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.

Good quality, the only issue is the handle is somewhat cheap feeling, however, it has decent weight, great birthday gift for viking lovers (and cutting their cake!) not intended to cut wood, but great for ornamentation or light yard work for stubborn weeds. It does not come with a sheath, just a plastic edge protector. The axe blade polishes well, though the "made in Thailand" took hours of sanding to go away fully

First is that this is a battle axe and not a tomahawk or wood chopping axe, it's blade geometry is meant for slashing (not chopping)and stabbing against flesh, bone and thin wood(a shield) and not chopping thick branches or logs, it bites in deeply on every hit and gets stuck on almost every hit which is also why it shouldn't chop against an opponent( please don't be stupid and use this against ANYTHING alive). After reading so many reviews about the head being loose, the haft being garbage and needing to be sanded or whatever I got supplies to deal with these along with the axe. They were a waste of money as the head was secured tightly with or without the screw( which in my opinion is there only for shipping purposes), the shaft was perfectly straight and had the grain going the right way( in line with the axe blade) and had no coating on the head or shaft at all. The only modification I made was purely aesthetic, a simple darker stain and the axe looked and preformed great. The blade came with a usable edge but I still sharpened it until it was shaving sharp, which is honestly too sharp for a wood axe( it risks damaging the edge if it's too fine due to the tremendous force an axe can hit with which is far greater than a knife or even a sword) but I use this axe for martial arts training and "trick" cutting against water bottles and other human analog targets, not repeatedly against cured hard woods. All in all the axe was an absolute steal at $35.00, it had none of the problems the other reviewer's had, looks and feels great, has decent battle axe head geometry(which again is not that of a wood chopping axe),is light and well balanced and is made from quality materials that make it rugged and durable. It's worth far, far more than the asking price and I would definitely buy it again. I'm on a super tight budget and 35.00 is actually a lot of money to me for something that turns out to junk, my particular axe is a great item and not " for the money it's good", just good( I have yet to see something those axes that cost four or five or even ten times the price do that this one can't, $12.00 worth of wood stain and gun blue and it even looks as good as those ones). Not saying those other reviewer's were wrong, maybe cold steel improved their qc or maybe I just got lucky but there is no way anyone could say the one I got had any faults. As far as the head goes it's affixed to the shaft like a tomahawk, meaning the end of the shaft flares out slightly larger than the eye of the axe head and is held in place by friction. It's not like many battle axes that are held in place by a wedge being driven into the haft. I prefer it friction held as I can remove the head quickly, this makes it easier to sharpen, to replace the shaft when the time comes and to more safely store it ( have kids so that's an important issue to me). In a pinch I can also use the head as a makeshift ulu style knife, with which I can skin animals, scrape bark, hold the beard(not by the sharp part) and push on the top point with my left thumb for controlled cuts like in feather sticking and can use the sharp edge of the eye to strike sparks of a ferro rod (yes I can make a fancy bushcrafty fire with my battle axe or any tomahawk). It's not at all optimal for these things but it can do them. So for me I would never glue or permanently attach the head. A few good swings securely resets the head when I put it back on. Again I can only speak for myself but the friction method has been used for centuries so that's good enough for me. One last thing, for safety if your axes head does not sit securely enough for you then the only safe way to make it secure is by using a wedge, axes swing with incredible power and no amount of just glue, string or tape no matter how strong will hold on the head if used for any length of time, especially if striking objects, they only give a false sense of security. All these things are just my opinion so take them for what they are and make the best decision for you.

Like all cold steel’s tomahawks & most of their historical axes, these handles have to be sanded and hand momentum fitted. They don’t tell people this & include a screw that temporarily fixes the ax head in place but will destroy the handle fairly quickly w use-especially if u don’t fit the handle and use the screw. The alignment will be off as well if not properly fitted and the screw is skipped. That’s why so many people say to throw that useless screw away in the comments. It seems like a good thing to a novice but will mess up ur handle quickly, even if u fit the head properly, but much worse if u don’t. Look up how to fit a tomahawk handle properly before attempting this or any hawks w wood handles by cold steel. This not being known is the main reason for negative reviews along w fairly poor quality control. Guess they get so many repeat customers they think everyone knows, but first timers often have no idea and get upset when the axe or hawks head is loose. Make sure u know what ur doing first, by watching so YouTube vids or whatever, then if there’s still issues u can send it back if u got a dud. Most complaints are just people who aren’t used to momentum secured hawks and axes. My first one came and it was super dull, too dull to sharpen by hand, and the handle was too thin at the top to fit properly. Sent it back for a replacement & the second ones handle fit perfectly, and was close enough to sharp that I could finish it by hand. The steel on these is heat treated/ tempered well, has multiple layers of heat treat & is surprisingly hard. Quality control isn’t the best on these and pretty much all are at least a minor project of fitting the handle and sharpening, but are great quality for the $ and as good as many of the far more expensive ones once u take care of that, and customize the head and handle if u want something that looks good on a wall. They come pretty plain but the bearded ax has a great shape & has a lot of potential for customization as a wall hanger or camping tool, zombie killer or whatever u want it to do. You can easily spend 2-4 times or more on a cheaply built wall hanger, so these are great and tend to perform well. Just requires a little more work out the gate than most. CRKT has a lot of the same issues and charges 2-3 times as much, although some of their stuff is prettier out of the box

So first thing, the handle was crap. Right out the box the head was loose and could easily be moved up and down by my 5 year old nephew, However, I planed on hand making my own handle anyway so eh. you pay 30$ for a good quality head. As I was testing it, I missed the small branch I was going after and slammed full force into the dirt where a rock was, to my surprise not even a small dent in the blade, washed it off with some water dried it, good as new. Also the blade comes dull as a spoon, had to work it with a whetstone for a good hour and a half to get it sharp. Will buy again for a good quality steel axe head but count on a few hours of work before it's usable. UPDATE went camping and used it to de-Branch trees we would fall (on private property with permission), the axe head flew off the original handle and landed about 15 ft away in the brush so yea, don't use original axe handle for anything but a club...

Great axe, ive probably bought about 5 of en over the years. Not that they break but I just give them away to friends. Only thing is nothing says more authentic the Taiwan on the axe head that will be very difficult to remove. Its insane that it is cheaper to produce this small thing and ship it halfway across the globe

In general, I try to be disciplined about not buying so-so tools, and save up for high quality tools. This axe is not a high quality tool, but there isn't necessarily a better viking style axe out there in the next higher price range. I paid $31 for this axe. The design and the quality of the materials are surprisingly good for $31, but still not really quite what I wanted. I would gladly have paid $50 to $100 for a viking axe with a somewhat more historically accurate blade design and a stouter handle. I took the axe out into the woodlot and cut down some standing dead oak and birch with it, to test the quality of the build and materials. It did fine at full force, and nothing came loose or chipped. I was swinging the axe very, very hard, so that is a good sign. I am a big guy, and I have cut firewood my whole life, so I feel like I am a pretty good judge of the quality of axes. Clearly this axe is not meant to be a tree axe, but if it can handle the use that I put it to, then it is reasonably tough. I train with two Western martial arts systems. From a historical standpoint, I do not think that this beard on this blade would be great either for building boats or for hooking shields. It isn't terrible, but the lower, bearded horn is shaped a little awkwardly. The head is attached with a set screw, which is an inexpensive alternative to attaching the head in the proper historical way. It will work for a while, but axes set up this way inevitably get loose over time. The handle held up to hard use, but I suspect that it would not stop a blow from another axe or from a sword. The handle is also a little too long for a one handed axe, and a little too short for a two handed axe. I am considering cutting the handle down a bit, as the weight of the head would be good for a true one handed axe. So, assessing "value" is tricky in this case. On the one hand, this is a surprisingly good axe for $31. On the other hand, this isn't really a functional viking war axe, it is just an inexpensive, oversized tomahawk made to look like one. If there was a better option on the market for $50 - $100, I would say to save your money for that, but given that there isn't, you may want to make do with this one, and enjoy it for what it is. Bottom line: If I woke up in the night and heard unexpected noises in the house, would I be comfortable using this axe as a defensive weapon? Yes, very much so. Would I want to have this in my hands at Ragnarok? No way.