James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
Possibly many of today’s backwoodsmen are a little embarrassed to carry a tomahawk, but I wouldn’t think of leaving mine at home. In camp, I’m always looking for an excuse to use it. This very affordable Trail Hawk from Cold Steel weighs a little more than my expensive custom hawk, but it works almost as well.
The Trail Hawk weighs 1 pound 3 ounces, and you won’t have a problem justifying all of it. In fact, you can leave the big Bowie knife at home and take something smaller for the light cutting work, because the Trail Hawk is better at just about everything else. From hammer poll to blade edge, the axe measures 6-1/2 inches with a cutting edge 2-1/4 inches wide. The high carbon steel is properly tempered with a hardened hammer face and resilient blade. Common sense uses of the hammer side would include driving nails or wooden tent stakes.
The American hickory handle is plain straight-grained wood, smooth but unfinished. That’s the kind of handle I like to see, since lacquer ordinarily just hides poor materials and dissolves if you wear DEET. A little sweat and elbow grease will give the handle all the shine it needs.
The set screw which helps hold the handle in the head seems pointless, and if the handle doesn’t fit properly, it makes sense to get rid of the screw and put in a new handle. Otherwise, Cold Steel’s Trail Hawk is an economical choice and well-designed for today’s needs.
James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
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Possibly many of today’s backwoodsmen are a little embarrassed to carry a tomahawk, but I wouldn’t think of leaving mine at home. In camp, I’m always looking for an excuse to use it. This very affordable Trail Hawk from Cold Steel weighs a little more than my expensive custom hawk, but it works almost as well.
