Mass-diver
NES Member
Those look incredible, if they cost $200 and not $400, I'd already have ordered one. VERY cool!
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Wassup with tomahawks?
- Thread starter frenchman
- Start date
Those look incredible, if they cost $200 and not $400, I'd already have ordered one. VERY cool!
I have a RMJ Jenny-Wren (their smallest hawk) and a LaGana "Tactical" Vietnam Tomahawk. In terms of size/weight vs usefulness, neither tomahawk is that great, UNLESS you treat it as a CQB weapon that can double as an entry tool. For camping/wilderness situations, a hatchet is more useful due to the blade geometry, and an entrenching tool/shovel works much better for digging tasks.
As a CQB weapon the tomahawk excels in delivering heavy, penetrating, fight stopping blows. As Mr. Mike Janich explained to many of us recently at the NEShooters Summit, knife wounds even from a large fixed blade have a very poor record of immediately physically stopping an aggressor. The mass of the tomahawk delivers a much higher amount of energy per blow. Obviously no one would want to be stabbed, but I would much rather be stabbed than hit by a tomahawk. Just imagine the difference in damage between getting slashed or stabbed in an extremity or torso vs a chopping blow by an axe/hawk.
The problem is carrying the damn thing, when you already have 50-100 lbs of gear to ruck. If I knew I was going into a fight and I had transportation, I would take the hawk, no questions. Otherwise I would have to weigh the likelihood of having to do light breaching (works great for breaking and clearing glass, some doors, locks) and CQB, vs the weight and size of the tool.
For CQB, balancing being able to access the weapon quickly (with all your other gear on, rifle slung) and retention of the tomahawk is also a tricky problem. The old school method of passing the handle through the belt without a sheath of any sort makes access easy, but retention and safety are compromised. Many of the sheaths provided with the cheaper retail "tactical" tomahawks are not suited to deploying the hawk as a weapon. The one that came with the RMJ tomahawk is pretty good (good retention and access with a quick release buckle), the LaGana hawk's sheath is only good for lugging it around (2 buckles, awkward flap gets in the way).
The only way to figure out where carrying it works for you and your gear is to kit up and try mounting it in different positions, while performing all the things one might have to do if you were wearing that specific kit (this applies to all gear I guess). Sling and unsling your rifle; transition from prone, sitting/kneeling, standing shooting positions; access your sidearm; reloading/accessing your magazines; move around in different environments (stairs, ladders, getting in and out of cars). Ideally, run a defensive carbine course with the tomahawk on. I have tried the above with the hawk mounted on my chest rig, and it got in the way a lot. For me the best place to mount the tomahawk is just below the belt line at either 9 or 3 o'clock (leaning towards 9 since I'm a righty and I don't want it getting in the way of my sidearm/draw).
What was the question again? LOL. 1) Yes it is mostly a "cool" mall-ninja / zombie slayer thing, but the tomahawk has definite uses and advantages over a knife if employed properly. 2) It is by no means a necessary piece of kit. 3) If you're going to depend on it to do any serious work or defend your life, don't get a cheap one (RMJ hawks are fantastic).
If you enjoy bladed weapons, why not train with a tomahawk and find out for yourself if they are worth carrying?
As a CQB weapon the tomahawk excels in delivering heavy, penetrating, fight stopping blows. As Mr. Mike Janich explained to many of us recently at the NEShooters Summit, knife wounds even from a large fixed blade have a very poor record of immediately physically stopping an aggressor. The mass of the tomahawk delivers a much higher amount of energy per blow. Obviously no one would want to be stabbed, but I would much rather be stabbed than hit by a tomahawk. Just imagine the difference in damage between getting slashed or stabbed in an extremity or torso vs a chopping blow by an axe/hawk.
The problem is carrying the damn thing, when you already have 50-100 lbs of gear to ruck. If I knew I was going into a fight and I had transportation, I would take the hawk, no questions. Otherwise I would have to weigh the likelihood of having to do light breaching (works great for breaking and clearing glass, some doors, locks) and CQB, vs the weight and size of the tool.
For CQB, balancing being able to access the weapon quickly (with all your other gear on, rifle slung) and retention of the tomahawk is also a tricky problem. The old school method of passing the handle through the belt without a sheath of any sort makes access easy, but retention and safety are compromised. Many of the sheaths provided with the cheaper retail "tactical" tomahawks are not suited to deploying the hawk as a weapon. The one that came with the RMJ tomahawk is pretty good (good retention and access with a quick release buckle), the LaGana hawk's sheath is only good for lugging it around (2 buckles, awkward flap gets in the way).
The only way to figure out where carrying it works for you and your gear is to kit up and try mounting it in different positions, while performing all the things one might have to do if you were wearing that specific kit (this applies to all gear I guess). Sling and unsling your rifle; transition from prone, sitting/kneeling, standing shooting positions; access your sidearm; reloading/accessing your magazines; move around in different environments (stairs, ladders, getting in and out of cars). Ideally, run a defensive carbine course with the tomahawk on. I have tried the above with the hawk mounted on my chest rig, and it got in the way a lot. For me the best place to mount the tomahawk is just below the belt line at either 9 or 3 o'clock (leaning towards 9 since I'm a righty and I don't want it getting in the way of my sidearm/draw).
What was the question again? LOL. 1) Yes it is mostly a "cool" mall-ninja / zombie slayer thing, but the tomahawk has definite uses and advantages over a knife if employed properly. 2) It is by no means a necessary piece of kit. 3) If you're going to depend on it to do any serious work or defend your life, don't get a cheap one (RMJ hawks are fantastic).
If you enjoy bladed weapons, why not train with a tomahawk and find out for yourself if they are worth carrying?
Last edited:
AllaSnackbah
NES Member
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call of doodie
