The Estwing Tomahawk Review

[@JDStone20]

I just got one of these with the stacked leather handle. I sharpened the head, as it had a slight burr and could have been a little sharper out of the box, but I had seen worse and it was usablely sharp, and the point was super sharp, no complainants there. I haven't done any chopping with it yet as I am out of test wood right now, but it went right through thick cardboard boxes, just as well as my 18" Ontario USGI Machete and Cold Steel LTC Kurkiri and Kukri Machete. Awesome tool, it is light enough to carry for EDC and is well balanced. They had this at my local hardware store also, which is a two block walk from my house.

[@AnthonyD1986]

Just got one of these last week off of Amazon. I've yet to use it in the bush yet but I'm sure it'll do a fine job. Very good looking tomahawk and feels solid.

[@glenmo1]

I believe I purchased mine at home Depot for $36+tax .. unfortunately I noticed they haven't been carrying them recently at home Depot.. I have to check out Lowe's next but I already own one thank God thinking about getting a second one to keep in the vehicle as my first one resides right next to my bed!

[@umami0247]

For me tomahawk is a weapon first. Would pair it with a large knife in hand to hand. I find it funny how some of these tactical guys say they only need a good knife totally disagree I have a tomahawk in all my bags with knifes. I find them to be a fantastic addition to tactical situations. And I've had a estwing hammer since 1978 and it still does the job so I'm sure this will hold up.

[@411Outdoors]

Agreed!💯 tomahawk is an awesome weapon

[@user-bz6gh5ng2m]

No. Never ever dual wield if that’s what you’re talking about. You need to train for years and years. Having your off-hand free for grappling will almost always be better. If anything get yourself a small buckler style shield that is easily dropped when you need to grapple.

[@assassinmanx6128]

@@user-bz6gh5ng2mTrue in double wielding. But if you keep the knife hand close to your body so the other person can’t disarm it. Depends as well which hand is dominant. I still train both cause I’m still trying to get the science of which hand to use a tomahawk and which for the knife. My dominant hand feels more natural thrusting/slashing and parrying. I feel you have to become an ambidextrous so that way either weapon in either hand feels natural.

[@jimbob465]

None of you have ever fought with knives or tomahawks... 😂😂😂

[@wavepropulsion1]

Good video. A narrower bit in a tomahawk is an advantage, if you look at historical axes since the bronze age it was preferred, as the copper hatchet of Ozzi the ice man discovered in the Alps and many others. As a tool allows better detailed work, and as a weapon it stabs in soft tissue. And the thickness also helps to make the tool more resilient and not stuck into the wood as thinner hawks does. The combination of the thickness, narrow bit and grind, allows to work the wood with the grain and in cross grain. I'm happy with my Estwing Black Eagle, for sure the company did a bit of research and engineering to bring a budget but good quality tool with not gimmicks. The spike brings more versatility yet since it allows more options of leverage for breaking as a pry bar or breaching, but also for digging and climbing or breaking stones (many survivalists forget not all is wood in nature). I have a hatchet for specific work, but for survival or hiking my choice is this (also it cut grass and vines not as a machete but as a blunt billhook). Some tactical tomahawks don't have an electrical isolated grip. You clarifyed me some good points, enjoyed also the video of the warhawk so liked to comment here since you seems a good reviewer. Cheers man, subscribed.

[@411Outdoors]

Thank you my friend! 🙂 cheers in return

[@411Outdoors]

Thank you for your insight as well brother!

[@davidbutler1825]

Since you like historic weapons and tomahawks, I believe you would also like to watch "The Last of the Mohicans." (1992, Daniel-Day Lewis). Really cool tomahawk fighting in that movie. Also I want to recommend the Cold Steel Boar Spear. Another great weapon, if you "run out of bullets." The spear was the best man had for a very long time, and is still very effective when it's long and sharp and keeps the bad guy out of reach (poke low, high, low, high).

[@411Outdoors]

Love the spear! Great recommendation. I definitely want to start adding it into my training montage videos on my page. I did a survival spear tutorial. Lots of fun. Last of Mohicans rocks for sure bro

[@davidbutler1825]

@@411Outdoors I know this is off topic, but I was trying to understand your channel name and I was wondering, does the 411 have to do with marijuana?

[@411Outdoors]

@@davidbutler1825 4:11 comes from a verse in the Bible (1 Thessalonians 4:11) that says “aspire to live quietly, working with your hands and minding your own business” All the chaos in the world inspired me all the more to do those three things.

[@davidbutler1825]

@@411Outdoors That's so cool! I love that! One of my favorites is 1 Thessalonians 4:17! "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. "

[@411Outdoors]

@@davidbutler1825 🙌👊

[@glenmo1]

For close range contact fighting you can choke up on the tomahawk closer to the Head.. and use it like that at close quarters grappling fight

[@411Outdoors]

👍👍 absolutely

[@joshsimp1995]

I like tomahawks for there weapon and tool use, versatility and history, stay strong bro

[@411Outdoors]

You as well brother thank you!

[@adamjames1375]

I've owned two of these, the black rubber handled one which I gifted to a friend and currently have the leather stacked handle. On either one, if I'm swinging for the fences, I'm adding hockey tape. The rubber functions a bit better, but the leather is sexier. With that said, it's just a bad tool. It's awesome with cool factor through the roof, but it's not very capable for any "real work". You can chop stuff. It's just much less efficient than traditional hatchets. As a small mobile breaching tool, I'd get alot more done with my 22 oz. Steel handle Estwing hammer (which would be comparably effective as a weapon with slightly ground forks.) Even as a weapon I feel it to be pretty mediocre. An ontario sp10 bowie knife, is a much more useful tool and I'd argue a much better weapon. I'd prefer any full size combat knife. With that said, it's indestuctable and really cool, I just can't find an application where there isn't a much better tool for the job, in a similiar size/weight/price category.

[@411Outdoors]

Very well defined! Over time I have seen everything you said to be so true. To me, it’s just a cool looking glorified club haha!

[@adamjames1375]

@@411Outdoors Yeah man, she reminds me of ninja stars. They're both really cool but hard to give a task to, even if just for fun. I have the leather stacked sportsman, and got the orange rubber handled Estwing hatchet for my son. They're really excellent hard use tools and throw well too. I've had/used a bunch of similiarly sized/priced mid level hatchets since buying mine 15 years ago and haven't found a better replacement yet. Cool channel & keep up the good work!

[@411Outdoors]

@@adamjames1375 much appreciated brother🙂! That stacked leather Estwing The Sportsman Axe is one of my all time favs

[@rickroye350]

Joe X beat the snot out of this tomahawk…held up pretty well! He had to physically stand on and jump on the end of the handle with the head wedges under something to get enough leverage to even bend the “handle” And then it finally snapped. He gave it kudos for all the abuse it could take. I found a crkt hawk called the black woods chogan…check it out if you haven’t heard of it…looks fantastic and designed by a master edged weapons guy. For $50… very nice looking and probably very functional to take some abuse too.

[@kundetjenesten]

Great review! Just ordered one based off it. I also have the War Hawk, original handle is still intact, but once it breaks I'll just cut off the head of a steel hammer and weld the grip to the axe head, so it would be a one time switch. 😂

[@davidbutler1825]

Haha! No way! It's so good to see you again! I''ve been so torn between the Cold Steel War Hawk and this Estwing Tomahawk. I just finished your review of the former and then saw this. We definitely have the same taste in weapons. I think we'll be friends!

[@411Outdoors]

🙂👊 awesome! I love both the Tomahawks a lot. Had to have both. The Estwing will probably be used more I think just because it’s full tang and I won’t have to ever replace the handle but that war hawk is hard to beat for the price

[@davidbutler1825]

@@411Outdoors I love that Full Tang and the cutout to make it lighter. But I just wish the cutting surface were a little bigger. That's why I like the war hawk so much and will just buy a stack of handles in case one ever breaks. Haha!

[@411Outdoors]

@@davidbutler1825 yep the cutting surface is definitely smaller and the thickness of the blade does hinder the penetration when throwing. I’m with you on purchasing other handles. I’ll prob do the same. I may grind down the Estwing blade at some point

[@411Outdoors]

@@davidbutler1825 I meant to say as well, the one advantage to the Estwing blade in combat is that it wouldn’t be as likely to get stuck in the assailant as easily as the War Hawk would. The sharpness coupled with the bearded blade does cause it to get stuck more. The Estwing blade is in and out pretty quickly , Nevertheless I would rather have the bigger War Hawk blade. I’ll probably get their Trench Hawk too

[@davidbutler1825]

@@411Outdoors That's a very good point. And the faster speed of the Estwing is important, too. There's always a balance, isn't there! (Heavy weapons hurt more, but faster weapons sometimes work better.) There's another channel I enjoy called Hard2Hurt, and he tests various self-defense weapons and tries to give a realistic assessment of how effective they would be for a real person in the real world. He and a couple other guys tested several tomahawks as they whacked an old dresser to bits and definitely found that the bearded ones got stuck a little. My thinking is that whacking bad guys would be different than wood, and with the leverage of the long handle it would be pretty quick to dislodge. Maybe a watermelon would be a better test. I love the big, curved blade of the War Hawk, and as long as I'm whacking clavicles and necks, and knuckles and forearms and shins and kneecaps, I feel like I'll be OK. Actually the back side of the War Hawk or anything similar (like the back of the Estwing), might be a worse sticking problem than the front of the War Hawk. Interesting to contemplate!

[@soldieron9965]

Wow it’s been two years since you made this video, I just looked on Lowe’s there $41.98 right now! And I was just about to get it from amazon it shows at $52. Thanks for the 411, lol 🇺🇸

[@411Outdoors]

Glad I could help!

[@garyabrahams7609]

You’ve convinced me. I will be picking this one up as soon as possible. Could you perform a comparison or shootout between the Estwing Tomahawk vs the Cold Steel Recon Hawk? I ask for this this comparison because they are both full tang. The last comparison you had performed was between the Cold Steel WarHawk and the Estwing Tomahawk.

[@411Outdoors]

That is a great idea for a video bro! 🙂👍

[@ArcheryRuleZ]

My cold steel trench hawk handle broke in like 3 hours. Now they are on back order. I’ll just weld a steel handle to it or something

[@411Outdoors]

@@ArcheryRuleZ I bought the recon hawk sometime back. Had I known about it I would have bought it first and prob skipped the other. I like the War hawk a lot but those handles seem to be volatile

[@glenmo1]

Along with fighting with this tomahawk.. you can use it for chopping fairly large branches and limbs.. you can use it for breaching a door.. escaping a building or even escaping your vehicle.. what better glass breaker than that Spike on the back! ..

[@B005T3D]

Great video, I just picked up one of these at a pawn shop for $30. I see now its everything I was hoping for and a lot more. Thanks again, I just subscribed and am looking forward to checking out your content.

[@411Outdoors]

Thanks my friend 🙂

[@lalli8152]

Really cool. I wish they would come with sheath, and that estwing would make more models of these. For example version with hammer poll instead of spike or something

[@411Outdoors]

That would be awesome!

[@BigMacOrange]

I'm pretty sure they come with a sheath. Mine did anyway. Got it on Amazon like 3 years ago

[@Not_Evil_]

How is it ? since the review? Tried camping with ? carving & splitting wood ?

[@411Outdoors]

I have really had to modify this blade. It’s just so wide. It’s more like a club that looks like a tomahawk. Would excel in breaching but it just doesn’t count into things well. Now if one had to use to protect themselves, no one would want to get caught with it. I just don’t thing it does good cutting into things

[@glenmo1]

Think about it.. most axes have thicker blades so they can take the force of chopping wood! The edge is not a knife edge it's a chopping edge.. I have chopped fairly thick branches with my Estwing tomahawk .. it's a good chopper for a fairly light hatchet..

[@411Outdoors]

I enjoy mine too 🙂👍👍 I did some modifications to it. I did a video getting together with my friend and did some grinding and used to work sharp to give it a really nice touch

[@r3ptile584]

Lots of urban escape, fire, and rescue application. Door prying, hinge popping, glass breaking, etc.

[@411Outdoors]

Definitely 👍

[@Konstantinos340]

what did the natives and others use against bears? coz i dont think id survive a bear attack with a tomahawk knife or anything hand held (unless with a group and with many weapons such as tomahawks knives spears)

[@411Outdoors]

I would definitely say the spear was preferred. I might could go to a black bear with a good spike hawk if I had nothing else 😂😂 too close for comfort though yikes

[@lalli8152]

@@411Outdoors Yeah definetly spear if it would be hand weapon. Very long, and stout spear. Over here in Finland we call large spears "karhukeihäs" literally "bear spear". Some of them had the skii pole ring thing on the bottom because during winter people hunted on skiis, and sort of cross piece below the blade to prebent animal getting too close after penetrating it. To my understanding they were used as back up over here even with early firearms since you had only one shot, and potentially angry wounded bear as result. I still wouldnt want to fight bear even with spear though

[@optimumperformance]

Just picked one up today. Surprised I found one here in New Zealand at local hardware store.

[@optimumperformance]

BTW I paid a lot more the USD40 for it - I guess inflation. Paid NZD149.

[@411Outdoors]

Awesome! Yep you’re right on the inflation thing. It’s gotten bad

[@tigerpisces5506]

You will never find this at a Californication Home Depot or Lowes. You might be able to order it?

[@411Outdoors]

Absolutely 👍👍

[@jamesconnors5653]

Understood. Thank you much.

[@rustybird8803]

Im confused ? Igot hawks and they are a bit lite trail hawk is a lil bit narrow annnn i hàve an absolutly beautiful eastwing double bit.!!! Is a bit heavy ( got a bad snoulder) but bad ass strong lookin for ýour version now

[@411Outdoors]

Awesome 🙂👍 Tomahawks is something I can’t have too many of😂

[@PLBW81]

Estwing or Gerber Downrange?

[@411Outdoors]

That Gerber tomahawk is nice! A little out of my price range but I’m sure it would be more proficient and sharper. For 40$ the Estwing hits a home run. It’s a good heavy duty tool and looks cool too haha

[@PLBW81]

@@411Outdoors more like 70 bucks here in Europe...also like the Hogue ex-t01 but the attatchment don´t look well thought out - American Tomahawk not full tang - RMJ to expensive...so maybe 70 bucks are fine haha

[@411Outdoors]

@@PLBW81 gotcha my friend! Yeah it’s nice to have a good full tang tomahawk

[@DopeFiend]

80-90 bucks in the EU

[@411Outdoors]

Wow! I wouldn’t pay that much here for it.

[@anthony8385]

Dude, that thing can split skulls...

[@411Outdoors]

I don’t doubt one bit. I wouldn’t want it hitting mine. I would like to sharpen mine down a little bit the blades kind of thick makes it hard for throwing

[@anthony8385]

@@411Outdoors You've convinced me of its effectiveness. Just ordered one. Thanks for the great review bro.

[@411Outdoors]

@@anthony8385 awesome🙂! Glad to know and I appreciate the encouragement my friend

[@hopper131]

You don't empty clips from a pistol, you empty magazines. Your pistol doesn't run out of bullets, you've expended the rounds or cartridges in your magazine. Do you even shoot, bro?

[@411Outdoors]

I make one comment on a KZbin video 100 years ago about emptying a “clip” (which is something I rarely say) on a tomahawk video and I have to pay for it the rest of my life 😂. This must be the unforgivable sin in the firearm community which is a community of experts by the way. I know it’s a “magazine” and yes I shoot.

[@jtblastncast12]

Magazine magazine mags

[@411Outdoors]

I remember making the unforgivable mistake of saying clip in this video which I rarely do lol

[@ptgtdcr]

Lol he said "clip"....

[@411Outdoors]

The one time I ever said “clip” was in this old video and man I’ll have to pay the price for it forever smh. I know Mag mag mag mag

[@ptgtdcr]

@@411Outdoors roflmao I had to ✌️🤙

[@411Outdoors]

@@ptgtdcr haha 👍

[@gmonay2k]

Clip!!?! 😡 …..😂

[@411Outdoors]

What’s your question friend?

[@jerrydonquixote5927]

@@411Outdoors it's a magazine not a clip

[@411Outdoors]

@@jerrydonquixote5927 just a slip fellas. I know the gun community goes nuts when someone confuses the two but its all good haha

[@jerrydonquixote5927]

@@411Outdoors yeah don't worry you can't please everyone lol.nice review on the tomahawk I can't wait to get mine tomorrow, I'm going to do a review on that one and the Cold Steel as well...

[@411Outdoors]

@@jerrydonquixote5927 thanks brother 🙂👍 I need to check those out. Thanks for stopping by. I had to do a modification on this hawk. The blade was pretty wide