Any tomahawk users here?

[Berserkr556]

I love Tomahawks, I've had one or more since I was a boy. I got my first one when I received my first real guns, (20ga. & .22lr rifle) at 7 years old. I watched the movie Northwest Passage about Rogers' Rangers and I just had to have a hawk. Every time I venture into the woods I have one on my belt. Most of mine are hand forged like the ones from the 18th century. I have several H&B Forge hawks, one I use as an all purpose tool, one is a Ranger hawk with the back spike, one is strictly for cleaving flesh and a couple I use for throwing.

[Straight Shooter]

americankami.com
I hope this link comes thru...check out the hawks & EVERYTHING else this gent makes....very awesome.

[St.Michael]

americankami.com
I hope this link comes thru...check out the hawks & EVERYTHING else this gent makes....very awesome.

His stuff looks awesome. I can't justify the price for something I'll end up beating on though.

[Kyohte]

What are the technical differences between hawk and hatchet

A tomahawk head goes on from the bottom, an axe head goes on from the top. This gives the tomahawk the advantage of being able to use any tapered stick in the woods as a make-shift handle. Making a handle for an axe on the fly is a little more difficult. The tomahawk head is also of a slightly different shape, though with many different varieties of tomahawks and axes heads available now this is not much of a distinction. A polled axe is a hawk with a slightly more axe-like head. In my opinion the fully metal handled "hawks" are not a true tomahawk (more on that below).

The primary purpose of a traditional hawk is a weapon. It's usefulness in bushcraft was closely secondary to this. In field use, it rides the line between large knife and small axe. It does neither task well, but can do a bit of everything from limb and baton small trees, to skin and dress game (using the head removed from the handle). You can do more with a large (4") knife and an axe, but it will cost you in weight.

Of course, modern tomahawks don't typically follow any guideline and have become somewhat of a fashion accessory. I don't like completely metal handled hawks because they cannot be repaired in field (and the metal *can* break). Those types are also overly heavy. They make work for urban use, but I think they lose the versatility of the true tomahawk. My personal choice for the woods is a polled axe, since I carry a knife anyway, the more axe-like design makes it more useful for me.

[VIP3R 237]

I picked up a SOG Voodoo Hawk and have been playing around with it. Its seems pretty nice for the price ($46 shipped I think?) but I am not an expert by any means. I just wanted one to mess around with.

[Kyohte]

I picked up a SOG Voodoo Hawk and have been playing around with it. Its seems pretty nice for the price ($46 shipped I think?) but I am not an expert by any means. I just wanted one to mess around with.

Have fun with it but be careful, the handles break. SOG should take care of you if it happens, though. Oh, and by the way, hawks are addicting.

[Straight Shooter]

FYI- knifecenter.com has the SOG Tactical Tomahawk on sale for $29.95.

[St.Michael]

I dont mind paying up to about 150 for a tool like this that I know is going to take a beating. Though I started buying 30 dollar edc knifes cause I kept losing them. I treat em almost like disposable razors

[Kyohte]

You can get a good, forged by hand in America hawk for well under $100. Check out HB forge. In my opinion those $200+ tactical tomahawks, while cool looking, don't deliver more functionality than a well-made traditional-style hawk.

[ap1220]

You can get a good, forged by hand in America hawk for well under $100. Check out HB forge. In my opinion those $200+ tactical tomahawks, while cool looking, don't deliver more functionality than a well-made traditional-style hawk.

IMO, especially the wooden poled ones. There's a couple I like but for the price, I have to ask myself, "What does it really do for me?". Some of them are sexy, sweet looking pieces but other than that...

Saying that, there's a specific one in the $150 range that keeps calling my name lol. Thankfully, I have been looking at H B for awhile now myself and that may satiate that "need".