- Joined
- Feb 7, 2013
- Messages
- 1,859
I made a few responses to Freewheelings thread about the VTAC, so I thought I would make a thread explaining alittle about its design and why it works so well.
Im new to the site, but I covered a little of my background on how Ive come to these conclusions in the previous thread mentioned. I want to preface this before I start to say I dont consider myself an expert in tomahawks and have not had first hand experience with all the makes on the market, but I own and have used many of them extensively.
The design of the VTAC has been proven time and time again with over 40 years of service. This alone speaks plenty of its abilitys. I wont go into the whole mlitary issued serial number because I can see both sides of the story on how it dosent really "prove" anything, however it is a credential none the less. At any rate, as I mentioned before, Peter Lagana spent many years of careful study of design and function before deciding on this blueprint for a tomahawk. It was revamped several years back to be ever so slightly smaller and a vast improvement in the handle. Again, I dont claim the VTAC does everything better than any other tomahawk on the market but as for being a 'one peice of equipment does it all' design, I believe its about as good as it gets.
The drop forged 1060 is an excellent compromise for impact durability vs. edge retention. The grind on the 5 edges is is set at a degree which makes any form of chipping, rolling or denting virtually impossible, all the while keeping a "sharper than it needs to be edge". This is a Godsend when it comes to ripping through metal, glass and concrete, which it does beautifully. I have chopped and sliced through 1/4 inch steel on countless occasions with absolutely no damage to the edges what so ever. Ive penetrated and chopped through concrete with rebar internally with no damage. Smashed and sliced through heavy gauge locks and steel compressed cylinders with no damage at all. Believe it or not Ive also hit a 10 pound solid steel olympic weight plate with the spike end at probably 75 percent full force just to see what happens, and guess what?.........no damage AT ALL. This head will hold up to as far as im concerned, ANYTHING.
Most of your tomahawks use a sweep style blade as opposed to the straight Vietnam style. I believe this is the number one down fall for a multi purpose tomahawk. On the VTAC, place the blade on a flat surface and you will see how the top of the main blade is actually ahead of the bottom of the blade by the way the handle does not form a straight line with the blade. Its that one single feature alone that allows this design to penetrate soft tissue, clothing, or metals much more effectlivey than a curved blade. Take your tomahawk and slowly mimic a swing. Notice where the blade would make contact with the target. Its that tip that starts the cut which allows the rest of the blade to follow the opening with the least amount of resistance. A curved blade will need to cut and then push its body through the target where a straight blade will inherently penetrate much deeper with less effort than a similar sized tomahawk with a curved blade. A straight blade will also tend to "hold onto" its intended target where a curved edge will have an inclination to slide off a less than perfect strike. This is huge when it comes to dealing with hard targets.
I believe a close second in terms of effectiveness in blade style, is the design of the VTACS beard. The majority of bearded hawks on the market use a reverse sweep such as a K5 or Benchmade. I certainly see why they use this style when it comes to the provebial "can opener" effect, but having opened plently of cans myself, I can tell you the VTAC's beard design works just as well, maybe even better. If you look at the VTAC's beard you can see how it slighty curves upward towards the main edge. This is paramount. When used for hooking an opponent, the last thing in the world I need is for my weapon to get stuck in the enemy where I have to focus on ripping it out or letting go because its caught up on bone or tough tendon. If he's not dead, he now has my weapon and is probably a little more upset than he was a few moments ago. Same goes for trying to pry or rip through metals. Go you tube some of the big name tomahawks out there where the video them cutting up cars or steel drums. Anyone ever comment on how they always get their hawks hung up in the material? That costs valuable moments, and in a life or death situation, those moments are everything! The up curved beard on the VTAC lends itself perfectly to slice and slide out from the material its lodged in. This is especially true when it comes to soft body tissue like when I mentioned getting hung up on bone or tendon. With the beard being up swept in nature along with 4+ inches of steel in front of the handle, this gives you all the room in the world to grab ahold of an opponent, take control of the desired limb or neck, and slice out at your discretion. Again, if your hook is not an instant kill, trying to pry that hawk out of your opponent while he is moving all over the place will be something you will wish you thought of before you chose that style hawk.
The spike end of the VTAC uses the same logic when it comes to its straight design and beard.
Because of the straight lines or geometery of the VTAC, it is a joy to throw. I know throwing your weapon is generally a no no, its kinda like splitting 10's in blackjack, but there is a time and place for it. If throwing for fun, not too many hawks out there do as well as the VTAC due to the straight lines and light handle. Because the spike is not curved, it sticks and removes from the target very well.
Finally the handle. Many people think a two peice design is inferior.........not true. As Im sure youve all read before, its virtually indestructable. I can tell you straight up, Ive lodged the VTAC's head between two immovable surfaces and literally put all my strength and weight onto the handle to try an break it. No deals. Ive taken the top bolt out of the handle and tried to rip the head off..........no deals. The handle is machine pressed into the head, so even if the internal bolt were to break, which is extremely unlikey, the head will remain on the shaft.
As you can tell, I enjoy my VTAC's. Actually getting another one custom ground from Fehrman here soon.
Im new to the site, but I covered a little of my background on how Ive come to these conclusions in the previous thread mentioned. I want to preface this before I start to say I dont consider myself an expert in tomahawks and have not had first hand experience with all the makes on the market, but I own and have used many of them extensively.
The design of the VTAC has been proven time and time again with over 40 years of service. This alone speaks plenty of its abilitys. I wont go into the whole mlitary issued serial number because I can see both sides of the story on how it dosent really "prove" anything, however it is a credential none the less. At any rate, as I mentioned before, Peter Lagana spent many years of careful study of design and function before deciding on this blueprint for a tomahawk. It was revamped several years back to be ever so slightly smaller and a vast improvement in the handle. Again, I dont claim the VTAC does everything better than any other tomahawk on the market but as for being a 'one peice of equipment does it all' design, I believe its about as good as it gets.
The drop forged 1060 is an excellent compromise for impact durability vs. edge retention. The grind on the 5 edges is is set at a degree which makes any form of chipping, rolling or denting virtually impossible, all the while keeping a "sharper than it needs to be edge". This is a Godsend when it comes to ripping through metal, glass and concrete, which it does beautifully. I have chopped and sliced through 1/4 inch steel on countless occasions with absolutely no damage to the edges what so ever. Ive penetrated and chopped through concrete with rebar internally with no damage. Smashed and sliced through heavy gauge locks and steel compressed cylinders with no damage at all. Believe it or not Ive also hit a 10 pound solid steel olympic weight plate with the spike end at probably 75 percent full force just to see what happens, and guess what?.........no damage AT ALL. This head will hold up to as far as im concerned, ANYTHING.
Most of your tomahawks use a sweep style blade as opposed to the straight Vietnam style. I believe this is the number one down fall for a multi purpose tomahawk. On the VTAC, place the blade on a flat surface and you will see how the top of the main blade is actually ahead of the bottom of the blade by the way the handle does not form a straight line with the blade. Its that one single feature alone that allows this design to penetrate soft tissue, clothing, or metals much more effectlivey than a curved blade. Take your tomahawk and slowly mimic a swing. Notice where the blade would make contact with the target. Its that tip that starts the cut which allows the rest of the blade to follow the opening with the least amount of resistance. A curved blade will need to cut and then push its body through the target where a straight blade will inherently penetrate much deeper with less effort than a similar sized tomahawk with a curved blade. A straight blade will also tend to "hold onto" its intended target where a curved edge will have an inclination to slide off a less than perfect strike. This is huge when it comes to dealing with hard targets.
I believe a close second in terms of effectiveness in blade style, is the design of the VTACS beard. The majority of bearded hawks on the market use a reverse sweep such as a K5 or Benchmade. I certainly see why they use this style when it comes to the provebial "can opener" effect, but having opened plently of cans myself, I can tell you the VTAC's beard design works just as well, maybe even better. If you look at the VTAC's beard you can see how it slighty curves upward towards the main edge. This is paramount. When used for hooking an opponent, the last thing in the world I need is for my weapon to get stuck in the enemy where I have to focus on ripping it out or letting go because its caught up on bone or tough tendon. If he's not dead, he now has my weapon and is probably a little more upset than he was a few moments ago. Same goes for trying to pry or rip through metals. Go you tube some of the big name tomahawks out there where the video them cutting up cars or steel drums. Anyone ever comment on how they always get their hawks hung up in the material? That costs valuable moments, and in a life or death situation, those moments are everything! The up curved beard on the VTAC lends itself perfectly to slice and slide out from the material its lodged in. This is especially true when it comes to soft body tissue like when I mentioned getting hung up on bone or tendon. With the beard being up swept in nature along with 4+ inches of steel in front of the handle, this gives you all the room in the world to grab ahold of an opponent, take control of the desired limb or neck, and slice out at your discretion. Again, if your hook is not an instant kill, trying to pry that hawk out of your opponent while he is moving all over the place will be something you will wish you thought of before you chose that style hawk.
The spike end of the VTAC uses the same logic when it comes to its straight design and beard.
Because of the straight lines or geometery of the VTAC, it is a joy to throw. I know throwing your weapon is generally a no no, its kinda like splitting 10's in blackjack, but there is a time and place for it. If throwing for fun, not too many hawks out there do as well as the VTAC due to the straight lines and light handle. Because the spike is not curved, it sticks and removes from the target very well.
Finally the handle. Many people think a two peice design is inferior.........not true. As Im sure youve all read before, its virtually indestructable. I can tell you straight up, Ive lodged the VTAC's head between two immovable surfaces and literally put all my strength and weight onto the handle to try an break it. No deals. Ive taken the top bolt out of the handle and tried to rip the head off..........no deals. The handle is machine pressed into the head, so even if the internal bolt were to break, which is extremely unlikey, the head will remain on the shaft.
As you can tell, I enjoy my VTAC's. Actually getting another one custom ground from Fehrman here soon.
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