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- Apr 10, 2007
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- 7,395
**Wasn't sure if I should put this here or in the knife review section, if it's in the wrong place please move it.**
I just returned from a three-day camping adventure with my brother and a friend and wanted to share my experience with the tool that saw the most use during the trip, the American Tomahawk Lagana Tactical Tomahawk (aka VTAC). As soon as we picked a campsite, the first order of business was to collect some fire wood while my companions set up the tent and unpacked. It had been raining for a few days and there was a light drizzle so I decided the low branches on pine trees would work best to get us started as these would be less soaked than anything on the ground. I started hacking away at some dead branches around 1" in diameter and found that the VTAC cut in deeply and cleanly with minimal effort. Usually on swing was enough to chop in enough to snap the branch off easily by hand. After experimenting with the small stuff and quickly making a large pile, I decided to try some branches around 3-4" in dia. and ran into a little trouble. I quickly realized that when swinging the VTAC quickly and with a lot of force, it was very easy for it to twist in my hand. I realize that chopping firewood is not the intended purpose for this tomahawk but I imagine using it for any other purpose would produce the same effect. The ST Nylon that the handle is made of is pretty slippery, even with the raised diamond plate-like pattern and indexing finger grooves on the handle. Still, the VTAC made up for it by remaining sharp throughout the duration of our trip. I would recommend that anyone purchasing this tomahawk wrap some sort of grip tape around the bottom few inches of the handle to imrove the grip a little unless they plan to use it purely for throwing, here's why:
Once the work was all done, we decided to see how the VTAC performed as a thrower. On the first throw, I noticed that the nylon handle glided out of my hand with no resistance at all. It instantly felt like throwing was it's intended purpose and stuck in with a solid THUNK. The rotations were very predictable and the cutting edge held it's own throw after throw. When thrown spike-first, it was even more satisfyling and BURIED itself into the wood. Make no mistake, the spike on this 'hawk was made to penetrate. I've had other Tomahawks of similar design where the spike looked like more of a decoration than anything useable. American Tomahawk definitely put some thought into making this thing. Even when the VTAC missed it's mark or hit handle-first, it suffered no ill-effects. It definitely lived up to my throwing expectations.
Carrying the tomahawk both on my belt and on my pack was very easy. The sheath has a plastic insert velcro'ed to the inside that keeps the VTAC level by supporting the spike with a kind of 'shelf' to rest on. This insert can be quickly removed and reversed to accomodate left-hand carry, making it completely ambidextrous. The sheath can be carried a variety of ways,(LBE/LBV, MOLLE, Sling, Belt) and I found it easy to remove it from my Snugpack's Rocket clips and attach to my belt. Removing the VTAC from it's sheath quickly takes a bit of practice since you have to unclip it in two places to lift the flap and pull it free by the head. The hole in the bottom of the sheath that the handle passes through is not much bigger than the handle itself and tends to snag if you aren't carefull. From what I understand, however, the sheath I got with my VTAC is the 'old style' and has been replaced with one that allows for quicker deployment. Personally, I'll be making my own kydex breakaway sheath that will allow me to get it out and ready in one motion and with one hand. (I'll post pics whenever I finish it
).
Overall, this Tomahawk is a serious, heavy-duty cutting machine and a joy to throw. The sheath and grip left a couple minor things to be desired but the pros, without question, outweigh the cons. I'd recommend the VTAC to anyone interested in tomahawks as a must-have and it blows any competition's production tomahawk of the same style completely out of the water, ( Cold who?).
Here's the specs and description from the company website (in bold) if anyone is interested:
"Specifications
Steel: Drop-Forged 1060, Rc 52-54**
Handle: ST super-tough modified nylon
Ergonomics: Oval design indexing finger grooves
Overall Weight: 1 lb./453.59 grams practical*
Overall Length: 14/355.6mm practical*
Sheath: Jumpable nylon LBE/LBV, MOLLE, Sling, Belt
M.S.R.P: $129.95
NSN: 4210-01-518-7244
CAGE: 3G5W0
D-U-N-S: 135186992
SKU: "VTAC" - LaGana Vietnam Tactical Tomahawk"
"Notes: "Practical" weight and length allow for small variations in material and manufacturing tolerances. Sheath is not included to overall weight and length.
The edge bevel is ground to resist deformation under extreme use. It will retain its edge, even after insane levels of abuse. It is extremely sharp for its included angle. However, it will not shave hair from your arm."
I just returned from a three-day camping adventure with my brother and a friend and wanted to share my experience with the tool that saw the most use during the trip, the American Tomahawk Lagana Tactical Tomahawk (aka VTAC). As soon as we picked a campsite, the first order of business was to collect some fire wood while my companions set up the tent and unpacked. It had been raining for a few days and there was a light drizzle so I decided the low branches on pine trees would work best to get us started as these would be less soaked than anything on the ground. I started hacking away at some dead branches around 1" in diameter and found that the VTAC cut in deeply and cleanly with minimal effort. Usually on swing was enough to chop in enough to snap the branch off easily by hand. After experimenting with the small stuff and quickly making a large pile, I decided to try some branches around 3-4" in dia. and ran into a little trouble. I quickly realized that when swinging the VTAC quickly and with a lot of force, it was very easy for it to twist in my hand. I realize that chopping firewood is not the intended purpose for this tomahawk but I imagine using it for any other purpose would produce the same effect. The ST Nylon that the handle is made of is pretty slippery, even with the raised diamond plate-like pattern and indexing finger grooves on the handle. Still, the VTAC made up for it by remaining sharp throughout the duration of our trip. I would recommend that anyone purchasing this tomahawk wrap some sort of grip tape around the bottom few inches of the handle to imrove the grip a little unless they plan to use it purely for throwing, here's why:
Once the work was all done, we decided to see how the VTAC performed as a thrower. On the first throw, I noticed that the nylon handle glided out of my hand with no resistance at all. It instantly felt like throwing was it's intended purpose and stuck in with a solid THUNK. The rotations were very predictable and the cutting edge held it's own throw after throw. When thrown spike-first, it was even more satisfyling and BURIED itself into the wood. Make no mistake, the spike on this 'hawk was made to penetrate. I've had other Tomahawks of similar design where the spike looked like more of a decoration than anything useable. American Tomahawk definitely put some thought into making this thing. Even when the VTAC missed it's mark or hit handle-first, it suffered no ill-effects. It definitely lived up to my throwing expectations.
Carrying the tomahawk both on my belt and on my pack was very easy. The sheath has a plastic insert velcro'ed to the inside that keeps the VTAC level by supporting the spike with a kind of 'shelf' to rest on. This insert can be quickly removed and reversed to accomodate left-hand carry, making it completely ambidextrous. The sheath can be carried a variety of ways,(LBE/LBV, MOLLE, Sling, Belt) and I found it easy to remove it from my Snugpack's Rocket clips and attach to my belt. Removing the VTAC from it's sheath quickly takes a bit of practice since you have to unclip it in two places to lift the flap and pull it free by the head. The hole in the bottom of the sheath that the handle passes through is not much bigger than the handle itself and tends to snag if you aren't carefull. From what I understand, however, the sheath I got with my VTAC is the 'old style' and has been replaced with one that allows for quicker deployment. Personally, I'll be making my own kydex breakaway sheath that will allow me to get it out and ready in one motion and with one hand. (I'll post pics whenever I finish it
).Overall, this Tomahawk is a serious, heavy-duty cutting machine and a joy to throw. The sheath and grip left a couple minor things to be desired but the pros, without question, outweigh the cons. I'd recommend the VTAC to anyone interested in tomahawks as a must-have and it blows any competition's production tomahawk of the same style completely out of the water, ( Cold who?).
Here's the specs and description from the company website (in bold) if anyone is interested:
"Specifications
Steel: Drop-Forged 1060, Rc 52-54**
Handle: ST super-tough modified nylon
Ergonomics: Oval design indexing finger grooves
Overall Weight: 1 lb./453.59 grams practical*
Overall Length: 14/355.6mm practical*
Sheath: Jumpable nylon LBE/LBV, MOLLE, Sling, Belt
M.S.R.P: $129.95
NSN: 4210-01-518-7244
CAGE: 3G5W0
D-U-N-S: 135186992
SKU: "VTAC" - LaGana Vietnam Tactical Tomahawk"
"Notes: "Practical" weight and length allow for small variations in material and manufacturing tolerances. Sheath is not included to overall weight and length.
The edge bevel is ground to resist deformation under extreme use. It will retain its edge, even after insane levels of abuse. It is extremely sharp for its included angle. However, it will not shave hair from your arm."
