Whether you’re a hardcore outdoorsman who needs a chopping tool that’s tough enough to weather constant hard use or you’re an occasional adventurer that wants a survival contingency plan and something to help with, say, chopping up firewood, a well-built tactical tomahawk will serve you beautifully. In fact, it’s pretty likely that most folks that own them use them much more often in an outdoor capacity. While you could certainly use any of these tactical tomahawks on the battlefield, you absolutely do not have to be a soldier to get plenty of use out of them. It’s also not uncommon to see blades with modern coatings to alter their appearance and increase their durability - like DLC, Cerakote, or titanium nitride (TiNi) - or those that have alternative functions built-in. This includes high-end steels, synthetics like G10 and/or glass-reinforced nylon, etc. Contrasting with their more-traditional steel-and-wood hatchet brethren, tactical tomahawks are often much more aggressive in their styling and are usually built with more modern materials, especially in regards to their handles. Tactical tomahawks, as one might imagine, capitalize on that battlefield association - albeit with more up-to-date constructions and uses in mind. In fact, “tomahawk” was lifted directly from the Virginian Algonquin language. Typically, however, hatchets tend to serve traditional outdoor functions, whereas tomahawks are more closely associated with battle - originating in name and function from Native American tribal warriors. Believe it or not, there’s not actually a definitive distinction between tomahawks and hatchets. However, tomahawks are on the smaller side of the spectrum - like hatchets and/or camp axes.

Just to be absolutely clear, tomahawks are a type of axe - meaning they have a bladed head attached to a long handle and they’re typically used for chopping tasks. Regarding tactical tomahawks, you’ll find the 12 best for your money right here. We’re not saying you should forgo a fixed blade the next time you’re headed into the field or wilderness. Tactical Tomahawks capitalize on that specialization even further, offering exceptional durability, packability, and (often) multi-functionality. For instance, you can definitely use a fixed blade knife to chop up kindling, but an axe of almost any type will work much better. However (and that’s a big however), there are also pieces of gear that serve those overlapping functions more precisely. For instance, a fixed blade knife can serve some of the same functions as, say, a machete, saw, or even a tomahawk. There are also a few categories of gear that have a bit of overlap. From camping tents to survival water filters to MOLLE-ready backpacks, everything you could ever need likely already exists in some form or another. There are a lot of exceedingly useful pieces of outdoor and tactical gear on the market.

Indian tomahawk