A while back the folks at BudK sent me a M48 Kommando Tactical Tomahawk to review. This was a first for me having never really been a tomahawk, hatchet or ax guy. It was fun out testing it and I might have to give some more hatchets a try in the future. I had thought about being cheesy and shooting video of me destroying watermelons with it but decided not to. Maybe in the future. I did use it to do some practical functions and I’ll tell you how it did in those tests.
Axes and tomahawks have had a long tradition in combat situations. For a long time they help a lofty position for their brutality and killing power. Think the shotgun of history, easy to use and massively destructive. For these reasons and more they were the weapon of choice for the Vikings, early sailors and the Native Americans. Although the tomahawk passed into obscurity it has been making a comeback in recent years with police and military. In addition to a battle proven weapon you also get a versatile tool. Chopping wood with a tool made for that purpose if much easier than batoning with a mora.
The M48 is a tactical built tomahawk and would perform better in battle and urban situations. The tomahawk does great in Breaking and entering. I’ve seen YouTube videos of tomahawks completely destroying cars. I would have loved to have shot video of that and if you are in the Tennessee area and have a car you want to donate for me to destroy drop me a line. Please. On top of the utility of the weapon it is a statement to carry one. I read an article from a soldiers in Afghanistan talking about how the tomahawks get respect. They are scary, intimidating and that can be a good thing in deterring people. The tomahawk triggers something primal in man, a deep fear, no one wants to be on the receiving end of the tomahawk.
In my testing I did lots of wood processing. Mostly bushcraft, camping chores. The edge came pretty sharp, for an ax. Meaning that if you go an ex to shaving sharp the edge would be too sharp, of an angle, to last long in the things you want it to do. After chopping through a ton of wood the edge was still decent. I will probably touch it up a bit for general maintenance. The grip on it was good with no slipping issues, though I will be adding a paracord wrist lanyard for safety to it. I don’t know how it does in throwing because I don’t believe in throwing my weapons. Unless I had two then maybe.
I can definitely endorse this product. I had fun testing it out and will continue to play around with it. It really opened my eyes to the Ax world that before I had dismissed. I have been a knife guy using batoning for my wood processing needs up till now. I also never much thought about tomahawks in a tactical sense before. In a SHTF situation one might be useful as a deterrent to those that would think to attack you. I can really see the M48 in an urban bug out situation. Head over to BudK and check it out and see if it fits your needs.
How do you feel about Axes, tomahawks? What do you use? Let me know in the comments!
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James, I have always been a ‘knife guy, but, in the bush, I also carry a small axe or hatchet with me….
a knife is not an axe…. To use a knife other than it’s intended purpose is to abuse the knife as a tool.
BTW, i recently purchased a ‘Fiskar’ small axe, which i love. Check out their fine line of axes.
I havent used mine lately, but it is handy by the bed. I love it and have practiced throwing it. I agree throwing my weapon away is not high on my list of things to do in a defensive situation, it could be necessary. And it can be used as a back up hunting tool for small game. I got into it in my mountain man days. So mine
is not the mod- tac type. Very handy ! David
regarding the tomahawk. i have been carry one sense i was seven years old, now i am headed for seventy all these years i have carry it everywhere i go, you can,t go wrong with ahawk. regards joe north of the border.
this is the first tomahawk that i ever bought and i still have it today. i absolutely love it and even made a review on my site about it i love it the steel is hard as hell
i own this tmahawk and i love it. put it through hell and not a single ding on it. best thirty bucks i spent in a lonng time