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In days of yore were tomahawks carried in a sheath (like the ones you see for sell today) or did folks just slide them in their belt or sash?
 
I have seen pictures and movies of people with their hawk just stuck behind their belt or sash. I have no idea as to PC or HC but carrying naked steel like that is a bit on the looney side. My hawk will shave your forearm bald, I do not want that edge on my body unsheathed. Chris
 
August West said:
I have seen pictures and movies of people with their hawk just stuck behind their belt or sash. I have no idea as to PC or HC but carrying naked steel like that is a bit on the looney side. My hawk will shave your forearm bald, I do not want that edge on my body unsheathed. Chris
No kidding! I was just wondering how the hawk would have been carried back then. I would really like to know.
 
oldmantom said:
No kidding! I was just wondering how the hawk would have been carried back then. I would really like to know.
I don't know that I can answer that for you, but I can give you some evidence. In Audubon and His Journals, Vol. II, pg. 467, John James Audubon describes a deer hunter. Here's part of the bit:

"His feet are moccasined; he wears a belt around his waist;... on one side hangs his ball pouch, surmounted by the horn of an ancient Buffalo, once the terror of the herd, but now containing a pound of the best gunpowder; his butcher knife is scabbarded in the same strap; and behind is a tomahawk, the handle of which has been thrust through his girdle."

Doesn't mention a sheath for the tomahawk, but that doesn't mean there wasn't one, of course.

Spence
 
George said:
oldmantom said:
No kidding! I was just wondering how the hawk would have been carried back then. I would really like to know.
I don't know that I can answer that for you, but I can give you some evidence. In Audubon and His Journals, Vol. II, pg. 467, John James Audubon describes a deer hunter. Here's part of the bit:

"His feet are moccasined; he wears a belt around his waist;... on one side hangs his ball pouch, surmounted by the horn of an ancient Buffalo, once the terror of the herd, but now containing a pound of the best gunpowder; his butcher knife is scabbarded in the same strap; and behind is a tomahawk, the handle of which has been thrust through his girdle."

Doesn't mention a sheath for the tomahawk, but that doesn't mean there wasn't one, of course.

Spence
He does go out of his way to mention that the knife was in a "scabbard", so it can be assumed that the hawk wasn't.

Mine goes in my belt, in the back. The way it's carried, you would really have to work at harming yourself with it in that position. No, it's not razor sharp because I don't need to shave with it. I could, however, shave with my knife, which is in a sheath.

I also think we are much more "safety conscious" today than they were back then. Heck, we even have laws making you wear a helmet on a bicycle, which we didn't even have that when I was a kid. I would guess that the people carried their hawk so it was readily available, not in a politically correct container.
 
Jack Wilson said:
Mine goes in my belt, in the back. The way it's carried, you would really have to work at harming yourself with it in that position. No, it's not razor sharp because I don't need to shave with it.
I've carried mine that way for years with no sheath, no trouble. I imagine it was pretty commonly done that way in the old days.

Spence
 
I also carry mine in the small of my back but slightly offset. It really would take some doing to cause any harm to myself carrying it that way. If it did it would be pretty minor and something to shrug off as one of those things that couldn't have been prevented. In my opinion a hawk is much more dangerous in a person's hand than in the back of their belt.

One thing I think a lot of folks loose focus of is if you carry a weapon for a living you become very intimate with it and it's placement. You become keenly aware of how to access it and it's capabilities as well as limits. Yes, accidents do happen however for those that are used to being around them on a regular basis they don't become so much of a big deal. Respected yes, feared no.
 
i carry mine the same ,its not that sharp but i have cut myself on it on two ocaisions. there would be no point in carrying a hawk if it were not ready to use in an instant.an old saying goes if it is not dangerous there is no point having it . ps the cut were minor.
 
I don't like being cut, so I sheath mine. I can see how a traveler 200 years ago might want to keep it unsheathed. I probably would too.
 
I have always carried mine unsheathed in the small of my back. Not the safest but it has worked for me.
 
Jack Wilson said:
I also think we are much more "safety conscious" today than they were back then. Heck, we even have laws making you wear a helmet on a bicycle, which we didn't even have that when I was a kid. I would guess that the people carried their hawk so it was readily available, not in a politically correct container.


The hawk that I carry is not for show or having fun throwing at a mark it is to use and I keep it very sharp, like I said, it will cut hair. Politically correct or not I carry it sheathed.

Maybe I am doing something wrong, but carried where it would be somewhat safe unsheathed, in the small of my back, it is uncomfortable and makes it hard to sit down. Chris
 
I think some people confuse a tomahawk with a "belt ax". I also have a hand ax, and it is much sharper than my hawk, but I don't carry it in my belt. It's for camp use.

I carry my hawk as a weapon and an occasion throw at a log for fun. It doesn't need to be as sharp as my ax. After all, stone clubs were quite efficient and my hawk would function fine as a weapon without being able to shave my opponent.

I guess it all gets down to what you are trying to reenact?
 
I carry my throwing axe behind my back, under the belt, tilted towards my dominant hand. I put a 45-60 degree bevel on the edge, to allow it to split small wood, or stick in a stump when thrown. If I wanted an axe for serious work, I would reduce the angle of my bevel to allow me to put a razor edge on it- more like 20-25 degrees. I put my razor's edge on my knife- and not my throwing knife, BTW. Axes are NOT designed for cutting hair, or much of anything else. Instead, they are wedges on a handle. They SPLIT things.

Because a " camp axe" is often called on to CUT across the grain of small, Green, wood branches, and tree trunks, It needs to be sharper than an axe used to split old logs for firewood. a 45 to 60 degree angle on that bevel is needed. Smaller, hand axes for cutting less than 1" diameter sticks, can work well with a 30 degree bevel, and withstand the pounding so that the edge is not rolled, or bent, or dulled.

Because my axe is for Playing, not serious work, I am not worried about cutting myself on it. Yeah, if you fall on it, and the corner of the edge gets into you, you will be cut, but the same thing can happen if you fall on your gun, or your belt knife.

MOVE SLOWLY. What's your hurry? Or is it that you like scaring all the game out of the woods ahead of you so you never seen anything??? :thumbsup:
By moving slowly you have time to be sure of your foot placement before transferring your weight to the forward foot. That decreases immensely your chance of a fall, or slip. :hatsoff:
 
I agree, Paul. Here's how I carry mine.

HawkCarry.jpg
 
Some say it would be hard to hurt yourself, but on the other hand there are period accounts of injuries due to carrying a hawk unsheathed - one of the top of my head the guy slipped on the ice and cut his hand off at the wrist - he was carrying it in his belt at the back. I've also seen guys cut with a hatchet while carrying even when sheathed and during a fall and no not everyone was moving fast - those cheap sheaths aren't much good in a fall.

There are examples of hawk sheaths, some belt carry and some shoulder carry - this one was used by Britisher Alexander McKenzie circa 1780-90's:
hawk-sheath-3.jpg


Axes are NOT designed for cutting hair, or much of anything else. Instead, they are wedges on a handle. They SPLIT things.

Because a " camp axe" is often called on to CUT across the grain of small, Green, wood branches, and tree trunks, It needs to be sharper than an axe used to split old logs for firewood. a 45 to 60 degree angle on that bevel is needed. Smaller, hand axes for cutting less than 1" diameter sticks, can work well with a 30 degree bevel, and withstand the pounding so that the edge is not rolled, or bent, or dulled.
Paul - While I agree that an axe or hawk is not intended for cutting hair and generally needs a less acute angle - the rest is a bit confusing. You said that Axes were only used to split things and then say they can be used to cut across the grain????
Anyway I'd disagree that any axe is simpy a wedge on a handle - thay can be much more. Felling axes are used to cut down large trees, other types for shaping timbers and boards, etc. Small hand axes were and still are used for shaping projects as well as camp chores where a sharp edge is required - watch Wallace Gusler's video sometime, his control while using a hatchet for shaping a gunstock is amazing.....
All in all axes can be used for many different things and the type/angle of edge will depend on the type work designated.
 
LaBonte said:
All in all axes can be used for many different things and the type/angle of edge will depend on the type work designated.

Absolutely, I even take the handle off my hawk, one of the reasons I like tomahawks is it is so easy to take the handle off, and use the head as an ulu type knife. It works great to skin large game used like this, if it is sharp.

It is also great for shaping wood, choke up on the handle and with a good sharp edge yould be surprised what a skilled man can do with a sharp axe, hatchet or hawk.

Paul, axes are for cutting, which requires an edge, mauls and wedges are for splitting. Chris
 
I thought this was about "tomahawks", which are weapons?

Axes are not the same and there's no disputing what axes are or how they are used.
 
Jack Wilson said:
I thought this was about "tomahawks", which are weapons?

Axes are not the same and there's no disputing what axes are or how they are used.

I am the one that may be confused, I don't need a weapon so I use my tomahawk as an edged tool. If it was not useful as anything but a weapon I would not carry the extra weight. If I were going to use it as weapon I would still want it as sharp as I could possibly get it and would probably sharpen the bottom edge as well.

I sometimes carry a small wetterlings axe instead of the hawk and it too is razor sharp, but I like the hawk because of the ease of replacing, or removing the handle. If you guys have never had the joy of using a truly sharp axe, hatchet or hawk I suggest you give it a try.

I don't know nearly as much about HC as most of the guys here, I have been shooting black powder for over 20 years but I just learned about the trekking side of the hobby. However, I thought in the 18th century any small hand axe was called a tomahawk? Surely they were not all only used for weapons? Chris
 
Jack Wilson said:
I thought this was about "tomahawks", which are weapons?

Axes are not the same and there's no disputing what axes are or how they are used.

While the original OP was about tomahawks, go back and read Paul's post - that's where the axes came into this discussion and how they are used or not. Besides hand or belt axes were often carried in much the same way as tomahawks.
FWIW tomahawks can be well documented (primary docs) as being used as both weapon and tool and in some cases even a pipe and I've used one for over 40 years for all three purposes....
 
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