This is a quick introduction to my new Cold Steel Trail Hawk Project. The Trail Hawk gives you a lot of value for only $28, but the fit and finish leaves a bit to be desired. For your money you are getting a quality 5150 carbon steel head and an American hickory handle, that is the good news. The bad news is, the head is sloppily fit to the haft and it is covered in a thick and crappy black paint. The haft has a waxy feel to it and looks distressed like some Yuppy’s furniture.
I’m going to pull the head off and smooth the casting marks out on the inside as well as grind the opening a bit for a better fit to the haft. I’m going to sand the shaft, do some patterning on it with a torch, and put a nice stain and finish on it. I’ll also add a Para-cord wrap and lanyard. I think this stuff will fix the deficiencies that this hawk has, make it way prettier, and give me a real nice piece of gear all for around $50 total investment.
Keep an eye out for this one! If it turns out as nice as I hope I may have to build one to giveaway. . .
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Big Dan says
How did the throwing work out for you? ๐
Mike says
Not to well! It was hard to sneak it in with the neighbors outside, I think I scare them enough already ๐
Trace says
Coincidentally I also added a Cold Steel tomahawk to my kit recently. I got the Rifleman Hawk. Not only did I get one for me, I also got a Rifleman Hawk for my 18 y/o son and a Trail Hawk (same length but lighter) for my daughters (age 16 and 11). We all took them out to the woods and tried throwing them, they found it was much harder than it looked, but eventually all were successful in getting them to stick at least once.
I also like the utilitarian concept of the hammer head on the back of those two tomahawks. Sure the spike looks cool but, like I told my son, if you ever did have to use it as a weapon and actually hit someone with it, it’s going to get stuck. The hammer can be used as a tool or, if needed, a weapon also.
I look forward to following your project.