Well this review kinda happened by accident… Basically what happened was we were getting ready for the Modern Mountain Man Rendezvous in Warner Springs so that Friday our buddy Matt from Farmington Crates and I set out to build some tomahawk targets for the event. He had just gotten some fresh pine rounds delivered and we started in on getting them together (check out our youtube channel for the how to’s).
With three of the A-frames done and one complete target done we had no choice but to test them, if for nothing else, Science! So the good news the targets held up well, bad news the fresh Pine rounds where not conducive to being targets yet. The fresh rounds where repelling the tomahawk blades hence the upgrade to hatchets… By Saturday morning the fully assembled target had dried out enough that it was working pretty well and Matt ad obviously been practicing because he was showing me up big time.
I loaded the rest of the targets up and headed out to Warner Springs where the real test was about to take place. The gang from Triple B Adventures was already there and eager to help assemble the targets and give them a try. Now with a group of veterans the real test was about to begin undenounced to me. The three tomahawks we ended up running through their passes were the SOG Tactical tomahawk, The Cold Steel Frontier Hawk, Cold Steel Trail Hawk and the CRKT Woods Chogan T-Hawk.
The first Hawk we will talk about is the SOG, with its tactical design it is a light and handy tomahawk with a lightened blade and spike back it resembles the iconic “Vietnam” tomahawk issued to Special Forces troops during the war. This tomahawk features a composite handle with two screws attaching to the blade like a sandwich. Ultimately the handle was the tomahawks down fall as both of the ones we had failed in the same spot. There is a metal sleeve to protect the handle but that is the spot where the handles broke. In fairness to the tomahawk they were being thrown extremely hard against we rounds, and as an upside the blade still made a fun throwing star that stick pretty well.
The Cold Steels fared better; the main difference of course was the blades with the Frontier Hawk having a rounded blade reminiscing of what you would find in a trapper camp during the French and Indian war of the 19th century. The Trail Hawk is much more utilitarian with a hammer back to aid in putting in tent stakes or nailing things up. Both boast the same American Hickory handles. These hawks did well although a couple of the handles did split but where still usable. One of the benefits of these is the good people at Cold Steel saw this coming and sells replacement handles for their products.
The stand out winner though was the CRKT Woods Chogan T-Hawk; this is my favorite by the way. This hawk is much heavier than the other three with a shorter handle than the Cold Steels. The blade is founded with an edge on the bottom that can be sharpened as a brush hook and has a heavy hammer back. Of the four hawks this one walked away with minor nicks and dings. The overall weight and build makes it a better option for chopping and hammering and is my first choice for trips and projects.
One thing I have learned doing these blogs is never pass up a chance to do a little R&D especially when observing these things under real conditions. I want to thank the gang from Triple B Adventures again for breaking my stuff so I have a great blog to write. I hope this has been informational for you and helps you in your tomahawk selection in the future. As always thank you for taking the time to check us out and we look forward to seeing you on the trail, getting the Fox Out There!
