Grimhawk Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Tactical Tomahawk | 14 Inch Overall with 3.5 Inch Cutting Edge | Bushcraft Camping Gift | RK-1202

The Grimhawk is a tactical tomahawk built the old way, in one piece. Head and handle are drawn from a single bar of 1095 high carbon steel, the body is skeletonised to pull weight out of the handle without taking it out of the bit, and the whole thing is finished in a blackened oxide that kills glare and slows rust. On the reverse of the bit sits a flat hammer poll, which is the difference between a tomahawk you carry and a tomahawk you actually use. If throwing is the plan, axe throwing for beginners covers grip, stance and rotation before you damage anything.

It is forged, heat treated and finished in the Czech Republic, and it ships with a hand stitched leather belt sheath.

Specifications

Why one piece matters

Most tomahawks under two hundred dollars are a head wedged onto a hickory haft. That is fine until you baton it, pry with it or hit something harder than you meant to, and then the head works loose. A one piece tomahawk has nothing to come apart. There is no eye, no wedge and no glue line. You trade a little shock absorption for a tool that will not fail at the joint, which is the trade most people actually want in a pack or a truck.

The hammer poll

The flat poll on the back of the bit turns this into two tools. It drives tent pegs, taps a wedge, sets a stake and does the hundred small jobs that would otherwise have you swinging the flat of an axe head and hoping. It is forged as part of the same bar, hardened with the rest of it, and it is thick enough to take real hammer work rather than being a token flat spot.

Why 1095 and not stainless

1095 takes a harder, longer lasting edge than stainless at this price, sharpens back on an ordinary stone, and behaves predictably under the hammer. It will rust if you put it away wet, which is why we finish it in blackened oxide and send it with oil instructions. 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. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, pick your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and choose whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an etched design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting next to it. More on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Dry it after use and wipe it with mineral or camellia oil, especially where the handle scales meet the steel. Sharpening is ordinary stone work on the existing convex bevel. See steel care and sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every piece we sell is made by hand in the Czech Republic. The smiths there work the way the trade has been worked for a long time, heating and hammering the steel, taking the bevels down by eye, and fitting the handle and the leather one at a time. There is no automated line anywhere in it, so small differences from one piece to the next are normal and expected.

Ransack Viking is a United States company based in Chicago, Illinois. We bring the pieces in ourselves, inspect them on arrival and ship them from our own warehouse. If you add engraving, that is carried out here in the United States before your order goes out.

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. The depth of the blackened finish, the tone and grain of the sheath leather, the exact profile of the beard and the hammer marks left in the flats 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 what you are buying when you buy hand forged instead of stamped.

Frequently asked questions

Is this tactical tomahawk sharp out of the box?

Yes. It ships with a working convex edge, ready to cut, carve and split kindling.

Can it be thrown?

Yes. One piece construction means there is no head to loosen, so it takes throwing better than a hafted tomahawk. Expect the blackened finish to mark where it strikes.

Can I have runes or my own design engraved?

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

Will my tomahawk look exactly like the photo?

Close, but not identical. It is hand forged and finished by hand, so finish tone, sheath leather grain and hammer texture vary slightly between pieces.

Does the blackened finish wear off?

It wears at the edge and at contact points with use, which is normal and expected. The steel underneath is unaffected. Keep it oiled and it will patina rather than pit.

How is it carried?

On the included hand stitched leather bit cover, which closes over the edge with a brass snap and has a loop for your belt.

What is in the box

• One Grimhawk hand forged tactical tomahawk
• Hand stitched leather belt sheath
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

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

Others in the same line

Next along the rack is the Birchbite felling axe, forged from 1095. For a straight comparison, see the Twinbite felling axe, pattern welded Damascus. Worth putting side by side with this is the Ashfell felling axe, forged from 1095.

If you are putting a set together, the Stormbeard Viking axe sits alongside it. You can have this made your way instead on the custom Viking axe page.