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Your Opinion >> Spike or Poll? >> And Why?

JParanee said:
Dwight this is off topic but I have 4 of your books and enjoy them very much thanks for taking the time to do all those drawings. Much Apreciated:thumbup::D
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same here! and eagerly awaiting the next two:D
 
Dwight McLemore said:
I'm so sorry for killing the discussion. I've now fell into a fit of depression that can only be cured by another turkey sandwitch (left-overs) and playing with my Emerson now.

Best Dwight
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green with Emerson-goodness envy....

:cool::(

i need, i need.

vec
 
Poll; useful as a weapon and tool, spike is much more limited in application and is a potential danger to the wearer and those around him due to the poor sheaths common to modern tomahawks. Spike fans can always dream up handly ideas for use; as an aul, digging taters, getting it stick in someones kevlar after you use it on them, etc. A full contact blow with a hammer poll to someone would be just as deadly as from a spike, and you dont have to pull it out. As a weapon the tomahawk is neat, but in my experience I never saw the extra weight as worth the potential utility. If your vehicle mounted and weight isnt a problem then toss one in. For all the articles and discussions early on in OEF/OIF about troops carrying tomahawks, I think they are the modern version of the Confederate D guard bowie, which was hugely popular at the start of the war, but had been largely dumped by mid war due to the same weight to utility issue. I was in Desert Storm, the Balkans, and Afghanistan, and never saw anyone with a tomahawk. If someone here has a first hand carry story please post it, but please, no "my second cousin that's in SOF" stories.
 
Nuke41 said:
If someone here has a first hand carry story please post it, but please, no "my second cousin that's in SOF" stories.
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http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6216862&postcount=8

i have a few investors in the field that say they are carrying some of the first Gen 1 Mk 1's too. - in fairness, i presume that they are MOUT.

not all hawks are heavy. - some of the protoypes i am working on for a large american company need to have weight added to them, in fact.

i wouldn't expect you to see anyone with a hawk - but i also expect that it will become more common.

you'll see them, especially as they improve, i reckon.

vec
 
Spike for me. The only reason I chose to carry a hawk was to get the use out of the spike, the blade is just a bonus. Never put much thought in to it as a weapon, but I do spend a great deal of time outdoors.
Last year I took my 5 (then) year old winter camping, we brought a tent that needed to be pegged down and all kinds of other comforts a couple guys need in the cold. I could not get the pegs in, no matter what I tried, I knew I was missing a tool. Then this year I could have used a tool to help scale a steep gravel cliff, it was a dire situation, a spike would have saved my day then too.
I found the V-Tac hawk and thought it looked like the exact tool I was missing, haven't needed it since I bought it though.
Back then, and still now I bring my Gransfors Forest axe too, the hawk was supposed to compliment my gear, however it is proving to be a burden. Looks very cool though!
 
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I prefer the spike...

Don't need to hammer tent pegs, etc. when I go into the wilderness... if I did, I would feel differently.
For me, the hawk in the wilderness is used for a weapon first, for a chopper second... my VTAC can do both fine...
If I decide to be 'different' and take my CS Frontier Hawk... it can do both, also...

I travel light, but try to cover any scenarios... including getting lost, even though that is unlikely...
 
A spike can easily punch through kevlar. Fortunately the odds of having to take your tomahawk to an angry kevlar-wearing grizzly bear in the woods are pretty slim.

I believe that a poll would be more practical for me because if I wanted to do any batoning a spike would only get in the way. To be honest I've never handled any tomahawk so this is purely speculative.
 
I think a pole would be more practical but I love the look of yhose spike hawks.. Just bad ass Rodgers Rangersish
 
"A spike can easily punch through kevlar."

True statement, but good luck getting it out quickly. I've seen guys drive knives thru kevlar to prove it can be done, and it works, but that stuff is very hard to pull something out of. Also, if your close enough to hit someone in the head why choose to hit somewhere that your likely to wedge your weapon into and have a hard time retrieving it?
 
I won't likely meet a kevlar-clad person in the wilderness...
I won't likely meet a kevlar-clad person in a home defense scenario,either...
I don't worry about sticking the spike in myself, either...

Spikes are good for prying, chipping, splitting, punching a hole, etc...
I would have less use for a 'hammer' in the wilderness...
 
Nuke41 said:
...if you're close enough to hit someone in the head why choose to hit somewhere that you're likely to wedge your weapon into and have a hard time retrieving it?
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If the angry kevlar-wearing grizzly bear is also wearing a steel helmet an effective brain shot might be difficult/impossible. Also those guys can get pretty tall when they stand up (sometimes near 10 ft). In this case your best bet is to deflate one of its lungs and start running. ;)

I'm surprised I haven't seen a modular tomahawk head yet with the ability to screw on/off (or otherwise attach/disconnect) a variety of spikes, hammer heads, or other things. After all you never know when you might want to set up your hawk with a can opener, bowie blade, or mini first-aid kit. :thumbup:
 
i did see something similiar on here a couple years ago that had some different attachments such as spikes and what not. i can't remember who made it though.
 
Gentlemen, gentlemen...and I used that term loosely - God gifted each of us with 2 hands...one for the poll, the ogther for the spike :o
 
My hawk doesn't have either :(

I now have spike and poll envy. Is there any benefit in having nothing on the back?

GB4991.jpg
 
Moff8 said:
My hawk doesn't have either :(

I now have spike and poll envy. Is there any benefit in having nothing on the back?

GB4991.jpg
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I've found plain tomahawks like that have the benefit of being lighter, and therefore have better speed & agility.

Make no mistake, if you lay the back end of that hawk head upside someone's head, they're gonna have a very bad day. Even without a spike or hammer poll. A hard blow like that is the equivalent of a blow with a crude mace or heavy steel pipe.

Sometimes I find a spike more useful but usually the hammer poll wins for all around general utility. I like the plain ones too. Heck I like 'em all.
 
AfterTFD said:
I'm surprised I haven't seen a modular tomahawk head yet with the ability to screw on/off (or otherwise attach/disconnect) a variety of spikes, hammer heads, or other things. After all you never know when you might want to set up your hawk with a can opener, bowie blade, or mini first-aid kit. :thumbup:
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Somebody forward this to Vec, quick!
 
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