Posted: 4/15/2012 4:29:23 PM EDT
I bought a trail hawk years ago and used it for knocking limbs off of trees while camping. I didn't fell any trees with it until yesterday so I thought I would post up my thoughts. I cut down 6 or 7 trees along my driveway to give bigger trees some breathing room. After a quick couple passes on my belt sander to fix the neglected edge I was surprised at how deep it cut. It took me 20 minutes to cut down the trees and that was with some quick breathers between trees to talk to my wife and play with my daughter. My overall impression is that it performs well for the weight and can definetly handle jobs that a machete couldnt. The head has some play in it which bothers me and have tried wacking it farther to the end and tightening set screw but it doesnt really help. It also has a hammer on the back which is handy. Worth taking a look at in my opinion. Lighter (though somewhat less capable) than many hatchets and it has a hammer so it fills a great niche as a camp tool. Thanks for reading.
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Good report. I don't remember seeing anyone actually report on how those things are to use for practical tasks. Don't sell the machete short. A good one, like one of the old GI surplus ones, will make short work of trees like the ones you show. I have been meaning to pick up a cold steel kukri machete to see if it could replace both for my camping needs |
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IA Woodsman has some Youtube videos with one that really highlights the versatility of the Trailhawk. It’s not the most effective at large logs/trees, but can be effective on smaller items. I like the option to align it like an adz or just pack along the head and make a handle to save space/weight. It’s no axe and you’ll be disappointed it that’s the kind of performance you expect. I would conclude that most of what you can do with the Trailhawk, you can pretty much do with a quality (and convex-ground) machete, but the hawk does give you more effectiveness on harder woods with its leverage.
ROCK6 |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Good report. I don't remember seeing anyone actually report on how those things are to use for practical tasks. Don't sell the machete short. A good one, like one of the old GI surplus ones, will make short work of trees like the ones you show. I have been meaning to pick up a cold steel kukri machete to see if it could replace both for my camping needs I have the Cold Steel Kukhri and like my regular short machete more, its easier to chop with and more comfortable in the hand. I took out a couple 3-4" diameter trees in my backyard last year with it, the Kukhri collects dust in the garage. |
| You can fit the head to the handle to get rid of the wobble. Remove the head, then file any metal burrs out of the eye. Then start sliding it up the handle, and see what it hits. Each time it starts hitting a tiny protrusion of wood, whittle it away. Eventually, the whole head will come up solid on the handle all the way around. You can also throw in a bit of epoxy, mabye after oiling the eye, and it will give a really firm base for the head to ride on. You would still be able to remove the head if you oil it or something first, but it won't have any looseness at the top of the handle. |