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This Marine Vet's Tomahawks Were Designed For 'Maximum Power With Minimal Effort'

Jared Keller
June 11, 2018 at 09:30 AM Gear
Spyderco’s Warrior Hawk
Spyderco

If you purchase something through a post on our site, Task & Purpose may get a small share of the sale.

There are plenty of fine-lookin' blades out there in the world of tactical gear, but there's one thing that distinguishes Marine Corps veteran-turned-renowned bladesmith Laci Szabo's distinctive weapons: a focus on ergonomics, on making each tool as efficient as humanly possible.

"I want my weapons to be the extension of the arm or to deliver the maximum power with minimum effort," Szabo said in an interview way back in 2009, early into his collaboration with knifemaker Spyderco. "You lose fine motor skills in a fight — my weapons do not require a user's manual, they just fall into place when you pick them up."

Case in point: the titular SzaboHawk and brand-new Warrior Hawk from Spyderco, slick modern tomahawks forged from .300-inch D2 tool steel that both prove appealing alternatives to other hand axes.

Spyderco

Spyderco’s SzaboHawk

While both axes are remarkably lightweight, the original SzaboHawk's curved handle "places its center of balance approximately midway along its length, making it faster in the hand than conventional head-heavy designs," in the company's telling.

But in contrast, the Warrior Hawk was designed explicitly for more tactical situations from breaching to perforating, outfitted with a 3D-machined G10 handle featuring a solid grip. While the classic SzaboHawk checks the utilitarian boxes of a tomahawk, the Warrior Hawk was designed with the application of force in mind.

Spyderco

Spyderco’s Warrior Hawk

You can buy a SzaboHawk for just under $230 and a Warrior Hawk for just under $315, but if tomahawks aren't your thing, you can peruse some Laci Szabo knives at the Palmetto State Armory.

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stolen valor?

Military service claims of Army nurse in viral push-ups video called into question

news

Editor's Note: This article by Hope Hodge Seck originally appeared on Military.com, a leading source of news for the military and veteran community.

In the wake of a heartwarming viral video that was featured everywhere from Good Morning America to the Daily Mail comes a disheartening revelation: The 84-year-old self-described Army nurse cranking out push-ups in her crisp Vietnam-era uniform might not be who she said she was.

Maggie DeSanti, allegedly a retired Army lieutenant colonel who rappeled out of helicopters in Vietnam, was captured in a video challenging a TSA agent to a push-up competition ahead of a flight to Washington, D.C., with the Arizona chapter of the organization Honor Flight on Oct. 16. The video soon was everywhere, and many who shared it, including Honor Flight, hailed DeSanti's toughness and spirit.

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badass women

‘Nice girls don't join the military': New commander of Air Force refueling squadron proves her critics wrong

news

The summer before sixth grade, Cindy Dawson went to an air show with her father and was enamored by the flight maneuvers the pilots performed.

"I just thought that would be the coolest thing that anybody could ever do," she said, especially having already heard stories about her grandfather flying bombers during World War II with the Army Air Corps.

So by the first day of school, she had already decided what she wanted to be when she grew up.

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We salute the 93-year-old WWII veteran who refuses to retire, and opened up a 'boozy bakery' instead

Mandatory Fun
(ABC News)

Peach schnapps, sex on the beach, and piña colada may be familiar drinks to anyone who's spent an afternoon (or a whole day) getting plastered on an ocean-side boardwalk, but they're also specialty desserts at Ray's Boozy Cupcakes, Etc, a bakery in Voorhees, New Jersey run by a 93-year-old World War II veteran named Ray Boutwell.

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the blotter

Retired Coast Guard Admiral accused of shoplifting from Philly sex shop

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Instagram/US Coast Guard

A former senior Coast Guard official has been accused of shoplifting from a Philadelphia sex shop.

Rear Adm. Francis "Stash" Pelkowski (Ret.) was accused of stealing a tester item from Kink Shoppe on Oct. 8, according to an Instagram post by the store that appeared online two days later. In the post, which included apparent security camera footage of the incident, a man can be seen looking at products on a counter before picking up an item and placing it in his pocket before turning and walking away.

The Instagram post identified the man as Pelkowski, and said it wished him "all the best in his retirement, a sincere thank you for your service, and extreme and utter disappointment in his personal morals."

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hazing

The Marine Corps says its boot camp reforms have cut down on drill instructor misconduct

news

SAN DIEGO —The Marines say changes in the way they train recruits and their notoriously hard-nosed drill instructors have led to fewer incidents of drill instructor misconduct, officials told the Union-Tribune.

Their statement about training followed an Oct. 5 Washington Post report revealing that more than 20 Marines at the San Diego boot camp have been disciplined for misconduct since 2017, including cases of physical attacks and racist and homophobic slurs. The story also was published in the Union-Tribune.

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