Cold Steel Spike Hawk Frontier Hawk, One Size

This tomahawk is advertised as really excelling as a weapon. I'd have to agree with that assessment. Its just heavy enough that when you swing it you know it hits with enough force to be deadly. Its just light enough to be agile. If you want to have something quite deadly that doesn't involve a projectile then this is right up that alley. And it CAN be a projectile-if you've got the skills. What its not is heavy enough to do is go out and chop down a forest. Its a tomahawk not an axe. Not designed for that. Designed for "light" camp duty-capable of light camp duty. And the spike does snag wood that's laying on the ground quite nicely. This hawk took quite an edge. Very nice steel. That said it needs to be emphasized that you are very unlikely to buy one of these-take it out of the box-and be ready to roll with it. I bought both this and the riflemans hawk and I know this wasn't the case for me. Other reviews say pretty much the same things-loose or poorly fitting handles, blades needing sharpening, etc. In my case both handles also had the grain aligned "quarter sawn" which means not aligned in a manner that gets as much strength out of the handle as possible. I don't mind because these are excellent hawks that just need some touch ups. For that matter the woods are full of handles. Its the head that you're really paying for. Sure you could say it should already come that way. And you could sure pay a lot more too. I like to save the money and maintenance my own tool-which you have to do anyway as part of its upkeep if you use things like this versus hang them on walls! YouTube this and you'll see all the ways you can mod and improve these hawks. Its not hard to wind up with a truly beautiful and useful work of art. Great hawk.

I received my spike hawk today and I must say it is more than I expected. I am familiar with Cold Steel having their products from across the spectrum. At the low end they keep the cost down by foregoing the cosmetics and opening the tolerances for quality control, leaving the buyer to finish up, something with which I have no problem. After all, for instance, why pay CS to put an edge on a machete and then the first thing I do is to change the angle more to my liking. I lucked out on the hawk and got one of the good ones, not to say it is perfect. It is so good that I have temporarily postponed the modifications I was planning and will enjoy the hawk as is for now. The head is secure on the haft. Also, the fit is so good the head did not shave the haft and push the shaved wood pieces up just in front of the head. I don’t like the finish on the haft preferring natural wood to feeling the lacquer or whatever they use and in time will remove it and apply an oil finish. Also the haft has a nice grain that can be seen when the light is right. I’ll bring that out during the refinishing. The black paint isn’t as unpleasing as I thought it would be but in time that will go also. It came sharp. Surprise, surprise! Paper cutting sharp in fact. There are machine marks on the grind and a very small burr at one end, all of which I’ll polish out tonight. The sheath smelt like leather. I don’t know what I was expecting but the smell of real leather caught my attention. It is also nicely made. I could find no real faults and this is the first time that I have ever written a favourable report so soon. I am extremely pleased. I lucked out and got a good one.

I've got to start by saying I'm a huge fan of this hawk. I purchased it to be a lite camp axe and it will do that very well. If I knew more about fighting characteristics of tomahawks I'd comment about that, but as it is, I'd be speculating. I've read a lot of reviews and information about these hawks so based on this and having one in my hand, it seems to be totally respectable. It's priced well. Don't buy this though, if you are unwilling or unable to do some modifications. I gather there are some pretty extreme variations in the condition in which any Cold Steel hawk will ship. I've bought both the trail and the spike hawks. The spike was better fitted in my case. To do: Strip the paint and stickers of De-burr the eye Throw out the screw fastener Sand down and reseal the handle (refitting the head) Treat the head (I used gun blue) A tomahawk is a pretty personal tool. None of the above seems to me to ne too much for something I'm going to trust and rely on. Yes, it's made in Taiwan, but that keeps the price down. I do agree that it's well made despite the need to modify. It is holding an edge well and cuts very well. The Taiwan stamp is only paint deep. Like the wood handle because it is so field serviceable (replaceable) and because the construction allows you to hand hold the head (trail hawk becomes a chisel, spike a pick, either a cutting edge) Finally, at a low price, I'm willing to use these hard. Buy it and make it your own!

This is my fourth item in this cold steel "inexpensive" category. They are by no means cheap but not pretty either. They have sort of turned into a hobby for me and fun art and craft type of thing. I have modified the War hammer, Norse hawk, Pipe hawk, and now this Spike hawk. Each time I try to do a little research and mod them for the time period. I am not saying I am historically correct in this venture,,,it is just my interpretation of what they may have looked like back then. This one I was going to pretty much leave plain and dark. I discovered that the spike hawk is believed to be an ancestor of the Navel boarding so I felt a dark and stealthy boarding a ship at night look may be appropriate. But after looking at the attributes of a the boarding axe, the two although somewhat similar, are miles apart. I learned that the spike hawk became popular during the French Indian wars. So that is the theme I went with, The head was stripped of paint and sanded as smooth as I wanted it using various sandpaper grits. I then added layers of cold blue and it brought out a deep charcoal gray. The pictures show it a little lighter than actual color. The haft I already had some black paint on it so I used some steel wool and sanded it down to the finish I wanted. I then over the next few days applied 5 coats of tung oil. I put it all together and it looked nice but needed that little something. I remembered I had a feed store bought small leather whip form about 20 years ago. I took that apart and used what leather I wanted. I played with different wrapping until I got what I wanted. I added 4 upholstery nails and it is all done. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed working on it and putting it together. Now it is one of a kind and you will never see another like it. After you read this and if you have a few moments more, take a look at my pictures and please vote yes on them. Thanks, :o)

Excellent quality. Just as described. Quick delivery. Fantastic experience.

Before I get in to my review of the tomahawk, this is how I received it. I was pretty infuriated about there being an axe head poking out of my unopened package set just inside the front door and a 15 month old walking around. Way not okay. The packaging needs to be handled with more care. Now to the actual tomahawk: Size and weight seem to be pretty great on this thing from the little bit of playing I’ve done with it so far. The handle seems to be a little on the frail side for getting thrown but only time will tell how well it holds up. The head was a bit rusted despite there being a thick layer of something (acrylic paint?) coating it. Not razor sharp out of the box but definitely sharp enough to do it’s job. The set screw was cross threaded so it was a pain to get it out and then another adventure altogether getting the screw off my Allen wrench without damaging that. All in all I would say, not too shabby for 30 bones. I bought it fully intending on doing some work on it since every other review I’ve seen for this thing indicate a bit of work is necessary to bring out its real potential. Which I mean, come on. It’s pretty inexpensive for what it is. Even if you used it as is with no added elbow grease it would still be worth the money in my opinion. I’ll update my review with pictures and details once I get the chance to customize it the way I plan but it’s got some real potential. I took off one star just because the obvious damage (rust) on the head that could have been pretty prevented by the manufacturer. And just based on principle I had to take off another star because of how it was packaged. It doesn’t reflect on the product itself but I mean come on. It really pisses me off thinking about what could have happened to my one year old because someone got lazy and packaged this, A SMALL AXE, insufficiently.

I’m sure there are quite a few people who would have at least one issue with this product, but as someone who bought it specifically for a project, I’m not one of them. Having said that, if I had purchased this for use as-is, it would be returned immediately. Despite its flaws, I ordered this for the hatchet head and not to be used as a tomahawk. If you’re willing to put the time in, it’s great for a project. I fashioned mine into a traditional Hungarian walking stick called a “Fokos” or, in English, a shepherd’s axe. It worked great for this purpose and, since the head was getting pulled of the handle it came with, I really didn’t care that it was loose. Keep that in mind when you buy one of these. I’m sure that’s why there’s a screw through the side of it that further secures the head to the handle. I can assure you that, when I was done replacing the old handle with something that would suit my needs better, it didn’t wobble a bit and I didn’t need to replace to screw it came with. I ordered a second one and it’s on its way now for another similar project, though, this time the head itself is going to be modified as well. This isn’t something you’re going to want to buy if you want a product you can unbox and tuck away in your bag for your next camping trip. You’re going to need to put some work into this to make it worthwhile, but when you’re done you won’t be disappointed with the outcome. If you want something pre-made, call it a solid two stars. For what I wanted, though, it’s definitely a five out of five star product.

monsoon time here and i have lots of work. it does what it's designed to do. the spike is very useful when grabbing the next log or wood to cut, also when climbing steep hills working on the face of the mountain it help anchor me in one spot or when bounding down or up the mountain face. when i had a break i was able to try throwing it, and man did my japanese friends loved it. we had a great time on break. i put this to hard work just like the ontario kukri i had bought 1 month ago and tell you what a friggin combo. absolutely an awesome combo!! i like the length compare to my fiskars 14", it bites down hard, needs little modifying and if you are working out in monsoon keep the paint it will save the trouble of constantly oiling it every second lol! i did manage to chip the edge on it, but not too bad, it happens if you use it and that was towards the end of the week 12 hours a day. unlike some youtube clowns that buy these hawks for show and tell. it does work very well in hard labor! remember a hawk is supposed to be loose. its designed that way, during the night i take the head off and use it to cut meat or other things and tap it back on in the morning and go back to work. My Japanese friends love this thing, i tell them this is old native american tool. my 2 cents

3 stelle al prodotto, che è arrivato in condizioni non certo ottimali🫤, 2 stelle ad Amazon per il rapporto qualità/prezzo😤, 3 stelle per l'imballaggio e 5 stelle al corriere donna, giovane, educata, gentile e pure bella😍😉😂: 1) la verniciatura (nera) di copertura/protezione dalla ruggine si presenta come piuttosto vecchia e pure grossolana oltre che già saltata in vari punti. Peggio che un "brutto di forgia" a mio avviso. 2) il manico in noce è "bicolore"😯, nel vero senso della parola, con un lato più scuro dell'altro. Non so se sia una caratteristica del noce americano ma a me sembra, piuttosto, un trattamento a metà. Preciso che ho altri prodotti Cold Steel con questo tipo di manico ma non me ne è mai capitato uno conciato così 😅. 3) Il manico stesso è un po' sbeccato in cima e leggermente ammaccato in basso. In conclusione, questo Spike Hawk della Cold Steel mi sembra più un reso od una seconda scelta di fabbrica e questo mi porta al nocciolo della questione ovvero il prezzo di vendita : io l'ho pagato 44 € ma non credo li valga, in queste condizioni, al massimo 30/35 €, non di più. Sul sito della Cold Steel, questo modello Spike Hawk è in vendita sui 50 $...! Comprendo le lavorazioni "grossolane" per abbattere i costi di produzione e vendita ma stavolta mi sembra tutto un po' esagerato. Comunque, non lo renderò ma lo terrò lo stesso perché non l'ho preso per collezionarlo ma per usarlo e dell'estetica mi importa fino ad un certo punto : l'importante è la robustezza e da questo punto di vista solo l'uso nel tempo potrà fornire una recensione ottimale. Nel complesso, per me, 3 stelle.

hard to go wrong for this price, very good product

..und Stempel Taiwan.Dies ist schon mein zweites Spikehawk,die Beschichtung ist nun matt schwarz,und nicht mehr glänzend. War etwas skeptisch, weil CS ja verkauft wurde,aber die Qualität stimmt in diesem Fall weiterhin.(Oder noch?) Möchte an dieser Stelle darauf hinweisen wie gut nach meiner Meinung die Preisleistung ist (56€,vor ca 4J habe ich sogar nur 40€ gezahlt).Personen die in ihren Rezensionen bemängeln ,das der Kopf lose ist ,oder der Stil nicht richtig passt ,und das die Schneide noch den letzten Feinschliff braucht...haben meiner Meinung nach 1.keine Ahnung von Tomahawks (dieser Art),und 2.davon wie Massenproduktionen ablaufen, und was sie von daher für ihr Geld erwarten können. Die aufgezählten "Mängel",(und auch die Madenschraube,ist nur für den Transport)sind Maßnahmen die Cold Steel hier ergreift um dieses Tomahawk so günstig verkaufen zu können.So verkaufen sie ein gut hergestellten Kopf und einen sehr guten Stil ,die sie günstig produzieren,lagern und verschicken können ,aber noch den letzten Schliff brauchen.Anstatt ein perfekt aussehendes Produkt zu verkaufen das aber nicht wirklich was taugt,oder alles bis zum Finish und Endkontrolle perfekt zu machen, dann wäre der Preis aber auch um ein vielfaches höher... Wer nicht in der Lage ist: sich zu darüber zu informieren was er kauft,eine Axt zu schärfen ,und einen Holzstil passend zu schleifen...braucht kein Tomahawk und sollte auch keins in die Finger kriegen PUNKT Update 6/'23:Habe ein weiteres Spikehawk gekauft,und nun hat sich definitiv etwas in der Produktion verändert.Auf den Bildern das Neue neben dem Alten,bearbeitetem.(Die Modifikationen und Verzierungen sowie die hellere Farbe beeinflussen natürlich den Eindruck, wenn man die beiden Axtköpfe auf den Fotos vergleicht) Das hat sich geändert: Kurz gesagt die ganze Form hat sich ein wenig geändert. Der Kopf ist schwerer 462gramm zuvor ca.430. Das Auge ist kürzer aber auch dicker ,gedrungener.Am Innenmaß des Auges hat sich nichts verändert. Die Spitze ist weiter entfernt von Spitze,ungefähr so dick wie ein Streichholz. Der Anschliff ist sehr genau aber der Winkel des primären und des sekundären Schliffs ist stumpfer als zuvor.Schätze die Fase hat so 50° Das Axtblatt ist insgesamt etwas dicker. Die Art wie der Axtkopf unten ,in der Nähe des Stils,angefast ist, ist anders gemacht(siehe Foto2,gebe zu bedenken das ich die Unterkannte bei dem"Alten"ringsum angefast habe). Die geschwungene untere Linie ist weniger gebogen.Und auch die "Spike" ist deutlich weniger nach unten gekrümmt. Der Stil ist ganz leicht dünner (kaum zu sehen aber in der Hand zu spüren) Der ganze Kopf ist nun mit Klarlack beschichtet ,das sieht man besonders am sekundären Klingenanschliff,der dardurch sehr matt wirkt. Ob diese Änderungen nun positiv oder negativ sind mag jeder selbst entscheiden,ich finde sie optisch etwas ärgerlich. Falls sich in der Praxis in der Qualität Veränderungen zeigen werde ich berichten.. Update:1/24,die Qualität stimmt weiterhin.

It is a handy axe, but I haven't tried it on a tree

Buon prodotto, ottimo acciaio e legno robusto ma presenta due piccoli difetti correggibili con un po' di lavoro. La lama non è affilata quanto dovrebbe e la testa balla a causa del fatto che il legno risulta scavato a causa dell'occhio del ferro non troppo rifinito. Con un'affilata ed una rifinitura del ferro e dell'impugnatura diventa perfetto.