Cold Steel Trail Hawk American Hickory Handle

3
by on August 7, 2014 at 6:17 am

Cold Steel Trail Hawk American Hickory Handle

Cold Steel Trail Hawk American Hickory Handle

  • Overall Length: 22.00″
  • Handle Material: American Hickory
  • Blade Length: 6 1/2″ (Hawk Length)
  • Weight: 1.34 lbs.

Modeled after an early frontier pattern, our Trail Hawk can do it all. It’s an excellent chopper and has a functional hammer poll with a hardened face so you can drives nails, hammer in stakes, and smash or crush just about anything. Best of all it’s extremely lightweight and compact so it’s a cinch to tuck it under your belt or lash it to a pack or shooting bag.

List Price: $ 39.99

Price: $ 20.59

in Fitness Gear

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3 Comments

  • McJoe

    07/08/2014
    109 of 114 people found the following review helpful
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Proper tomahawk use tutorial/informative review… they’re meant to be loose!, December 28, 2012
    By 
    McJoe

    This review is from: Cold Steel Trail Hawk American Hickory Handle (Sports)

    I almost rated this one star just to get people to read my review… this is REALLY long, but I love to share my passions, so if you have some time, grab a snack, and enjoy the read 🙂

    I’ll be posting this review on the other Cold Steel Tomahawks as well, so please forgive the repetition.

    First off, this is not a hatchet, and it will never chop (and cannot split) nearly as well as a fixed head hatchet. Conversely, a hatchet has not the balance/edge geometry to throw or stick as well as a hawk, and the permanent nature of the handle/head fusion will suffer under the abuse of throwing, or they will simply just not fly well (try throwing a gerber axe/hatchet some time).

    That said, my BIGGEST POINT of this ENTIRE review/blog/blurb, based on all the negatives I just read on the CS Tomahawk line is…

    TRUE THROWING HAWKS ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE LOOSE HEADS.

    This is not a mistake… it is, in fact, the most durable design, and before metal heads it was very hard to accomplish. Just look at the negative reviews on the Vietnam hawk. This is what you can expect by trying to permanently affix your head on these types of hawks. The shock will transfer through the steel into the wood, which will give/crack/splinter under the relatively substantial amounts of torque/vibration.

    I have years of experience throwing similar hawks… These are about the best “traditional” tomahawks made anymore, short of something pounded out by hand. It’s unfortunate they are made overseas.. They are a little rough around the edges, but hell they are cheap! A little TLC before you start throwing will make them last for years. Everything said here goes for all the cold steel “American Tomahawk” hawks, as they all have their uses, merits, and drawbacks, and all use the same materials/have similar craftsmanship. My favorites are the Rifleman, Trail, and Spike. The Norse is also a sticker, but I always miss having something on the backside of the head. I would avoid the fixed head “tomahawks” like the Vietnam for any intent besides combat… they simply will not hold up to throwing, and don’t have enough ‘meat’ in the handle/head union for much else like chopping. They are for flesh and bone, which is nothing.

    Out of the box these are not perfect… most of the cheap Cold Steel stuff isn’t (try one of their machetes some time) but you definitely get your money’s worth. The paint sucks, the edges need work, and the set screw is a TERRIBLE idea. If you want to ‘fix’ your head in place, do so with wrappings/lashings (I.E. a fighting hawk instead of a throwing hawk) but never NEVER permanently pin/screw your head to the wood.. the shock of throwing (especially by newbies) will wear the handle out very quickly. The only permanent hawks I’ve seen hold up under constant use are the polymer handle ones (SOG), though these are not nearly as well balanced as a wood handled hawk for throwing, and they will eventually break/stretch/flex too far. Please also realize that there is a big difference between a breaching tool (which can look like a hawk) and a true throwing tomahawk. Balance is everything.

    That said…

    My background with throwing and tomahawks began at mountain man rendezvous in AZ as a child, long before cold steel existed. Back then, most of our tomahawk heads were hand made by blacksmiths, and intentionally kept loose on the haft, as this extended the life of the handles greatly, and allowed for quick/easy replacement of the handles, which we considered more or less disposable/easily replaceable to us. Being loose allows the handle to vibrate/bounce within the head, rather than absorb the shock of and impact on a small region of the handle. You will see this in action if you give it a chance… some times the handle will fly right out with a good stick! Think of how a bowling pin (I’m thinking the old maple ones) goes flying… then imagine than same pin held in place while the ball smashes into it… being allowed to ‘bouce’ and dissipate the energy prevents the wood from shattering. This is especially important with the tough but potentially brittle ash/hickory handles commonly used in modern hawks. After having read many negative reviews by others (where it seems experience may be lacking), I’ve decided to share my traditional tomahawk finishing/use techniques, hopefully to the success of others.

    The goal is to allow the handle to float in the head, but still be able to be wedged tightly into the proper place for carry/utility. Done right the head should stay put until it really smacks something without your hand holding the other end. When it finally does rattle loose, you will see how much shock it would have had to sustain had it been permanently affixed. One quick proper swing, and it’s right back where it should be. Piece of cake!

    How to “FIX” your crappy CS tomahawk:

    First, remove that set screw and throw…

    Read more

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  • RoninUT

    07/08/2014
    62 of 67 people found the following review helpful
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Good out of the box, great with a little work…, October 25, 2010
    By 
    RoninUT (Utah) –

    Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
    This review is from: Cold Steel Trail Hawk American Hickory Handle (Sports)
    I bought one of these last week and liked it so much I bought a second one, which arrived today.

    Out of the box, these hawks come a little rough around the edges. They are firmly attached to the handles with a set screw, and they could stand to be a little sharper. That said, they do chop very well as-is. I have to trim some elm saplings back a couple times a year in my yard, and I figured I’d take the opportunity to test the trail hawk.

    It worked great. The lightweight head combined with a longer handle allowed me more precise control over the chopping than a traditional hatchet would.

    As for making it “great”, there are a few things that can be done to really improve the hawk, if you have some time to kill.

    I removed the setscrew and tapped the handle out of the head. This scraped up the handle pretty bad, because of the burr left on the eye from the forging. I took the burr off with a round file, and buffed it a bit with some emery cloth to smooth the file marks. Then I stripped the paint off the head with an aerosol spray paint stripper.

    For the handle, I sanded out all of the scrapes and gouges made by removing the head, and stained the handle. This makes it look a lot nicer.

    To get the head to fit the handle perfectly, gently tap the head back on and then remove it. If the fit isn’t good, you will only see 2 or 3 points where the handle and head make contact. Sand the handle at those high spots until the handle is in full contact with the eye, and it will be a perfect, tight fit.

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  • Dfib

    07/08/2014
    48 of 51 people found the following review helpful
    3.0 out of 5 stars
    Solid pieces, but some assembly required for a good fit., December 11, 2011
    By 
    Dfib

    Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
    This review is from: Cold Steel Trail Hawk American Hickory Handle (Sports)
    While the Cold Steel Trail Hawk is serviceable it won’t be winning any awards for fit and finish. At a price point of $20 it is best to approach this purchase as “some assembly required”. I will outline my process below.

    I bought two with the sole intent of customizing them as presents.
    Both arrived at once in an overly large box with some brown paper thrown inside. Worst packing job I have seen from Amazon ever. The net result was several cosmetic blemished on both hawks from bumping and grinding while shipping. I hope they had fun doing it at least!

    Out of the box quality is less than stellar. The very fact the head is held by a set screw defies the point of a tomahawk! Both hawks had heads that were poorly seated and wobbled horribly. Edge finish was poor and I doubt they could have cut anything safely or easily. Ultimately these were small isssues as I was going to modify them anyway.

    Step 1:
    Removal of the set screw and head shows the eye of the head has never been finished. The rough edges of the eye caused serious handle deformity when they were seated at the factory.

    Step 2:
    Soaking the head in stripping coumpound allows removal of genaric black paint. Casting finish is rough under the paint. However clear lines are visible from heat treating. It appears the heat treating is up to the first third of the blade and a majority of the hammer pole.

    Step 3:
    Debur and bevel the eye of the head to remove sharp edges. Work can be done on the cheap with files and sandpaper, but a dremel type rotary tool makes it a 10 minute project!

    Step 4:
    Strip the finish from the handle and smooth the upper portion to remove the lines put in by the unfinished head of the hawk. Test fit and mark and remove excess handle material where the head seats until you have a good fit. Smooth the entire handle to 320 grit and refinish with a good stain and poly. Handle looks 100% better and is good to go.

    Step 5:
    Finish the head as desired. Some simple options are a patina with vinegar or mustard, cold blueing, or sanding/polishing. If you plan on leaving bare metal you will want to oil your hawk to prevent rust. There are lots of other finishing options that will allow you to make the Trail Hawk your own. Google is your friend here.

    Step 6:
    Final assembly. Place the head in the oven @ 200F and the handle in the freezer. Once the head is too hot to touch, place it on the handle and seat it by giving the top of the handle a sharp rap onto an unforgiving surface. If steps 3 & 4 were done correctly there should be 0 play in the tomahawk at this point. You may now happily throw the set screw in the garbage, or place it in a bin in the garage.

    Step 7:
    Sharpening. Sharpen your hawk with your favorite method until it reaches a point you are happy. Shaving sharp isn’t required for hawks.

    Enjoy the heck out of it.

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