Cold Steel Viking Battle Axe

I’m giving 5 stars because CS delivered everything promised in the description and the materials are of good quality. That being said, you can use it out of the package as a recreational camp axe but you will need to further seat the handle before tightening the set screw. Not my first CS axe so I put it in a vice head up and close the vise till the wood handle is just clear with the head resting on the top lip of the vice jaws. Then I pound the handle into the head with a hard rubber mallet before locking the set screw. The head can’t ever leave the handle when swinging, the handle taper is bigger than the hole in the head. All it can do is fall down towards your hands if it ever comes loose. Regardless this is not a commercial tool, don’t expect that from it. I wanted to emulate a historical dressing for my axe, to do this I had to sand the sealer off the shaft and the terrible grey coating on the head that they use for rust protection. One this was done I used an espresso stain on the handle, three coats with wipe off method. It won’t get very dark. If you want a little darker try ebony or true black stain. I wrapped the top half with 10mm leather using the pull under method for the ends. For the grip I used 3mm braided leather. I wanted the braided leather handle portion to be longer but believe it or not this is 10 yards. For the head I used a wire wheel on a pedestal motor to remove the finish. I used 120 grit sandpaper for touch up. One I had it stripped I cleaned it with lacquer thinner and then alcohol using gloves to keep finger oils off (super important) I then used a wipe on steel blackener from Amazon and stayed off of the cutting edge. If you have shiny spots afterward you didn’t strip or clean well enough. I used the cheapest bluish/green blackening solution. I may still carve runes in between the leather cross cross areas using a steel bit in a dremel for precision. I’ll write the rune in sharpie, dremel over it till the sharpies gone and q-tip some stain in. In the end a little extra money for a period piece look but a much better axe than the junk Ragnar 2x4 handle baby axes out there. Some think the handle is too long, wrap the handle grip where you want it and you always have a two hand swing option which I like allot. (Or cut it down first if it’s a deal breaker)

If you can hang an ax, you already have what you need to bring this tough-as-nails powerhouse to life. However, before the review, I would first like to address a common (and somewhat frustrating) gripe that I've been seeing about this item and it's Cold Steel sisters over and over and over. And that gripe is this: "THIS AX SAYS AMERICAN TOMAHAWK COMPANY AND IT HAS TIAWAN STAMPED ON IT!!! SO HOW IS IT AMERICAN?! COLD STEEL DIDNT MAKE THIS! THEY TRICKED ME!!!" The answer to this review-muddling mystery is that the original "American Tomahawk Company" went out of business some time ago, and no longer exists as it's own company in the normal sense. The name, however, was was purchased by Cold Steel, and now exists as something of a sister-company. The nerve-striking American Tomahawk Company stickers we are seeing on these tomahawks and axes are, unfortunately, is a clever marketing ploy which allows Cold Steel to advertise an "American" product while still outsourcing their manufacturing to Tiawan. In short, American Tomahawk Company = Cold Steel THE REVIEW: Though it can't be denied that Cold Steel and it's founders are (at best) an organization of questionable moral aptitude, it also can't be denied that they make exceptional cutting tools. This is especially so with their axes and tomahawks. However, this is a textbook case of "you get what you pay for". Ranging from $30 to $60+, these hand tools are extremely hard to beat for their price points. The drawback for such affordability? Though they're marketed as "combat ready", it's allong the same concept as how a brick or large rock is "combat ready"; if you swing it and make contact, the person on the hard end of it might not be too worried about details of craftsmanship or quality control. Realistically, after you chop through all of the marketing and whatnot, these are project pieces. This ax is to be considered roughly-refined stock consisting of high-quality materials that require basic craftsmanship to bring out it's true beauty and potential. It comes sharp-ish, the handle will be machine-pressed into the eye, resulting in the curled shavings I like to call "eyelashes", there will be an annoying set screw involved, and there's a chance you might get poor grain orientation, or a warped handle. But the ax head IS top-notch steel, despite being produced in Taiwan (which is very high quality steel compared to "cheap Chinese crap", another issue I could address all together). And the handle IS high-quality, well-cured hickory. If you want a ready-for-battle, true-to-the-lumberjack, razor-sharp, instantly-perfect ax, then you're in luck, all you need is $160-$250. If you want all of that in a $40-$50 price range, please, please tell me if you find it. Because this is not that item. This item is for the person who is either willing/able to bond with a new companion through some TLC and a little know-how, or who is willing/able to have it done for them.

The original shaft is too thin, I replaced it ,now its a nice thing. for the price, it should be good , cost me another 20 euro to replace the shaft 4 stars because I'm a handy man and I could fix it. the seller delivered fast etc.

Je l'ai modifié à mon goût...un 2h de travail... j'ai vieillis les 2 pièces et surtout ajouté un tranchant pour agir dans l'autre axe

Geile Bartaxt. Hab sie nach Erhalt selbst noch etwas gepimt. Original ist der Holzstiel blank. Aber mit wenig Aufwand kann man die noch richtig gut aufwerten. Ich hab das Holz dunkler gemacht und eine Lederwicklung mit Nieten aufgebracht..E voila 🤩

Es una excelente herramienta, más aún cuando su función principal es verde bien ahí en la pared 😄😄 próximamente le haré modificaciones de personalización que la harán quedar muy atractiva.

I love this axe, perfect and beautifull, except the fact we have to put the head with two pieces of metal and need to drill for the piece. I didnt did it and i fixed the head myself with leather, rope and handcraft thing. Excepting this this axe is really nice.