ATC Tomahawks

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meathammer

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I received my LaGana tomahawk from American Tomahawk Co. Link: http://www.americantomahawk.com/index.htm

I bought it primarily for the "neato, I want " factor. Basically, I wanted it fun. It could definately be a useful camping tool, and small chores requiring some chopping. Maybe a melee weapon for fending off marauding zombies. :D


Just thought I'd share.

Does anyone else here have one?

--meathammer
 
I was able to get one at the military rate for a bit less. I love it. Neat toy and great tool for backpacking.

Mark
 
I own an ATC Vietnam Tactical with the acetal handle and have been extremely pleased with it. Works fantastic for throwing and chopping and there is no worry of the handle coming loose and falling out. I hang it from my belt while hiking (using the provided sheath) and because of the light weight I don't even feel it there. The blade holds a good edge and is easily sharpened in the field.

I used to carry large knives but I've since changed over to the tomahawk being my primary edged tool. I can get a lot of power out of it for chopping and self-defense. Or I can choke up on the handle and use the blade for finer work. The spike makes for a nice climbing or digging aid as well. For my personal uses I find the tomahawk much more useful than a large blade.

This past Spring we had a nasty wind storm that caused alot of downed trees on the highway I commute. On the way home I jumped out of my truck and proceeded to use my VTAC to help limb trees and haul them off the road. The blade went through the limbs really fast. The hooking edge of the tomahawk works great for grabbing a bundle of limbs. That same edge or the spike also work great for grabbing logs and dragging them around or to just get them started rolling.

ATC's prices are worth it to me as well. I like their high quality materials, workmanship and service. I also appreciate that they manufacture in the USA.
 
Bumpity bump, tomahawk thread

<yawns>

OK, T'hawkers, this thread's been asleep for about 2.5 years.

Time to wake it up, dust off those tomahawks, and discuss these great tools a bit more. :D

This afternoon, instead of going outside in this beautiful early spring weather here in the Pacific NW, I stayed in the studio and - in part - did some reading about T'hawks.

I started with this Wikipedia page,
then did a SEARCH in Non-Firearm Weapons forum for the keyword ...
well, what else? :rolleyes:.

Got about three pages.
Read every thread with the word "Tomahawk" in the title.
Wound up reading about a dozen.

Two interesting ones were "Any Tomahawk fans out there?" and "Any tomahawk fans here?".

Those two were my favorites until I found this one.
Here, I was impressed with Bullwhip's description (post 6, above) of the ATC VTAC.

But there was one line there in Bullwhip's post that motivated me to post this.

The hooking edge of the tomahawk works great for grabbing a bundle of limbs.
Click to expand...
When looking at the ATC page on VTAC, I'm not seeing that "hooking edge".
Am I missing something, or have they redesigned it?

And while I've got your attention, as a SOG owner (Seal Pup Elite and SOGTool),
I've had my eye on their Fusion Tactical Tomahawk for about six months now.
(Saw it referenced in some "What's your favorite knife?" thread.)

Now, I realize it's not an ATC VTAC. (Bows appropriately towards a clearly fine tool.)

But, there's something appealing about that SOG Fusion: it's 24 oz v. 16 for the ATC, and it's 1.75" longer. (Not sure about what's viewed as optimum for weight and length though. Hoping to learn something about that here.)

Also, the SOG has a hardwood handle v. that ST “super-tough” modified nylon on the ATC (that looks virtually indestructible; I'm a fan of synthetic when it comes to furniture on weapons).

And, I'm kinda poor right now (relatively new business, making ground but still struggling, spending too many discretionary funds on lever guns and revolvers...:scrutiny: ), so the SOG at about half the list price of the ATV appeals to the bank account.

Bottom line: I'm looking for a quality (though not necessarily the "best") tomahawk for camp use (mainly) but also for that piece of mind as tertiary SD weapon. (They are such deliciously wicked looking tools. :evil: I can envision being motivated to take a "Tomahawk 101" class, or at least reading a book.)

So, anyway, it'd be great to hear more about that ATC VTAC,
any thoughts about the SOG Fusion, and ...
well, other current thinking about Tomahawks in general.

Any good sites or books out there on their history, construction, use ... ?

What's the word on the street?

Thanks,

Nem
 
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Nem,

The Fusion 'hawk from SOG is fine. It got a great write-up in Blade (or KI or Tactical) from someone I trust. At the price you can get one and play with it and see if it holds up. If it doesn't just pay a visit to Spencer at SOG and tell him about your destructive testing of his product and he'll give a new one to you.
 
Sounds good, Hso. I'm leaning towards that, so good to get a good recommendation like that.

Any recommendations on "good sites or books out there on their history, construction, use ... ?"

I find myself hungry to just read more about these tools.
Problem is, googling "tomahawk" gets more pages on missiles and heavy metal bands than ax weapons. :rolleyes:
 
OK, I wasn't looking at the ATC site carefully enough.

I had only seen the Lagana Tactical.

I just found the CQC-T.

:what:

There are two others (Sibert Comanche and Lakota Lithograph),
but the CQC-T looks like ... well, a quintessential Tomahawk.
(Yes, capital T was intentional.)

I'm game to start with a SOG.

But there may need to be a CQC-T in the collection at some point ... :scrutiny:
 
Hso,

That last ")" got caught in the URL resulting in an error.

Try this one.

And yeah, that's a fine start.
There may be better,
but that'll do for starters.

Thanks.
 
I got th' fevah!

With apologies to Meathammer and others for the potential thread jack....

I've got a confession.

I've got T'hawk fever.

Fortunately, it's not life threatening. (The fever that is; the actual t'hawk could be in the wrong hands, without sufficient training and skill ...:scrutiny:.)

A year or so ago, I felt the need to complement my gun tool kit - coming along nicely thanks to much help from THR - with some kind of larger blade tool.

I've got knives, including the two I mentioned above plus a SAK.

But I wanted something larger - more substantial - for SD that could also be used for camp work.

So, I started reading. For a minute (OK, several months), I fell under "the spell of the sword". I joined a sword forum, read a bunch of web pages, asked lots of questions, and even picked one out (an Angus Trim 1320; beautiful; hope to get it someday...). I learned that one of the world's best sword teachers lives in my town, and planned to do some classes.

Then, reality set in: I got super busy with the business (it's eating my lunch for me), realized I don't have time for sword training AND range time (and guess which one's going to get priority? :rolleyes: ).

Plus, I realized that, even though an unarmed intruder might be persuaded to leave if he meets me in the big room with a 33" sword:

1) it's not going to work well for CCW.
2) it won't offer a plausible tertiary backup for the 870P. (The 686P or 642 are secondaries; how would I conveniently carry a sword, too?
3) I can't imagine the sword getting much use in camp. (More firewood? Sure, let me just grab my Angus Trim ...)

So, I started looking for other LBTs. (larger blade tools; yeah, I made that up. :rolleyes: )

I looked at kukris, but they look like they'd need some training. (If one doesnt' don't unsheathe it the right way, one can lose substantial parts of the hand, and let's face it: I ain't no Gurkha. :uhoh: )

I also have looked seriously at machetes, especially the Woodman's pal, and nearly ordered one recently. (May still do so, even when I do get a t'hawk.)

I looked at backpacking hatchets, and even some really large bowie knives, but nothing stood up and said, "I'm what you're looking for."

Then, I saw a posting in a knife thread on THR that mentioned the SOG Fusion T'hawk. When I looked it up, the Fusion was just love at first sight. The concept, if not entirely that particular one, resonated immediately.

I grew up with a hatchet in my hand, helping dad clear brush in the yard. I've been a camper since I was, um, about 12, and cut a LOT of firewood with my handy hatchet. (Still got it. Needs a new handle.)

I've also been a mountaineer. (Not doing much these days, cause I'm so busy in winter with classes.) But as a result, I've got crampons and and a really sweet Charlet Moser ice ax. It's a one piece steel ax, shaft coated with synthetic sticky grip stuff.

And it just looks bad^$$ wicked.:evil: I've often looked at it as much as a weapon as an ice and snow tool. For a while, before I got my 870, I even kept the ice ax by the bed as my "go to weapon".

So, again, when I saw "tomahawk", it reminded me of the best of hatchet + ice ax that combines both camp functionality and SD (as a secondary or tertiary weapon). My experience with hatchet makes me more familiar with it than, say, kukri or sword. They're even small enough for carry, and are even concealable. Check out the shoulder harness on this page (scroll down); note it carries a knife on the other side.

So, yeah, 'bout those 'hawks, Mikey likes it!

I want at least one.

Thanks for your recommendations. I'm reading. I'd enjoy hearing more about ATCs, SOG's, Roger's Rangers Spikes, and others. (But if Meathammer wants to kick me out, I'll take no offense, and take my questions elsewhere since the designated thread topic IS ATC. I just thought since it had been asleep so long, no one would mind if we opened it up a bit.)

Hmmm. I may still consider developing a new thread if people think it'd be more appropriate to leave this one specifically to discussion of ATCs as it was created to do.

Hey, we could call it "The Tomahawk Club", or maybe just "T'hawks". :D

OK, dinner time.

Nem
 
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N870
just a little teaser for you
P3260031.jpg
BTW ATC is a sub-division of Cold Steel(i mention this only because my CS riflemans hawk arrived today and much to my surprise had an ATC sticker on it)
so i looked it uphttp://www.coldsteel.com/axes.html
learn something new every day i guess
 
hawkspike2.jpg


This might be outside your price range, but WOW talk about nice.

A Spike Tomahawk from John Horrigan www.eliteknives.com
 
...makes me wanna take down my pic
Click to expand...
No, no, no! They're both great. Thanks!

I gotta agree with you, though, Mark: Auschip's Horrigan Spike Tomahawk is ... is ... is ...

<words completely fail...> :what: :what: :what: :what: :what:

OK, now I gotta go eat.

No, really, I'm walking away from the computer screen now
before any more eye candy shows up here ... :uhoh:
 
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