M48 Tactical Tomahawk Military Axe - Black Color | 3 ⅞” Cast Stainless Steel Combat Axe with Piercing Spike | Nylon Cord Wrapped Fiberglass Handle | Camping and Tactical Gear | 15” Length

Compared to my trench hawk the M48 is a light weight. That just happens to be just what I was looking for. A light smaller hawk to be the alpha to the beta condor jungle bowie. Both are not heavy but nimble and work well together. My other combination is the cold steel trench hawk and cold steel chaos tanto. The weight really goes up with those two.But back to this hawk. I would not say it is for heavy abuse like breaking bricks and tearing down steel vault doors. Jumping buildings in a single bound and all the other superman stuff some people try to put it through. You know you guys, The ones that use a nice katana to cut a tree down....or a cheap katana,,,dude,,,get an ax or buy a saw, GEESH. Use the items for what they are intended for and if you need a crowbar...well, that is why they make crowbars. In my opinion this is a light weight defensive tool. It is nowhere in the ugly beast category the cold steel trench hawk is in. That trench hawk is tough as it looks, wicked mean looking, and will hold up to much more abuse the m48 would. And for about the same price. All I am saying is if you pick the tool for the job, you will be much happier and not writing unhappy reviews.The fit and finish on this is good to very good. It is sharp but could be sharper and the grip could use some improvement. But those things I can fix and the price is right. It is a fast striker and leaves a mark. So far seems tough enough for my purpose. So 5 stars it is and if you decide to buy one, it would make a fine addition to your tool box.Here is a follow up. I covered the haft in that non slip sand paper like stuff they use for stairs. It feels much better. For my cold steel african walking stick I bought some cane tips. I had some left over and stuck on one the end. It went on snug and helps with weapon retention.

I know, I know, it's United Cutlery but this is, indeed, one exquisite Hawk; at any price! If you are a knife collector, outdoors-man, martial arts practitioner or an edged weapons enthusiast and you haven't picked up a tomahawk yet I would emphatically urge you to do so forthwith. The weight, balance, fit, finish and over all quality of this item are truly amazing to behold. I mean when you open up this box and hold this ax in your hands for the first time you truly do feel like you've bought yourself something. Versatility this baby has in spades; as a light weight camp ax for processing damp wood on a rainy day or a devastatingly executive instrument of self defense tomahawks are probably more up to the task than you are. There are a lot of budget tomahawks out there but there are no other options in this price category that even come close to this one. As inexpensive as these are you can't go wrong. The sheath though... Well, that's sort of not this item's strong suit. While functional, and completely capable of carry, I would determinately opt for a custom Kydex sheath of some sort. That being said, This is a great deal and if you practice martial arts you're going to fall in love with the United Cutlery UC2765 M48 Hawk. I guarantee it. (oh, and the handle.. The handle material is a hardy glass lined polypropylene and feels really nice in the hand but I went ahead and added a black 550 para-cord wrap just to insure a positive grip in the event I might ever find myself in need of something like that).

I purchased the US M48 out of curiosity. It had good reviews, something that I'm not familiar seeing on United cutlery products, I've bought some of their stuff in the past to see what it was all about.Anyway! Moving on, I have a few other hawks, I have the SOG fasthawk, and the GG&G Battle, so something at the top and bottom end of this scale. I must say that the M48 is a nice tool, granted not as nice as my GG&G, but it didn't cost me $250 either. I went out trekking this weekend and as far as people complaining about the handle breaking under the third screw, I have to say there must be bad batches. I worked my blade this weekend, certainly past the point of breaking a handle if it were going to break under normal to failrly harsher than normal conditions. The black coat on the blade doesn't seem to be the best, as I've rubbed off a fair portion of it just over a weekend of testing use. However with good blade care this blade will last. It throws better than my fasthawk if thats what you're in to, and even in an attempt to test those broken handle reviews I even chopped down a small tree with it, around 10 inches in diameter....I know this isn't what a hawk is for, I'm aware, but I set out to break this thing...and I failed.The balance is great, the handle is eh... but functional, I did a paracord wrap on mine to help with gripability if you will. I love the fact that this thing whistles when flying through the air!On a scale using a functionality to cost ratio comparing these 2 hawks, I would rate this M48 as a solid 8. My GG&G is my favorite, but I'm afraid to have too much fun with it since it cost so much. This is a solid hawk, that was cheap, so If I throw it and miss my target and lose it...no biggy easily replaced at $30. I carry it with me more than my battle hawk now.