In theory, I "get" the idea of a tomahawk - while I'm a firm believer that an axe is the tool for the job when significant amounts of wood processing need to be done, the reality is that if I'm hiking any decent distance into the backcountry, I just don't usually end up doing all that much heavy chopping/splitting (if I'm even in a backcountry area that still allows it). My backcountry needs are usually smaller-scale, and I either carry a small folding saw or bucksaw, and of course a good knife. If I'm deep in the backcountry, I'd rather not be carrying a full axe, both for weight and safety reasons - hence more reliance on a saw. But a 'hawk could fill a niche for small splitting tasks (rather than batoning with my knife) and for hammering.
That said, my only experience dabbling in 'hawks was with a Cold Steel Trail Hawk. I know many people love them, but I thought it was a total piece of crap. I know that you can expect to have to work on them a bit to get them truly usable, and I fully anticipated having to do this. But after hours of reshaping the handle to try and get a good head fit, it would still come loose after a few chops. The finish on the head was horrible, and the eye required a lot of filing just to get it smooth. It was also dull as a butter knife, and took a lot of time and effort to get even a passable edge on it. I put a fair bit of time into it, and still was left underwhelmed with it as a real, usable tool. In fact, the fit was still so poor that I didn't even feel safe using it.
I'm still open to the idea however. I just want to find a good one. No more than 1.5 lbs, with good head fit, and a hammer poll (and I also don't want to pay an exorbitant amount for it). I've considered
this one.
Ragweed Forge also seems to make some interesting models.
Any other suggestions?
