I know there's a preference towards axe use amongst folks on your side of the Atlantic, but I was wondering if any of you use a tomahawk? I've been using a trailmaster made by Cold Steel, nothing special, but I've grown quite fond of it during my tramps in the Ozarks here in Southwest Missouri in the States.
Tomahawks
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I have looked for a decent Tomahawk for a while....
The issue i have found in the UK is that cheap ones are more immitaion and I don't like the look of them / wouldn't trust them or they are stupidly expensive and need to be imported.
Think i may have to have one made for me.
The issue i have found in the UK is that cheap ones are more immitaion and I don't like the look of them / wouldn't trust them or they are stupidly expensive and need to be imported.
Think i may have to have one made for me.
The tomahawk shaft is usually less than 2 ft (0.61 m) in length, traditionally made of hickory, ash, or maple. The heads are anywhere from 9–20 oz (260–570 g) in weight, with a cutting edge usually not much longer than four inches from toe to heel. The poll can feature a small hammer, spike or simply be rounded off, and they usually do not have lugs. Stone tomahawk heads were typically made of polished soapstone, and ornately carved examples were used in some Native American rituals.
These usually had a pipe-bowl carved into the poll, and a hole drilled down the center of the shaft for smoking tobacco through the tomahawk. There are also metal-headed versions of this unusual pipe. Pipe tomahawks are artifacts unique to North America: created by Europeans as trade objects but often exchanged as diplomatic gifts. They are powerful symbols of the choice Europeans and Indians faced whenever they met: one end was the pipe of peace, the other an axe of war.
In Colonial French territory, a very different tomahawk design, closer to the ancient Francisca, was in use by French settlers and Indigenous Peoples.
In the late 18th Century, the British army issued tomahawks to their Colonial Regulars during the American Revolutionary War as a weapon and tool.
* I don't want one that can be a pipe! I'd quite like one with a hammer type head on the alternative side to add a weight balance but to use around the camp area.
But like i said i expect i will have to get a custom one made up.
I thinkGransofrs were going to do a tomahawk at one point...
These usually had a pipe-bowl carved into the poll, and a hole drilled down the center of the shaft for smoking tobacco through the tomahawk. There are also metal-headed versions of this unusual pipe. Pipe tomahawks are artifacts unique to North America: created by Europeans as trade objects but often exchanged as diplomatic gifts. They are powerful symbols of the choice Europeans and Indians faced whenever they met: one end was the pipe of peace, the other an axe of war.
In Colonial French territory, a very different tomahawk design, closer to the ancient Francisca, was in use by French settlers and Indigenous Peoples.
In the late 18th Century, the British army issued tomahawks to their Colonial Regulars during the American Revolutionary War as a weapon and tool.
* I don't want one that can be a pipe! I'd quite like one with a hammer type head on the alternative side to add a weight balance but to use around the camp area.
But like i said i expect i will have to get a custom one made up.
I thinkGransofrs were going to do a tomahawk at one point...
Gransfors Bruks do do a couple
http://www.gransfors.com/htm_eng/produkter/replikor.html
There at the bottom of the page
http://www.gransfors.com/htm_eng/produkter/replikor.html
There at the bottom of the page
Cold Steel Trailmaster and Rifleman are what you have in mind. I've got the Trailmaster. Very basic, not very expensive. Good camp/bushcraft tool. It took me a few hours of work to get the edge the way I wanted it. I also had to reset the head so it was more solid on the handle. I paid about $27.00US for it w/ shipping. It's like any cutting implement: how well it works depends on your technique. It's a tomahawk, not an axe. I can't split a billet of wood with it, but I can split kindling. I can carve a tent stake, but I can't carve a spoon. I've got a Marbles #5 Safety Axe that I like, but my 'hawk is lighter and easier to pack. I've thought about purchasing a Wetterlings and a Gransfors is just too cost prohibitive for me at this time. And, there's just the cool factor when you pull out a tomahawk at a campsite, for sure!
Got a North River custom tommy
http://www.north-river-custom-knives.com/custom-tomahawks.html
and its a cracker, cuts well and I've skinned with it too.
Mark
http://www.north-river-custom-knives.com/custom-tomahawks.html
and its a cracker, cuts well and I've skinned with it too.
Mark
My favourite is a Lee Reeves custom
Lee won't make them any more so I was very lucky to get this one
Lee won't make them any more so I was very lucky to get this one
My favourite is a Lee Reeves custom
Lee won't make them any more so I was very lucky to get this one
Do you actually use that work of art? That 'hawk is just down right sexy!
wonderfull pics guys i could easily start collecting those got 5 axes at the moment a tomahawk was going to be my next purchase prob a cold steel or other american tactical axe the us troops seem to be useing them now instead of issue knives personally i think ide rather be stabbed than clobbered with one of these .
problem in the uk is people see tactical looking items (used to own a gunpower stealth air rifle) and they sort of freak out...ive waved at the cops walking across the main road in my village with a gransfore off to chop a nre prop for the wife (as in clothes line not so she can take off lol) i cant imagine getting away with that with a tactical tomahawk.
still ill be getting one soon lol
problem in the uk is people see tactical looking items (used to own a gunpower stealth air rifle) and they sort of freak out...ive waved at the cops walking across the main road in my village with a gransfore off to chop a nre prop for the wife (as in clothes line not so she can take off lol) i cant imagine getting away with that with a tactical tomahawk.
still ill be getting one soon lol
My favourite is a Lee Reeves custom
Lee won't make them any more so I was very lucky to get this one
That's one tasty looking tool
I've been suffering a bit of tomahawk envy recently. Had a good trawl through some of the US sites but the issue I've come up with is this: A lot of the tomahawks currently made seem to be intended for throwing, and so the steel is specified or heat treated to be softer - making it less likely to break the head but not so good on the edge retention.
Anybody got any leads on a tomahawk designed for camp chores rather than throwing - my GB hatchet is a hard act to follow....
Rat
Anybody got any leads on a tomahawk designed for camp chores rather than throwing - my GB hatchet is a hard act to follow....
Rat
Its worth looking at early friction fit trade axes that GB and others make as well as "tomahawks" which tend to fit the same pattern. Trade axes tend to be more faithful reproductions and intended for use I find - although there are good and bad in both clearly
Red
Red
I've no idea if they're any good or not, but I've had a hankering for one of these for a while:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Craig-Barr-Hand...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2eaabeb6a8
His feedback is exemplary, which speaks volumes.
Next Christmas mebbe... it'll give me time to work on the tan, war paint and whooping anyway
http://cgi.ebay.com/Craig-Barr-Hand...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2eaabeb6a8
His feedback is exemplary, which speaks volumes.
Next Christmas mebbe... it'll give me time to work on the tan, war paint and whooping anyway
Hawks are great tools, I use the Cold Steel Trail hawk myself.
Note that hawks are light; the best chopping power comes from using a longer handle, which can be fashioned on-site given that hawk handles are tapered rather than wedged. The biggest mistake I made with my hawk was shortening the handle, give the longer one a go first and if you want to shorten it, do so in increments.
The Cold Steel hawks also have a grub screw that can be tightened onto the new handle for a little bit more security. In this sense, a light hawk with a hammer poll is the best pack-axe in my very humble opinion; they tend to have thin grinds, good for limbing and felling small trees, and the hammer poll will allow you to bash wedges in to split larger bits of wood, it handles smaller bits fairly well by itself. If the bit gets stuck while splitting, which can happen since there's a sharp transition to the eye, shift the head so the eye is in the middle of the handle, and give it a twist from both ends of the handle. The hammer poll also means the head can be used as a wedge itself to be smacked in with a bit of wood; not the most effective given the grind type, but if there's plenty of wood lying around ready to be split, it might just prove easier than fashioning a handle and then splitting.
If your primary concern is volume, an axe wins every time for me; a hawk isn't big or heavy enough to fell and split enough wood for a winter. But for a camp/trail tool, its versatility, packability and light weight make it a winner for me.
Pete
Note that hawks are light; the best chopping power comes from using a longer handle, which can be fashioned on-site given that hawk handles are tapered rather than wedged. The biggest mistake I made with my hawk was shortening the handle, give the longer one a go first and if you want to shorten it, do so in increments.
The Cold Steel hawks also have a grub screw that can be tightened onto the new handle for a little bit more security. In this sense, a light hawk with a hammer poll is the best pack-axe in my very humble opinion; they tend to have thin grinds, good for limbing and felling small trees, and the hammer poll will allow you to bash wedges in to split larger bits of wood, it handles smaller bits fairly well by itself. If the bit gets stuck while splitting, which can happen since there's a sharp transition to the eye, shift the head so the eye is in the middle of the handle, and give it a twist from both ends of the handle. The hammer poll also means the head can be used as a wedge itself to be smacked in with a bit of wood; not the most effective given the grind type, but if there's plenty of wood lying around ready to be split, it might just prove easier than fashioning a handle and then splitting.
If your primary concern is volume, an axe wins every time for me; a hawk isn't big or heavy enough to fell and split enough wood for a winter. But for a camp/trail tool, its versatility, packability and light weight make it a winner for me.
Pete
I've got a CS rifleman's hawk and a GB SFA.
The SFA is just better at most camp tasks, and more comfortable to use.
the hawk does have a little more penetrating power due to the thinner blade, but it doesn't split nearly as well.
Of the two, I carry the SFA.
The SFA is just better at most camp tasks, and more comfortable to use.
the hawk does have a little more penetrating power due to the thinner blade, but it doesn't split nearly as well.
Of the two, I carry the SFA.
nice link adze thanks i emaild the guy for one
got a return email (thats somthing at least ) deleted it on the spot im afraid so cant remember word for word but more less said NO i do my own designs and not anyone elses....only asked for less of a angle on the cutting edge thats a wonderfull looking axe but its so steep it looks like you could cut your own elbow off ...o wellI recently decided to quell my Tomahawk envy and contacted Steve Iley of Coal Creek Forge. The object of my affection was a pattern welded damascus Roger's Rangers Hawk I read about here http://sbgswordforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=otherweaponreviews&action=display&thread=12818
While I'm waiting for it to be made I also picked up the poll hawk pictured below as a camp utility tool.
gerry
While I'm waiting for it to be made I also picked up the poll hawk pictured below as a camp utility tool.
gerry
