Part 2 of the series. We take a look at some common tasks that I do in the woods with a hawk. I was really surprised at some of the results. Lots of survival gear @ www.heavycoverinc.com/#_l_1f
I am really liking this series. Tomahawks seem to have one group who loves them and another who hates them. Interesting to see their characteristics being put to the test.
Good series you have going here. Something I was taught by my grandfather back in the 60's was when using a hammer or hand ax, you keep your thumb on the back side of the handle to keep better control over your swings. Kind of like when using a knife and placing your thumb on top to gain better control for fine tasks. Just a thought I'd share and see if it works for you. Keep up the great work.
Enjoyed the comparisons in the two videos. The advantage/disadvantage for the Fast Hawk is the lighter weight head. Easy to carry, but with the short handle (relatively) and light weight, you can swing it fast but not much mass for a task such as pounding stakes. Hard to beat for $20 when they put them out for Xmas at Wally World, which is why I have four or five of them stashed in various bags. Now you've got me looking at the traditional hawks...
Great video. Just as helpful today as it was when it was made. I'm a fan of the fasthawk. Lightweight, punches well above its weight and has never let me down. Not going to strike a fire steel with it, that's what a knife is for 🙂
I have the sog for me it's a good tool to pack along instead of filling my blade on a ferrocerium rod I use an old Sawzall blade one of the fine tooth metal blades and I rap all of it but about an inch and a half with electrical tape so you have a handle just an idea for other people to try it definitely works for me I've never had a problem starting a fire when I've had to use that what a great video sir I like some of the ones you showed definitely got me thinking about traditionals
I have the sog tactical hawk, the fasthawk, the, the cs pipehawk and the cs trailhawkand they are all useful. I split 1 ton of Australian ironbark with both the tactical hawk and the pipehawk, both excelled. After that I bought the trailhawk after seeing your vid, I like it a lot but the pipe hawk will do all the things that you do with the trailhawk but it chops so much better than the trailhawk. Of the 4 mentioned is by far the best chopper. the thing they all have in common is that they are all fun.
Traditional hawks pass through the timber when splitting, tactical hit the handles, unless the handle scales are lower. But tactical are designed for different applications. The SOG head is similar to Traditional.
Your custom 'hawk was not heat treated to allow it to throw sparks. there is more to a good spark producing steel that meets the eye. Great demonstration, excellent presentation! Keep up the good work.
Tactical is not the best hawk for the money . I’ve seen guys put titanium tapered handles in some of the newer traditional hawks like the chogan woods T hawk & thro them just fine there just prefect to light handle solid , strong rugged , you get the best of both world a strong tough handle that’s light made of metal cut to 19 inches in length tapered titanium handle with a cold steel hawk head . Some guy out of Cincinnati Ohio is making the handles in his shop to fit these traditional cold steel hawks . He charges like $60,00 a pop for one but it’s well worth it in the long run he will even blacken it to or keep it flat finish
I have the coldsteel pipe / trail / frontier hawks mainly because of there price, tactical cost more sometimes alot more and have less utility for everyday tasks. The cold steel hawks have that aweful paint on the heads and vanish on the handles but removing all the crap and making the hawk your own, adds a certain pride of ownership and a desire to maintain the hawk. I prefer the traditional hawks that i can replace the handles and have the handle length to suit myself. I like the option of being able to remove the handle and using it as a baton for none lethal self defence. Thank you for the video and comparing the different types, take care God bless
A word of advice: If the limbs are that thin to the point where you snap them with the hawk, just stand them against a tree & either lightly kick them or put your foot on them & apply pressure. Less likely to hurt yourself because there's no sharp tool & it saves a bit of energy.
sog is made out of stainless steel and will not spark with a rock at all. lol. Nothing made of stainless steel will. Nice and informative comparison. Good job and thank you for showing this.
Better suited as a weapon. More so than a bush crafting tool. Course if need be, a dull box cutter can be used. But like the hawk it would be an inefficient tool, in comparison to other alternatives...Like the video and field work shows.
truthfully though, is there really any place in bushcraft for a tomahawk? from what i see in the video and found personally to be the case, in the field the only thing going for the hawk is the cool factor. everything else considering....... in real life a small axe or large knife will be a much better tool.
Since hawks have been used by bushcrafters and outdoorsmen for a couple hundred years and since IA Woodsman just demonstrated their usefulness, I'd say yes, there is obviously a place for them in bushcraft. If they don't suit you, don't use one. But that's about you, not the tool.
The question posed was "Is there a place for tomahawks in bushcraft?" not can an ax or hatchet do them better. The answer is yes there is a place for tomahawks in bushcraft. If you don't want to carry an ax or a hatchet or a big knife, then a tomahawk has a place in a bushcraft kit. You can perform bushcraft tasks with a tomahawk. There are videos all over youtube demonstrating this. It is about the person and not the tool. I was once told that a skilled warrior is deadly with anything that can be weaponized. I consider the same to be true of bushcraft. YOu should be able to perform bushcraft tasks with any tool you have with you, since bad things happen and you might not have the ideal tool for the job due to loss or accident or failure. I appreciate that you offer an actual citation from an article but can you tell me how natives were not expert bushcrafters who made use of tomahawks? Or does your book not talk about that? The assumption that bushcrafting skillsets can only apply to white invaders is patently absurd and very Eurocentric.
Wow. You have a lot of issues, from eurocentrism to sexism to setting up straw men to reductio ad absurdem. I don't want to participate in any of that. Goodbye.
