American Tomahawk Company is a US-based company which manufactures modern

tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...

s for use by the US Military. It was founded in 1966 by Peter LaGana to make tomahawks for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and folded in the 1970s. ATC was revived in March 2019 by RMJ Tactical to produce tomahawks for a wide range of outdoor uses and to continue on the great military history. The famous VTAC has been revised, updated and re-introduced at the Model 1 Tomahawk.

History

The company was founded in 1966 by Peter LaGana with the original Vietnam Tomahawk design. This original model featured a wood handle, an

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

head with reverse spike, and a leather sheath. LaGana manufactured 4,000 Tomahawks for soldiers and marines for use in the jungles of Southeast Asia. In November 2000, professional knife and tomahawk throwers Andy Prisco and Bobby Branton approached LaGana, and got his approval to license his design and restart the defunct firm in January 2001. The company resumed production of the original design: the "Vietnam Tomahawk", replacing the original wood handle with a synthetic one. In 2005 ATC introduced the CQC-T (

Close Quarters Combat Close-quarters combat (CQC) or close-quarters battle (CQB) is a tactical situation that involves a physical fight with firearms involved between multiple combatants at short range. It can occur between military units, police/corrections officer ...

Tomahawk): a collaboration with Custom Knife-maker

Ernest Emerson Ernest R. Emerson (born March 7, 1955) is an American custom knifemaker, martial artist, and edged-weapons expert. Originally an engineer and machinist in the aerospace industry, Emerson became a knifemaker by producing knives for a martial ar ...

of Emerson Knives. In 2008 a collaboration with Custom Knife-maker Shane Sibert resulted in a modern version of the

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

spontoon A spontoon, sometimes known by the variant spelling espontoon or as a half-pike, is a type of European polearm that came into being alongside the pike. The spontoon was in common use from the mid-17th century to the early 19th century, but it was ...

tomahawk known as the "Comanche"; this tomahawk is also produced under license by Fox knives of Italy. In 2019 RMJ Tactical purchased American Tomahawk Company.

Military use

The company’s "VTAC" ("Vietnam Tactical Tomahawk") is in use by the US Army

Stryker The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. It ...

Brigade in Afghanistan, the 172nd SBCT Team based at Grafenwoehr, GE, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Lewis, a Recon Platoon in the 2-183d CAV (116th IBCT)(OIF 2007-2008) and numerous other soldiers. The VTAC was issued NATO Stock Number 4210-01-518-7244 and classified as a “Class 9 rescue kit” as a result of a program called the Rapid Fielding Initiative; it is also included within every

vehicle as the “Modular Entry Tool set”.Steele, David E."Wedged Edges at War",''Blade Magazine'',September 2005, page 12-19

References

External links

* {{Knives Companies based in Chattanooga, Tennessee Weapons manufacturing companies