What cold steel version of the tomahawk is best for chopping?

None. The Trailboss hatchet.

A hatchet has a better shape for splitting with the blade converging gradually to the socket. This allows the wood to split easier. The hatchet is a tool first.

A tomahawk generally has a flat blade and a sudden swell at the socket, meaning it would get caught up as is passes through wood. It's primarily designed as a weapon, and utilitarian functions are secondary.

I can't speak for the Trailboss itself, as I've never handled one and don't know the quality or exact cross-section. If camp tasks were the primary job for it, though, I'd go with the Trailboss over my Trail Hawk as much as I love it.
 
very respectfully - i think it's the wrong question;

and as much as i like the Trail Boss, which i have evaluated, i like the Cold Steel Trail Hawk much more.

the only time you need to split wood with the hawk itself is when there is no wood right there to make a hasty wedge for splitting logs.

i love my axes, but a hawk will outshine it with the man on foot pretty quickly.

they are just as useful as tools as they are weapons, that's a common misconception based on training levels with the hawk as a tool.

hawks are the ultimate bush-bumming tool, in my experience.

anything bigger than your wrist that you need to chop down or split can be easily done by using your noggin', using the hawk, and not carrying a big axe or heavy hatchet around with you when you don't have an objective.

if you are going to go in and harvest some big trees, and you know it, by all means, take the 8 lb. axe with you.

a hawk will do for that in a pinch though.

a proper hawk is light enough to do that, which hapens to also make it a great weapon.

just my experiences and opinion after playing and/or fighting in every environment known to man over the last 35 years with any tool i wanted - snow, ocean, jungle, northern rain forest, tundra, desert, etc., not knocking anyone else's thoughts here.


the more you know, the more you gravitate towards a hawk.

vec
 
I have a Rifleman and it works great, just bit heavy after a while. If you are just going to do light chopping, just get one from your local hardware store with a hickory handle.

I've been doing a lot of hatchet chopping lately and thats my observation.
 
When I got around to sharpening my Cold Steel hawks (made in China for American Tomahawk), my file cut their steel like butter; not much hardness for chopping there.
 
Old Pa said:
When I got around to sharpening my Cold Steel hawks (made in China for American Tomahawk), my file cut their steel like butter; not much hardness for chopping there.
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you don't need much hardness for chopping IMHO.

you want better edge geometry.

while those two things are not mutually exclusive propositions, when you screw up that edge in the field miles from anything, you will be glad that the steel is so easy to lick back into condition when your life depends on it.

some folks don't use their hawks for survival though, which i understand, but it's personally why i like a hawk over big-job configurations like a trusty axe.

i've personally chopped with these Cold Steel Hawks on three continents - hard steel is wonderful on a knife, but when you are in deep winter near the Arctic Circle, watch your hard steel chip and shatter on skinny frozen wood.

- i've seen it happen.

it's interesting when a running diesel is a few feet away, but it's horrifying when you are wet from breaking through some ice in the interior and are worried about losing your feet, or worse.

the Cold Steel heads are purpose built, just like other great hawks.

they could've just as easily been made in 5160 or SK5. Lynn Thompson wanted 1055.

they just have a different idea of what a hawk should be.

i like that.

any hawk that sinks all the way to the cheeks in hard wood with little effort is going to work fine for more sensible field chores and as a weapon on skulls and femurs.

that's a Cold Steel Trail Hawk.

vec
 
vector001 said:
you don't need much hardness for chopping IMHO.

you want better edge geometry.

while those two things are not mutually exclusive propositions, when you screw up that edge in the field miles from anything, you will be glad that the steel is so easy to lick back into condition when your life depends on it.
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From Cold Stee's Tomahawk page: "This means that the cutting edge and hammer face is fully hardened, while the balance is left relatively soft to absorb the shock of striking blows."
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I guess my rifleman and trail hawk examples are from before Cold Steel bought American Tomahawk. You can discuss the merits of their current hardening regime with Mr. Thomson.
 
I have had splitting success with my rifleman's hawk.It's the heaviest of the cold steel line of hawks so it excels at the hack 'n' bash aspects of wood working better than it's lighter brethren.
 
Old Pa said:
I guess my rifleman and trail hawk examples are from before Cold Steel bought American Tomahawk. You can discuss the merits of their current hardening regime with Mr. Thomson.
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fyi Cold Steel doesn't actually have anything to do with the Andy Prisco owned American Tomahawk Co. other than the name. completely different companies altogether.

the vtac, Emerson, and Sibert designs are properties of the Prisco ATC while the trail hawk and rifleman are Lynn Thompson Cold Steel hawks. just a little clarification
 
probably rifleman's as it has the most weight. I own frontier and norse hawks from them and would want something heftier for splitting
 
Brody R. said:
probably rifleman's as it has the most weight. I own frontier and norse hawks from them and would want something heftier for splitting
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yeah. the knife-like bits on proper hawks aren't ever going to be as good as a wedge-like hatchet or axe for spltting down grains IME.

but that's not where hawks shine.

hawks suit me.

vec
 
vector001 said:
yeah. the knife-like bits on proper hawks aren't ever going to be as good as a wedge-like hatchet or axe for spltting down grains IME.
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Maybe not, but it also depends on what you're splitting and how hard you're hitting. The Mamba (with the CS Trail Hawk's head for those who didn't read the review), hit a birch round end on, and when it sunk into the cheeks, it kept going and split it like a prom queen's thighs. Of course, you have to put a lot into the swing to do that, whereas gravity does a lot of the work with a larger axe head.
 
Should do for a campfire tho. I've had no problem splitting relatively small branches with hawks for a fire, just wouldn't use it for good sized rounds. Would probably want to work on the edge and fit of whatever CS hawk you buy tho.
 
i've seen people use a baton on knives, why couldn't you use one on a hawk to split rounds?
 
crossada said:
i've seen people use a baton on knives, why couldn't you use one on a hawk to split rounds?
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there isn't really a reason why NOT to, but as the rounds get bigger you are doing more work than is necessary, and the working part of the hawk is going to be buried in the wood (potentially) if you were batoning it. i like to make wood spikes really fast out of branches, and drive them into the rounds to split them, when dealing with larger stuff.

but i don't knife baton either, except for the odd chore with my machete. i try to think like a Native American would in the old days;

little branches. small fire. sit close. done.

:cool::thumbup:

up where everything is soaed, i just chisel out some dry wood and get it going.

no need for splitting, by my regard.

all the traps and furniture i have made with my hawks is all from branches and saplings smaller than my arm for the most part; as some here have already testified, that size is easy to split with a typical hawk with one shot usually.

the biggest problem i have when going light with my hawk is justifying carrying a knife these days. i love my long knives just too much to leave them behind....

before i carried proper long hawks, i carried Forest Axes in much the same way.

sorry to rant. i just love hawks.

vec
 
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