk for actual camp use. Takes a keen edge and holds it. Hammer poll works great. Good weight for cutting and hammering. I've batonned through thicker wood too.
 
Does anyone know if Steve Liley at Coal Creek Forge is still doing business. Can't seem to get into contact with me from the e-mail I found on a 2010 forum posting. Would like to get him to do a hawk for me if possible.
 
Walkbyfaith777. They have top notch Customer service...they can walk you thru your customization and you can choose whichever type you would ever dream of.
The Customer service is like the service we used to have Way back when.
I will Never but Another Hawk from anyone else Again. You can have it as a display or you can use it as a Real Working Tool.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
andryon910 said:
Walkbyfaith777. They have top notch Customer service...they can walk you thru your customization and you can choose whichever type you would ever dream of.
The Customer service is like the service we used to have Way back when.
I will Never but Another Hawk from anyone else Again. You can have it as a display or you can use it as a Real Working Tool.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

andryon910 said:
Walkbyfaith777. They have top notch Customer service...they can walk you thru your customization and you can choose whichever type you would ever dream of.
The Customer service is like the service we used to have Way back when.
I will Never but Another Hawk from anyone else Again. You can have it as a display or you can use it as a Real Working Tool.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
4b64bf1bdfb6fb63abe370d759545e9a.jpg


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
Haven't seen anything from Steve in awhile and I thought he was winding things down last year. If he is around he will see this sooner or later.
 
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