Havent seen a thread about these and I am in the market for one of the two. Does anyone have any advice and or pictures of ones you own? I am not into throwing or any other sporting event. Mainly use of it will be around the house, clearing brush, etc.

Woodsman's Pal 481 the best for clearing brush.

I bought two SOG F01T Tactical Tomahawks, for myself and my son. Also bought the SOG HDN-F01 Hard Nylon Sheaths to match. I keep mine in my Blazer for those unanticipated zombie attacks. Blade needed just a bit of touch up to get razor sharp. Haven't tried throwing it yet, but there is a plethora of youtube vids on throwing them.

Pretty easy to make from railroad ties. Ive made a few

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Dyin ain't much of a livin

Walmart had the SOG tactical tomahawk for $20 a couple of weeks ago. I thought about it and went back to buy one and they were all gone. Seems like they would work well for clearing limbs or simple chores around the yard or camp.

My tomahawk with a hand forged iron head with a sleet insert blade. A hand fitted hickory handle and hand laced leather wrap with brass bead, brass cone, Buffalo horn hairpipe and hackle feather dangles.
It's unsharpened but can be sharpened and put to work and I'm willing to part with it for $75.

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Neither tool is great for clearing brush, a good machete will serve this purpose much better. Don't get me wrong I think Tomahawks are very cool weapons and great for intimidation and close combat, but are not the greatest tool for chopping, a hatchet is the better tool for light chopping but on brush nowhere near as efficient as a machete.

The Cold Steel Machetes are a pretty good bang for the buck, I have a Kukri Machete and a 24" Latin Machete, the Kukri is my pack machete, while the Latin resides down at the cabin for clearing trails.

I have a few Tomahawks as well, but they have never seen any real field use, they are more for show, while the Machetes are more for go.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

All I use is an old Craftsman hatchet, it was made before zombies, so I don't know if would help me or not.

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Recycled Bricklayer

Kinda tough to keep an edge on one of those I bet!
olcop

I picked up a 22" machete in Belize back in the late 80s. I think I paid $5 new and a another dollar for a leather sheath. That jewel has cleared a lot of brush and beheaded a few snakes over the years. Machetes are not the best for chopping down other than small trees, but they are hard to beat for clearing brush or jungle.

Thanks guys for the posts! I really like the wood handle ones.

any thoughts?
Cold Steel Vietnam Tomahawk 2-3/4 Blade 13-1/2 Overall Length Hickory

I have several axes, of different sizes, and a machete (great for light brush clearing, etc.) but as for hatchet-sized tools for hatchet-sized work, I don't think you'll find anything superior to the Gransfors-Bruks "Small Forest Axe". It's slightly larger than a "boy scout" hatchet, with a little longer (and a little safer handle). It's not a tree-felling or firewood-bucking tool, but just right for camp chores that are beyond the capability of a machete. The factory-furnished sheath is inadequate --- I made one of Kydex. It ain't pretty, but it's effective...

Just watch yourself on the backswing, that thing could leave a mark.

has anyone had any experience with "knives of alaska"? this is kinda what im looking for. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Just to work around the camp site and little odd jobs. Cold Steel Vietnam Tomahawk 2-3/4 Blade 13-1/2 Overall Length Hickory

I picked this Bridgeport hatchet up at a garage sale last fall. This thing is tough as they come and heavy. These were old Boy Scout hatchets and you can find them on Ebay a lot. I painted the handle red so I can see it better out in the woods. They don't come any tougher.

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Vaya con Dios

Gransfors Bruks makes the best axes in the world ... just google and You Tube and you can decide for yourself.

Hand forged by blacksmiths from GB located in Northern Sweden.

I have 4 different axes form GB and know how to use them and take care of them too ...

You get what you pay for ...these axes you hand down to your kids and to their kids ... that may not be worth it to you ...

As others have mentioned, clearing brush and general edged tool household chores are best suited for a machete or kukri blade, not a tomahawk or hatchet ... especially not a tactical tomahawk. For wood splitting and light-moderate chopping, a small camp axe should suffice, and Estwing or Gransfors are excellent brands.

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I'm with the banned ...

Smith357, I have that same machete. I have used it more than I thought I would. I paid about $15 for it and have got my money out of it

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Its just a 22

As a teen, I found a home-made corn-chopper, a type
of machete. 3/16" flat-stock, with a homemade wooden
handle. Not pretty, but heavy. Held an edge pretty good.
Cleared a LOT of brush, and scrub trees up to 3" dia. Never
had a sheath for it. Modified square business end.
TACC1

I keep one nearby.....

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GA Carry member
Vietnam Vet

A heavy bowie knife is nice but the width of the hatchet head is needed for splitting or hammering. And a 12 oz hatchet is minimum really.

Unfortunately the last time I took a hatchet into the woods one of our friends was an ex reservation indian who was also an ex army ranger. When I started chipping away at some firewood he made a few expletives and proceeded to prop up old 8 inch logs against other logs and throw large rocks down to easily break them. He broke some smaller stuff with hands and threw some white gas on it from cook stove. Pushed the ends of some longer logs together for a star fire. Disgustingly fast.

So I went back to the medium heavy bowie knife. Then down to a heavy blade huning knife. I have often wished I bought a gurka like in one of the pictures in this thread. But you cannot filet a fish with a gurka. Nice for cutting walking sticks?

But around the property a small chain saw and bow saw is really quick. If I could only have two it would be limb loppers and bow saw.

Buy one of these if serious about brush. One of the tools smoke jumpers use to cut fire breaks.

Council Fire Rake

I bought a little hatchet I found at Goodwill. Hatchet one end and meat tenderizer the other. Found it kinda cool looking.

I have been using machetes for over 40 years now and prefer them over hatchets for even light chopping. I have used almost ever design over the years and two years ago, I purchased a Bear Grillis "panga" machete make by Gerber. It is one of, if not the best machete i have ever used. Has sufficient weight to help cut brush or light chopping and the rubberized grip is like holding a set of Pachmayer Decelerator e grips. I will never be without this one.

When my 3 sons wanted to use my tomahawk, I let them use it for one afternoon. Well they decided they had to have one or two each, that was going to run about $300 at the time and they had no funds. So, we took a broken hatchet and cut the handel off, and installed a "California Framer" 18" handel. It is a pound heaver than a tomahawk, and had a unique but usable ballance. The handles are strait and have a belly in the middle with a swell at the butt. We used a bench sander and removed the swell and refinished the raw wood. It is heavy! But from 50' they could hit and stick the man shaped target in the head 8 or 9 times out of 10. I always bought very cheap hatchets for this project, and started with dressing the edge with a file and cleaning the nail pulling notch up until it was useful. We made 8 to 10 of them and a few are still around the house. Last year when visiting my oldest in Texas, there were 3 hanging on the toolrack (2 that I did not make the mods on but looked as good or better). They are not dangerous weapons you know, they are just hatchets. Ivan

It took 25 posts???

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Still Running Against the Wind

There was a recall notice posted at Walmart. Some of the Gerber Pangas were breaking.

The Cold Steel Vietnam Tomahawk - unless it has been improved - came out of a hatchet factory in Taiwan.

Carbon steel Tramonita machetes out of Brazil - I like the foot long - are useful tools. You can sharpen them with a brick. I used mine to hack up plenty of hardwood.

All right, who edited the title??

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Still Running Against the Wind

For a utility hatchet I picked up an SOG Natchez double bit. It was around 60 bucks and seems fairly durable. The head is stainless and hard coated, but it's 420 steel so I don't know for sure how it will hold up over time. I like the design though.....

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Even older, even crankier....

Buck and Gerber/Fiskars make excellent hatchets at reasonable cost.

I have a 12" machete made by Corneta in, I beleive, El Salvador. But the Tramonita brand mentioned above by Gator Farmer also has a good rep.

The British Martindale brand is sold here, and they have some nice machetes. But those with wooden handles will probably have to have the handles reshaped with files and sandpaper. You can then shape the handle to your hand, though. Their famous logo is a crocodile.

Not many pictures?
My hatchet, handforged.
Can't remember by who

.

Dang, it's a small world.......

My MIL sleeps with one jest like it under her pillow too!

And she keep her bug out broom right handy as well!


.

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Now, that is cool

I think that it is a copy of a viking hatchet

Found an old mound of rust, cleaned it off and found a hammer/hatchet head under all that corrosion. I got a handle for it and now it's my wife's favorite camping tool.

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Actually not hard. What I do is add a 2" piece of H-13 to the front edge and draw it out. Makes a great cutting edge

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Dyin ain't much of a livin

Search estwing axes and hatchets They have a new modle out. Very nice

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no second place winner

jkc, I'd like to see some photos of that Small Forest Axe and the sheath you made. Sounds pretty cool.

Nice tools. Some of these look like they would be illegal in several states. The black ones especially, and that sweet looking one that Qball has, looks like a beheading instrument.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

Beaver Bill sets up at some of the OGCA Shows. At the January show I bought my daughter a Spike Hawk that he made and she really likes it.

Hand Forged and heat treated.

Home « Beaver Bill Forging Works

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Sceva
OGCA SWCA NRA

Bill should call his business "Beaver Bill's Hand Forgeries".

here is mine! just picked it up last week.

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2 Timothy 1:7

I have that one and the smaller one as well. My son is throwing the small one. I enjoy watching him throw it and then chase after it when he misses the target. The small one is great for throwing. You need a good sized arm to throw the bigger one. At least that is my opinion. My son also has used the smaller one to cut perfect squares of ice out of the pool at grandma's house. This was relayed to me by grandma. That would explain why he has been sharpening it pretty regular. My son never said a word about it either.Hmmm In any event, it has kept him occupied and he has been getting his exercise.

Got these in case I ran out of ammo... SOG Battle Axe, SOG F01T, Condor Tool and Knife 14-Inch Golok Machete, Condor Tool and Knife Parang Machete 17.5-Inch, el cheapo Machete. Guess I should have put some of my S&W knifes on also.

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I carry either one of these Wetterling hatchets in my truck at all times, along with my bedroll, small pack, skillet, and an ammo box full of canned goods...just in case I have to spend the night out in the hills. Both are hand-forged and take a razor edge.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

I bought a couple of the chinese machetes when they were selling for about 20 bucks each. Apparently has some pretty good steel as filing an edge was a PITA so used an old sharpening stone. Darn things took a great edge and will make short work of a small sapling or tree. Heavy though and top of the blade is about 3/16" or so thick. Frank

Woodsman Pal.

I have been using one for several years while hunting/camping.

What's the nice leather pouch for? Looks good.

Thanks. It carries my Buck folding hunter. I've got a couple of 'em. They're made well and hold up after a lot of abuse. I got them from A.G. Russell Knives.

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Pack light and cinch tight.