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Which CS hawk is your favorite?
- Thread starter rwasham
- Start date
If you HAVE to go with cold steel then any of those will float your boat, The rifleman's is a bit heavy for most, the trail hawk is probably the modding community's favorite, the spike and frontier are both brand new.
In my opinion the Frontier and Spike hawk would be your best bet, if you want to modify it you should probably grab the trail hawk first.
In my opinion the Frontier and Spike hawk would be your best bet, if you want to modify it you should probably grab the trail hawk first.
Currently the Norse Hawk. I like it so much I bought two. 
My first one is the Rifleman's Hawk I bought in early 1994 and I'm wishing I would have started with the Norse Hawk instead.
I have a Trail Hawk on the way. It never spoke much to me before but maybe it will... after I improve it some.
My first one is the Rifleman's Hawk I bought in early 1994 and I'm wishing I would have started with the Norse Hawk instead.
I have a Trail Hawk on the way. It never spoke much to me before but maybe it will... after I improve it some.
hmmm...sounds like an interresting mod....lol just got the trail hawk. Cant wait to make it my own!
My personal favorite is the Frontier...the older model though, not the new 2010 version. They're great throwers (my favorite throwers, in fact), and although they're Cold Steel's lightest hawks iirc, my Frontiers still chop just as well or better than all my other CS hawks (maybe just because I can swing the lighter head faster). If you can find one of the older Frontier hawks, that's my recommendation.
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I've had a Rifleman's Hawk since they first came out. I still use it when camping & throw it. Mine doesn't have any set screw to keep the handle tight --- nor does it need one.
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I've only tried the frontier so far myself but it's great. It throws and sticks very well with its bell shape. The price is right for those of us who are cash strapped dads with little boys who like to throw axes at things. It was hard for me to get used to as a working axe. I have been using standard poll ax handles with a fawns foot shape since I was a kid. I like having a ball on the end of my handle. Hockey stick tape has remedied a lot of that. That said, the thin bit on this little hawk, combined with a 19" handle make it a real wood eater. My first real foray with it was dropping a six inch elm. She bit deep and cut clean. I found the varnish on the handle had to go, and it went. The abrupt angle of the edge was easily relieved with a few passes of a file and an axe puck. This made it a far better chopper. Finally I ditched the set screw. If the head comes loose it's less labour to tap the head end on a log to snug it up than to have that stupid screw chewing away to wood under the eye.
The following assessments are from looking at these hawks and reading their specs. They express my personal preferences, so please don't get ticked if I insult your preference inadvertently. No disrespect is intended. The rifleman looks too heavy for my liking with a straight handle. The trail hawk I think I would find a little too narrow for chopping, although it's got that nice little hammer poll. The Norse looks like it would stick really well with that high point on the top, but it's light for the amount of edge that it has, so I wonder how deeply it would bite in chopping. The spike and the trench look groovy, but I couldn't justify those since, as a school teacher, I don't foresee getting deployed to Afghanistan or being attacked by privateers. The frontier is just right for me.
The following assessments are from looking at these hawks and reading their specs. They express my personal preferences, so please don't get ticked if I insult your preference inadvertently. No disrespect is intended. The rifleman looks too heavy for my liking with a straight handle. The trail hawk I think I would find a little too narrow for chopping, although it's got that nice little hammer poll. The Norse looks like it would stick really well with that high point on the top, but it's light for the amount of edge that it has, so I wonder how deeply it would bite in chopping. The spike and the trench look groovy, but I couldn't justify those since, as a school teacher, I don't foresee getting deployed to Afghanistan or being attacked by privateers. The frontier is just right for me.
It does stick well. They bite plenty deep but they do better if you re-profile the edge.