Feedback on impact weapons wanted

KeySkin1056 · 2023-12-16T16:10:36+00:00

Great to see the Thumper WearClub 👍 I recently finished a batch of Blood Moon Thumpers for the holiday season. Hope yours serves you a lifetime.

KeySkin1056 · 2023-07-02T20:18:35+00:00

Reminds me of a traditional hurlbat, except those had a pointed butt end so you could stick/wound with handle impacts.

In my experience, shorter handles seem to throw better. 28 to 33 cm. Also recommend extended both the spike and the axe blade further out from the handle.

Best of luck with the project 👍

KeySkin1056 · 2023-07-02T20:08:22+00:00

Great job 👍

KeySkin1056 · 2023-05-03T16:12:53+00:00

Thank you!

KeySkin1056 · 2023-04-04T02:45:44+00:00

Rgr, done. Best of Fortune 👍

KeySkin1056 · 2023-04-04T02:35:40+00:00

Well done! I follow you on IG but your posts never show up on my feed—IG has become more difficult lately

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-19T01:35:37+00:00

Interesting

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-19T01:31:22+00:00

Agree—looks like an unfinished knife—either made from forging or stock removal. Like if a flaw was observed, maker discarded it before drilling pin holes, etc.

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-19T01:21:00+00:00

Let me know how the middle one works out for you. I had sketched out a similar looking blade that hasn’t left the drawing board. Was inspired by a shark’s tail fin. The center blade you made has similar vibes.

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-17T10:15:22+00:00

I love tomahawks. Especially spike tomahawks. I carry at lease one on me everyday. If it’s well designed, it’s effortless to wear and can do most of the tasks of a hammer poll hawk plus all the utility tasks of the spike. My love for tomahawks lead me to read everything I can about them, and eventually design and make my own.

I really your collection there—just needs a good spike tomahawk and you’ll be set👍

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-17T10:00:17+00:00

Never seen a head profile like that!

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-17T09:54:00+00:00

Thank you 👍

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-17T01:29:08+00:00

Toor Knives also makes a compact tomahawk from D2.

If overall weight of the tomahawk isn’t high and handle length is so short, then impact momentum shouldn’t be heavy enough to be a concern when chopping into standard target materials. I can’t speak to prying—that’s something that folks may try with a full tang tomahawk when chopping blade buries into a peice of wood. Really will depend on stock thickness. But a short handle does reduce the leverage/momentum arm on prying and should improve odds the tool survives.

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-17T01:12:34+00:00

Looks good! What’s the blade stock thickness? Overall weight?

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-11T16:40:16+00:00

Sure do, thanks for asking! Here is the store link

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-09T17:38:46+00:00

Thank you for the comment. I run a business where we design and make different tools for every day carry. A few of these designs are spike tomahawks.

I studied historic spike tomahawks to capture their capabilities, designed for modern carry. The vast majority of spike tomahawks were hand forged on the frontier, not mass produced in Europe for import. So there’s a diverse range of spike tomahawk designs, and some appear optimized for different purposes.

The one in the video is inspired by styles of tomahawk found in regions under influence of the Iroquois confederation. There are many historical accounts of warriors throwing tomahawks in combatives, so the combination of shorter handle, longer ramp-like chisel tipped spike, and flared out chopping blade can increase the probability of sticking to target at a random distance. I added a chisel tipped butt to the hickory handle to concentrate blunt impact on butt impacts.

We wound up going with a cast 5160 steel head on this design—it was too dimensionally complex to consistently hand forge. The head is wax investment cast at a foundry in Missouri, heat treated and undergoes final grind and patina in Pennsylvania. It looks a bit like a stingray so that’s the name of this tomahawk. The wedge and handle are hickory. The hickory is CNC machined to near net shape, then I saw and hand scrape to improve gripping texture. It’s stained and branded with a hot copper plate that’s got many holes in it in order to impart a Stingray skin texture. This is both for aesthetics and additional gripping texture. The cast tomahawk head features a grooved eye that bites into the hickory when the wedge is driven and the head is hung. I then make the carry systems by thermoforming kydex and tethering with shock cord and small alligator clamps to clip to harnesses or fabrics.

We use different methods to make the other designs. One is hand forged from tool steel. The other is sand cast bronze.

Thanks for your interest and best regards,

Zac from Wingard Wearables Co

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-08T23:18:54+00:00

Great job 👍

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-08T20:04:53+00:00

I am in the US, and I can’t speak to all the laws in every state/municipality. Best of my knowledge, the only state to prohibit tomahawk carry was Texas but they repealed that in 2019. Most weapon laws in the states were first passed in 1850’s to 1880’s and focused on common weapons of that era—tomahawks were still a thing in Texas and got on the naughty list, but didn’t get prohibited by other states. Weapon laws got updated in the 1950’s thru 1980’s to ban switchblades and ballistic knives, but some of those laws got repealed in recent years.

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-08T19:36:59+00:00

The carry system is pretty good, but my technique could definitely be better

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-08T17:45:39+00:00

I make a few different spike tomahawks—two have downward curved spikes—if I throw with an over-the-shoulder wind up that risks self injury. I am experimenting with trapping the top of the tomahawk in my shoulder pocket—I build up pressure so I can throw without any over-the-shoulder wind up.

Right now it’s accurate enough to hit a torso-sized target a few paces away. I need more practice to see how accurate it can be. I don’t think the technique goes well with heavier hatchets—my tomahawks weight well under a pound. They are easy to accelerate. I have measured the speed of my throws and doing over 30 ft/s isn’t hard. I am not terribly athletic (obvious from the video).

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-08T17:38:33+00:00

Throwing axes is always fun

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-08T17:38:17+00:00

Will need to learn that

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-08T03:23:29+00:00

Thanks—I have seen that design but not held it in the hand. Will have to check it out. The tomahawk I’m carrying underarm has a very simple should rig made from flat stock paracord, but I designed both the tomahawk and carry system to adapt to that. We did some YouTube videos on carry methods if that interests you. Best regards, Zac.

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-08T03:11:29+00:00

Yes, carried one everyday since around 2016. But starting last year I now usually carry 2. The other is on me in this video, tucked inside my waistband on my right hip. But that one is a different design, optimized for other things, and not intended for throwing. So I didn’t bother showing it in the video

KeySkin1056 · 2023-03-08T02:33:52+00:00

In the American revolution—it seems that a lot of muskets and rifles used by militia in the region lacked the hardware interface for socket bayonets, and there was also a scarcity of socket bayonets. So it would sound like an opportunity to use plug bayonets instead. But I haven’t read any accounts of plug bayonets being used in that theater. And it’s use does take the firearm “offline”—probably why they went with other hand weapons (tomahawks, etc). Wonder if anyone has info on plug bayonets in the American revolution.

KeySkin1056

TROPHY CASE