A Little Tomahawk/Big Knife Love.

[shoggoth80]

So, I recently got myself an Ontario SP10 Bowie, and the other payday, I snagged a Cold Steel Pipehawk.
I have been doing a lot of reading regarding Bowies, and have picked up both the Kirchner book, and the MacLemore book on Bowie and Big Knife. I also have as an e-book his "Fighting Tomahawk," but am finding that while I like the content, I do not like the delivery. I like my books analog. Also, as a learning text, being able to refer back to it often in practice matters.

I have also been watching a lot of videos on Youtube. It seems that the 'hawk is very versatile in its applications as a weapon, and general woods tool... which seems in line with their general history and purpose. Some of the more tactical applications seem rather surprising for what strikes me as a slightly under-stated tool. Maybe I don't spend enough time online. Lol. Either way, I am enjoying the pursuit so far. Looking to get a couple more hawks for throwing and just generally bashing around, and a nicer bowie knife, for general collecting.

Anyone else share the love? Addicted to steel? I'm kind of a junkie for all things weapon. Lol.

[olbaid_dratsab]

was really hoping to see literally a little tomahawk. Like a camp=sized ultralight compact useable hawk.

[Storm Crow]

*I* like tomahawks and big knives!

I'd be curious to see some of the good YouTube videos you've come across. A lot of what turns up if you try to find tomahawk combat on YouTube is video game clips of guys making 300+ yard ricochet kills with a thrown 'hawk that seems to have infinite replacements.

[shoggoth80]

If it's not against the rules, I'll link them.
No, no Call of Duty. Lol.

[shoggoth80]

This is basically a hanging pell:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOeB2yMU_q8

Short but kind of brutal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Ki-J8ykOY

Same group
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AROc3gr-iz4

Insight on the MacLemore book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IESUU0TvovQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RspA4EqDs4U

Cold Steel demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii7XwamZSm0

[Asymetryczna]

The tomahawk has been a very useful tool for hundreds of years. I have quite a few from collecting over the years. I'll try to get down in the cellar and take a few off the walls.

[Towanda]

I've been wanting a Fort Turner Camp Hawk for a while. I just might get one now that I have a better job.

Sent via carrier wave.

[CipherNameRaVeN]

I like hawks as well. I have a couple, but looking for suggestions for more.
What are good hawks "for the money" in your opinion that are on the market today. I am not looking for $400+ ones. I can't afford them anyway.

[Asymetryczna]

I think that I thought of these two images the very first second I read the thread title. Even a caveman can take a photo and get the image on to the little screen it seems.

My collecting started in a tobacco field, finding flint points and using a tobacco knife. I imagined it as a tomahawk as I read my way through the Natty Bumppo, Leatherstocking series. Still have that one. My Kurdish friends loved this blade; it travels well. Worked well in the jungle too, vegetation clearing, basic chores.

People using "this versus that" for debates often just want to speak heavily for one side. The thing is: "this" is what I have and "that" could be as big as my mind can conjure. Tomahawks can be an all purpose tool so I like having them. Anthropologists and archaeologists will confirm that I am not the first one. Someone asked me if a tomahawk is the one weapon I would pick above all others. Over a M1A1 or Apache? I find these questions comical.
Some of the best pieces I have or have seen are custom made. Some. Many others started with a "steel ax head" or "tomahawk head" search on auction sites like Ebay. I'll see a tomahawk or steel axe head I like and then start planning the type of handle or type of wood. Average total cost: $40-$50. Any kind you want - under $100. If you have access to some basic tools you can make it the way you want it. In my opinion, people put too much emphasis on buying something new these days.

People are willing to pay more for the best Tomahawks.
A custom tomahawk is a work of art.
Like this one:

I do not know who made it or who dropped it, but he dropped it somewhere near a ford site of the East Fork of the Little Miami River, 20 miles north of the Ohio.

[Storm Crow]

I've been wanting a Fort Turner Camp Hawk for a while. I just might get one now that I have a better job.

Sent via carrier wave.

I try not to often comment on other people making blades for a living, but you might want to do a search for Fort Turner over on BladeForums before you do.

[Asymetryczna]

Towanda, there are many good forges. I have a Shawnee hawk from H&B Forge Co. that was affordable and served me well.

http://www.hbforge.com/about.php

[Towanda]

I saw H&B Forge mentioned on Blade Forums. I like the looks of their medium camp hawk. I'm looking around at other makers, too.

Sent via carrier wave.

[Jeriah]

*I* like tomahawks and big knives!

You other brothers can't deny

[KnifeStyle]

Getting into Filipino stick work, I'd love a cheap 'hawk to mess around with. I'm not a thrower, there seems to be a deep divide between the throwing enthusiasts and those using them for actual chopping. I'm a realist who only trains with smaller knives, but there is a distinct beauty in how a Bowie looks and handles. After the Sandbar Duel a lot of sabre fencers started adapting the style to Bowies. I recall that there is a guy out there still teaching knife and tomahawk pairing, he had a book on Amazon for a while.

[Storm Crow]

I recall that there is a guy out there still teaching knife and tomahawk pairing, he had a book on Amazon for a while.

Sounds like Dwight MacLemore, who also has an excellent video on the subject. The hanging pell segment that Shoggoth posted above comes from it. Check Paladin Press for the book and the video.

[priell3]

My tomahawk:

[Asymetryczna]

I am not all that comfortable saying, “Look at my tools” online. This is an Ontario Knife Co. fighting knife and a Chase tomahawk, forged in Boston. The little Springfield O/U is great for backpacking and small varmints. The tool, entrenching was bequeathed by Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children. I put two sides to the stone. She cuts.