Your Hawks out in the wild

D

dogstar

Joined
Jan 23, 2011
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Please share some photos/stories about using your tomahawk in the outdoors.

I don't have any at the moment, other than the last time I took my CS Frontier hawk camping, I damned near started a forest fire, and gifted the hawk to a fella that helped me out. Now all I have is my Hudson Bay Hawk, which is a half pound heavier. When I start getting a paycheck again, I will place an order for an HB Forge Boy's hawk to replace my Frontier hawk. I like that ~1.25 lb. weight range for a light, hatchet-like hawk.
 
Curious about the hawk as outdoors axe. I used to have CS hawk that I modded and sharpened. I really liked the efficiency as chopper but it was way too light for splitting and didn't like the straight handle. What is your reasoning behind the hawk? Just completely curious, not trying to be offensive!
 
A hatchet or ax is a more efficient wood processing tool. No debate there. However, a hawk can do the job well enough. Hawks come from an earlier time and are less refined, but they have a historical appeal to me. I'd rather use a hawk, even if it takes longer. It's a matter of learning to work within the limitations of the tool, which is part of the fun
 
A.L. A.L.

Hawks tend to be lighter and the ability to remove the handle easily has it perks.

A Light head on a longer handle will hit similarly to a heavier head on a short handle, from a simplistic standpoint (not taking into account the head's geometries).

I find hawks chop nearly as well as hatchets as the thin bit bites really well. That thin bit is not as good for splitting. I like them for roughing out something for carving or building (stick shelters) where the light chopping is more controlled and the lighter weight of the hawk is less tiring.

The biggest drawback, to me, for a hawk is that the handle shape is limited by what can fit through the eye so ergos often suffer compared to an axe.
 
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