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Tomahawk carrying

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jrbaker90

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Would a hunter in the early 1800s to the 1830s would have carry a tomahwak? Would a tomahawk be something that he would carry all the time or left in camp?
 
The tomahawk is a tool first, and a weapon second. It has been reported by more than one author that Simon Kenton cached in several places a 'hawk, a knife, and a stone, in case he was ever deprived of his gun and tools while having to escape in the wilderness (following a single event where he was without any tools at all). His enemies that he might encounter when fleeing would undoubtedly be armed with firearms, so he was stashing survival tools. (Get out too far and lose your horse, or get injured, and even without hostiles near by you're going to need your belt-tools.)

The hawk builds shelters, it splits hip bones on large game, it is useful in making items from wood, as well as busting up wood that has fallen and is too large to break up by hand..., as well as being a self defense weapon in HTH combat. I don't go into the woods without my 'hawk, as it is very very useful, and I don't have a threat of having to use it on hostile humans. I'd bet the same was true for folks in the beginning of the 19th century.

The axe in camp is just that..., an axe. :wink:

LD
 
By 1800 the ”˜Kentucky ax’ a modern hatchet style was becoming more common. So the throwing aspect was decreased. However for all the above reason any one likely to be overnight out of doors had one. I don’t go in the woods without one in my belt.
 
tenngun said:
By 1800 the ”˜Kentucky ax’ a modern hatchet style was becoming more common. So the throwing aspect was decreased. However for all the above reason any one likely to be overnight out of doors had one. I don’t go in the woods without one in my belt.
Even out here on the Prairie, a tomahawk is a handy tool to have for those very reasons; splitting pieces of wood too big to break up by hand, splitting an animal's hip joint, even making emergency tent pegs because you forgot yours when you left home. Yeah, I actually did that once. :redface:
 
Most paintings of the era show hunters with a hawk. Actually, rather than a tomahawk, many are small hatchets. Square head, 12-14" handle. I think they would be carried all the time.
 
crockett said:
Most paintings of the era show hunters with a hawk. Actually, rather than a tomahawk, many are small hatchets. Square head, 12-14" handle. I think they would be carried all the time.
....like this one does.
BLANKET+AS+COAT.%234.jpg
 
jrbaker90 said:
Would a hunter in the early 1800s to the 1830s would have carry a tomahwak? Would a tomahawk be something that he would carry all the time or left in camp?

I surmise he would have had pack horses or mules and any hawk or hatchet would be carried on them. Carrying a hawk on the body is ackward and can be downright dangerous (I have a small scar over the kidney area that attests to this :( ). If you want to carry, do use a full cover sheath made of heavy leather. Not pc/hc but safer than bare.
 
I use a possibles bag that looks like a haversack, I have my smoking kit, fire kit, sewing kit, and eating kit in it. However I don’t see folks with a man purse on in paintings or drawings of the time.
Today I have to use up my pockets with wallet,car keys and cell phone. Did Schoolcraft carry one in his belt as he made his way across the ozarks? Maybe not. It seems half the time his rifle didn’t work.
Jed smith on the Santafe trail? This is about the same time.
 
Rifleman1776 said:
jrbaker90 said:
Would a hunter in the early 1800s to the 1830s would have carry a tomahwak? Would a tomahawk be something that he would carry all the time or left in camp?

I surmise he would have had pack horses or mules and any hawk or hatchet would be carried on them. Carrying a hawk on the body is ackward and can be downright dangerous (I have a small scar over the kidney area that attests to this :( ). If you want to carry, do use a full cover sheath made of heavy leather. Not pc/hc but safer than bare.

Going back at least a couple of years I think on this forum, there was a photograph of a combination tomahawk sling and scabbard from the French and Indian War Period. I want to say this was purported to have been owned by Sir William Johnson, but I'm not entirely sure of that.

Anyway, there is NO way I will carry a tomahawk on my belt without a good leather scabbard that is made using period methods and materials. This because I try to keep my Hawk sharp, as a dull Hawk in use is even more dangerous than a dull knife when carried in the belt.

Gus
 
Gus, by 'scabbard' do you mean a sheath for a knife incorporated in the rig? I have posted a tomahawk/axe case with an extension which went several inches down the helve. Could that be what you are describing?

Spence
 
Wes/Tex,

I believe that is it, though I remember it being separate and then also shown in a painting or drawing of him as well?

Gus

P.S. Is that a knife sheath for a folding knife above the hawk scabbard?
 
This is the one I was thinking of, the axe of Isaac Shelby. It's not your typical 'hawk, but an American pattern hatchet, I believe.



Spence
 
Spence,

Thanks so much for both images. The first was not the one I was thinking of, but I do remember you posting it earlier and it is another example of another way to carry a hatchet/hawk safer than just thrust through the belt.

The second image is just Dandy as it shows the construction of the hawk scabbard/sheath along with the leather reinforcement around the blade.

Gus
 

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