Wrecking some padlocks

There was a request in a forum to get pictures of breaking padlocks.  It was a test I'd been planning on for a while, shooting some video of it, but hadn't gotten to that point yet.  I decided to go ahead and test it out with shooting photos and get the video at a future date.

I tried padlock breaking for the first time with one of my Wreckers that I was hanging onto for myself to shoot some demonstration videos later.  I wasn't as quick or graceful about it as Ryan Johnson, but I was successful.  My spike doesn't fit as well in the shackle of the padlock as the RMJ does.  Don't know if that will lead to changing the design down the road or not as busting padlocks is not the only design consideration with them.

Prior to starting on the lock, a standard Master Lock:

After the shackle broke:

 

Hard to tell from that pic.  Let's take a closer look:

You can see that I struck at the body of the lock with the point of the spike.  I honestly don't know if it was prying or striking that broke the shackle.  It wasn't a dramatic event and I didn't see it was broken at first.

I decided to try it with a lock with a shorter shackle.  It was even more difficult to fit the spike in with the heavy chain links.  I ended up striking with the spike until the lock popped open.  You could not re-lock it afterwards due to the damage.

 

Here's a close look at the longer-shackled lock:

And the various places on the shorter one that got hit:

 

 

It was hard to get my camera to focus on the end of the spike's point, but you can see that while the steel wasn't untouched, it almost was exactly like it started out.

 

I still plan on shooting video of lock breaking sometime down the road.

Matched pair of 18" Wreckers

These were commissioned by a fellow for himself and his buddy.  Everyone needs a friend like that.  :)

Unless this is a dueling set.  Hmmmm...      

18" Wrecker models, in black, unsharpened inner beards.  

And the Kydex to go with them.  Double-adjustable, quick-detach shoulder slings for carry.

I feel like I need something like this on a T-shirt.  :D

Handful of tomahawks

This is part of the previous batch that went out to customers.

The 12" Wrecker with sharpened inner beard in olive drab has been popular so far, but some of the future batches will lean more on some of the other options.

 

18" desert Wrecker, sharpened inner beard, bare sheath.

 

 

18" Woodsman with sharpened inner beard.  Black with olive drab Micarta, double retention straps on the sheath.

 

 

And a naked 18" War Chief with sharpened inner beard, in black.  Naked, you ask?  Ain't got no pants!  :D

Avast! Wrecker "boarding 'hawk"

This one was ordered up by a fellow in the Australian Navy who is about to go on pirate patrol off the African coast.  He's thinking of it as a "boarding ax", which I've often read was the precursor to spiked tomahawks.

These aren't my best photos, but it's a 12" Wrecker (pry spike) model with sharpened inner beard, in olive drab.

Kydex sheath with quick-detachable double-adjustable shoulder sling and IWB bands.

 

 

Hope it serves him well!

SEAL's Wrecker 'hawk rig

This is the one that actually started me on the path to making full tang tomahawks.  I'd been working on forged prototypes with nylon handles for a while, but still had questions in my mind, particularly about the handles.  Then the SEAL who has become my best customer asked about me making him a full-tang 'hawk, and it solved the issues I was having but meant that I'd need to do a major shift in my approach and work out the logistics for building it.

He asked about it late last winter, and I finally got his 'hawk to him in December.  Part of that wait was making sure I had it right, part of it was having one that would match his order being bought off my table at the Blade Show in June, part of it was waiting until I could have a sheath with it, and part of it was his work keeping him busy and away from e-mail.

But, I just heard back from him and he is happy with his tomahawk.  So, here it is.  :)

12" Wrecker (pry spike) model in olive drab with sharpened inner beard.  His was the first sheath I made for them, before I got the tooling together for the other two models.  He got it with the shoulder sling and IWB bands.

This shows the 'hawk better, but is taken before I moved the IWB bands to their final position.

Here's me using it to demonstrate the shoulder carry.  Note that there's a lot of adjustment to pull it up tighter, and that I moved the IWB bands from being on the corners to the inside of the shoulder sling later on.

 

Not one to sit still on his time off, he told me he's been wearing it by the shoulder sling on a few hikes and barely notices it's there.

He also sent me a picture of a display case that his future brother-in-law made for him for some (not all) of the blades he's gotten from me.  I joke with him about charging into battle wearing a kilt made of my blades.  :D

Marine's Woodsman 'hawk

It took a while to get there, but the Marine stationed in Okinawa who ordered it finally got in the Woodsman 'hawk I shipped before Christmas.  :)

12", desert, sharpened inner beard.  1/4" 4140 steel, canvas Micarta, and flared stainless steel tube rivets.

He also got a bare Kydex sheath with it.

Here's hoping it serves him well!

Woodsman 'hawk with sheath

This is the first piece of mine to make it up to Alaska.  12" Woodsman (hammer poll) model, unsharpened inner beard, black Durabake and natural tan canvas Micarta.  1/4" 4140 steel, flared stainless steel tube rivets.

The customer ordered a sheath with the shoulder sling, double adjustable and quick-detachable.