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Jan 31, 2015

Indian Wooden Post - for War,Torture, or Fantasy?

Can anyone provide any information on the wooden post in the Movie Northwest Passage that Hunk Marriner pulls a tomahawk out when the Rangers enter the village of Fort St. Francis.  The wooden post is painted with blue/green, red, and yellow stripes and had two tomahawks stuck in it before Marriner pulled one out.

Possibly it's an Indian torture post - or a post Indians danced around and stuck their tomahawks in before going off to war - or just movie fantasy?  Anyhow, if anyone has some ideas, please comment to this post or CLICK HERE to send an email to illinoisranger@gmail.com .  Thanks for any information anyone can provide.

The Spike Tomahawk

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to look inside the book “The Spike Tomahawk: A Popular Tool and Weapon in Colonial North America” by Jack Vargo.  This author presents excellent information in the book such as the origins & manufacture of the spike tomahawk, celtiform tomahawks, dissection of trade axes to create iron celt axes and other tools, halberd tomahawks, boarding axes, and much more.  Although the book is only 86 pages, it contains a wealth of information and like one reviewer said: “I found this book to very informative to what I need it for in primitive weapons. I'm glad I bought it.”

Jan 28, 2015

Cold Steel Spike Frontier Hawk

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to a great Spike Tomahawk that really excels when it's used as a weapon. Like it says at Cold Steel's website, "With one highly effective edge and a long spike, it puts any adversary on the horns of a fierce dilemma: Face the edge in brutal chopping, cutting, slashing and gouging attacks, or risk getting huge deep holes punched in you by the fearsome spike.  To make matters even worse for an attacker, either end of the hawk can be used to hook or trap an opponent's weapon, neck, arm or leg, to control or manipulate the situation to one's advantage. Furthermore, the overall length of the of the hawk measures 9" across making it a wide, stiff platform that can be punched into an incoming weapon arm to momentarily stop its forward motion and immobilize it."

Please note we have no commercial or advertising interests in Cold Steel other than you let you know they make great, reasonably priced spike tomahawk.

Staining Hickory Tomahawk Handles

Staining hickory tomahawk handles to a dark brown color can be difficult with wood stains.  Try Fiebing's dark brown leather dye and seal it in with several coats of boiled linseed oil.  It also helps if you sand the handle with a medium or course grit sandpaper before staining.

Jan 26, 2015

Illinois Ranger is back

The Illinois Ranger has been lost in the woods for over a year, now he's back.  He's missed publishing many comments and posts lately.  He sincerely apologizes for disappearing for so long.