{"id":1954,"date":"2012-07-03T08:42:10","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T12:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=1954"},"modified":"2012-07-03T13:52:35","modified_gmt":"2012-07-03T17:52:35","slug":"sog-knives-fasthawk-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=1954","title":{"rendered":"SOG Knives FastHawk Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Some missions require specialized tools.\u00a0 We are not always loaded down with them.\u00a0 There is a balance between power and portability that is weighed toward portable in mobile operations, unless your team has a MOLLE-covered Tactical Donkey.\u00a0 Hmmm…<\/p>\n

SOG Specialty Knives & Tool<\/a>‘s FastHawk is a scaled down version of their popular Tactical Tomahawk.\u00a0 Light and easy to carry, I found the FastHawk to be a good compromise of size and functionality.\u00a0 At 12 \u00bd\u201d in length and only 19 ounces, it is a compact package.<\/p>\n

The FastHawk can be used to cut, chop, dig, pry, and hammer.\u00a0 I did these things during some late night T&E sessions.\u00a0 I started off with some chopping.\u00a0 That seemed reasonable.\u00a0 I attacked several discarded pallets.\u00a0 As a hand axe, the FastHawk worked it way through wood just fine.\u00a0 At home, I took it to my super-hard aged 2 X 4.\u00a0 Thunk, thunk, thunk!\u00a0 Wood chips were flying.\u00a0 I thought the FastHawk was weighted nicely.<\/p>\n

Despite a Rockwell Hardness of only 51-53, the 2\u201d main blade, made of 420 stainless steel, holds a good edge.\u00a0 The lower hardness helps in its durability.\u00a0 This is not some expensive high-end hawk head that is differentially heat-treated, nor is it high carbon tool steel.\u00a0 This is a moderate stainless steel that is being pushed slightly out of its comfort zone.\u00a0 I found the blade stayed plenty sharp to cut and chop.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Made of Fiberglass-Reinforced Nylon, the handle is ribbed and textured for a positive grip.\u00a0 My hands became very sweaty while I was chopping (80+ degrees with high humidity at night).\u00a0 I did not have a problem with the handle slipping.<\/p>\n

The FRN handle is very rigid and is attached to the head via a steel ferrule and heavy bolts.\u00a0 I had no worries about the integrity of the joint between the handle and head.\u00a0 There is a lanyard hole at the base of the handle.<\/p>\n

I hammered a couple of nails with the checkered flat at the side of the \u2018hawk\u2019s head.\u00a0 It is a little awkward with the oval handle sideways in your hand, but it did the job.\u00a0 For safety, I\u2019d keep the bladed side of the head facing away from you.<\/p>\n

The spike side of the FastHawk\u2019s head was pointy, but not sharp.\u00a0 I suppose you could touch it up with a file, but since its intended for general piercing, prying, and digging I\u2019m leaving mine as is.<\/p>\n

There is enough mass behind the head to drive the spike into many things, such as wood, drywall, aluminum siding, and thin sheet metal.\u00a0 I can see that the spike side is useful for prying.\u00a0 It can be inserted into a padlock to pry the hasp off a door or fence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>When I was at SHOT Show in January, SOG Marketing Manager Chris Cashbaugh showed me their new hard nylon sheath for the FastHawk.\u00a0 The \u2018hawk slides into the sheath spike first and locks upward.\u00a0 There is a rotating hood to secure the FastHawk and sheath.<\/p>\n

The sheath is mounted with a locking style belt loop\/MOLLE clip.\u00a0 It will fit on belts up to 2 1\/4\u201d or on MOLLE or PALS webbing.\u00a0 The sheath has a detent button that allows it to be rotated 360 degrees.\u00a0 I like the versatility of being able to affixed the FastHawk to either load bearing vests or backpacks.\u00a0 I mounted the sheath on the rear of my VooDoo patrol plate carrier<\/a>.\u00a0 I discovered that I could rotate the FastHawk 90 degrees and unlimber it from the sheath without a problem.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>My FastHawk came as the polished version, though thankfully it has more of a brushed finish that a polish.\u00a0 There is also the \u201cHardcased\u201d black coated version.\u00a0 In addition to the hard nylon sheath, mine shipped with the soft nylon belt sheath.<\/p>\n

The FastHawk has definite potential as an anti-personnel weapon in close combat.\u00a0 This is a very unique fighting form, using not only chops and strikes, but traps, catches, and blocks.\u00a0 Proficiency at tomahawk fighting requires training.<\/p>\n

It is fitting that SOG Knives would begin making Tomahawks.\u00a0 The SOG line started in 1986 with Spencer Frazer\u2019s interpretation of the legendary Studies and Observation Group (SOG) military knife of the Vietnam era.\u00a0 That conflict also gave birth to Peter LaGana\u2019s 1966 interpretation of the fighting \u2018hawk, known simply as the Vietnam Tomahawk, to which the FastHawk and Tactical Tomahawk owe nods..<\/p>\n

For an MSRP of $50, this is a great tool that is handy to carry on a vest, pack, back-up bag, or in a vehicle.\u00a0 The FastHawk can find usefulness for SWAT or for patrol officers.\u00a0 I’ll definitely have this in my trunk now that it is Hurricane Season.<\/p>\n

Randall<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

I think I'll call her Molly.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some missions require specialized tools.\u00a0 We are not always loaded down with them.\u00a0 There is a balance between power and portability that is weighed toward portable in mobile operations, unless your team has a MOLLE-covered Tactical Donkey.\u00a0 Hmmm… SOG Specialty Knives & Tool‘s FastHawk is a scaled down version of their popular Tactical Tomahawk.\u00a0 Light and easy to carry, I found the FastHawk to be a good compromise of size and functionality.\u00a0 At 12 \u00bd\u201d in length and only 19 ounces, it is a compact package. The FastHawk can be used to cut, chop, dig, pry, and hammer.\u00a0 I did these things during some late night T&E sessions.\u00a0 I started … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25,3],"tags":[385,387,384,388,386],"class_list":["post-1954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-knives","category-shot-show","tag-fasthawk-review","tag-police-tomahawk","tag-sog-knives","tag-swat-tomahawk","tag-tomahawk-review"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p28xkp-vw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1954"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2004,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954\/revisions\/2004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}