Hickoryhawk Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Native American Style Tomahawk | Collector Reenactment and Display Gift | RK-1201

The Hickoryhawk follows the trade tomahawk pattern that spread across North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: a slim flared head with a wide fan shaped cutting edge, a rounded poll, and a narrow eye hung on a long straight haft. It is a light, fast tool, and it is nothing like the heavy camp hatchet most people picture when they hear the word tomahawk.

Ours is forged in high carbon steel and finished to a bright mirror polish, hung on a honey toned hickory haft with fine natural leather lacing at the grip and a beaded leather tassel at the butt. A slim geometric band is laser engraved on one cheek of the head and repeated around the collar. It is forged, hung and finished in Memphis, Tennessee, and it ships with a natural leather head cover.

Specifications

Why the head is shaped this way

The flared, fan shaped bit is the defining feature of the trade tomahawk. Widening the edge away from a narrow eye puts a long cutting edge on a very light head, which is why these were carried all day and thrown accurately. The rounded poll balances the head over the eye rather than adding dead weight behind it. The result swings faster than a hatchet of the same edge length and is far easier to control at the end of a long haft.

Hickory haft and leather work

Hickory is the traditional haft timber for this pattern and still the right choice. It is dense, springy and it does not go brittle. The grip is wrapped in fine natural leather lacing, which warms in the hand and holds in the wet, and the butt carries a beaded leather tassel in the old style. Feed the exposed hickory with boiled linseed once or twice a year. See wooden handle care.

Why high carbon and not stainless

High carbon steel takes a harder edge than stainless in this class, sharpens back on an ordinary stone and behaves predictably under the hammer. It will rust if you put it away wet, which is the one thing it asks of you. The full argument is on Damascus versus stainless.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Have it engraved before it ships. Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the haft. If you would rather have a Viking pattern or your own artwork instead, choose your design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. More on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Dry the head after use and wipe it with mineral or camellia oil, particularly where the leather lacing meets the steel. Sharpening is ordinary stone work along the existing bevel. See steel care and sharpening with a whetstone.

Forged in Memphis

Ransack Viking forges in Memphis, Tennessee. The head is drawn out here, the eye is drifted here, the haft is shaped and hung here and the leather is cut, laced and stitched here. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue, which is why the lead time is honest and why no two pieces are identical.

A note on handmade variation

This is a hand forged piece, not a machine made or bulk produced one, so the tomahawk that arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Grain and tone in the hickory, colour in the leather lacing and tassel, the exact spread of the engraved band and the precise flare of the bit all vary a little from one piece to the next, because each one is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not. That variation is the point of buying hand forged rather than stamped, and it is the one thing a factory cannot sell you.

Frequently asked questions

Is this tomahawk sharp and ready to use?

Yes. It ships with a working edge, sharp enough to carve and to split kindling straight out of the head cover.

Can it be thrown?

Yes. The trade tomahawk pattern is one of the best throwing profiles there is, which is why competition throwers still use it. Expect the haft to mark where it strikes.

What is the difference between this and a tactical tomahawk?

This is a hafted head on hickory in the historical trade pattern, light and fast. A tactical tomahawk is usually one piece steel with a hammer poll, heavier and built for prying and hammering.

Can I have runes or my own design engraved?

Yes. Convert your text with the rune converter on this page, or choose your own pattern in the engraving option, and tell us whether you want it on the head or the haft.

Will mine look exactly like the photo?

Close, but not identical. It is hand forged and hand hafted from natural hickory and leather, so grain, tone and the engraved band vary slightly between pieces.

Is the leather tassel removable?

Yes. It is laced on and can be taken off without marking the haft if you prefer it plain.

What is in the box

• One Hickoryhawk hand forged tomahawk
• Natural leather head cover
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

Compare it with the rest of the tomahawks, the throwing axes and the camping axes and hatchets. Order it plain or with rune and name engraving, and read the guides for the reasoning behind the steel and the leather.