You can swing it one-handed but it's really better used with two hands. Weight is 2 lbs 10.5 oz, point of balance is just below the tip of the axe beard. It's annoying to walk around with any axe dangling off your belt, but this sheath is field functional for sure. I can't think of any improvements I'd make on this one, although I might have preferred kydex with slots around the edge for lashing to MOLLE. It's hard to make any kind of good axe belt sheath. To draw, you reach down, unsnap the strap, grasp the haft below the head and pull straight up. You drop the axe straight down into the sheath from above and a strap goes around the back of the head to snap closed at the front. It's made for right handed belt carry (or left side cross draw). This one is actually pretty well designed. I complained a lot about the Grosse Messer sheath. Handle breaks on throwing axes are common to the point of expected, and since you can't just throw this one on a new shaft like a tomahawk, I wouldn't even try. I'll still be doing some chopping for you just to make sure. Bear in mind this thing is designed as a soft-target slicer rather than a tree-chopper. I think it'll PROBABLY hold up just fine to chopping. The slight recurve shape gives a noticeable snap to chopping motions. They don't improve performance but I don't think they'll be a breakage point. I was a little worried about that just from the website photos but looking at it in person, they're pretty minimal with a lot of steel around them. Since I'd be more concerned about haft durability than tang durability, this is probably a good thing. The haft isn't totally split for the tang - the tang is set into a channel so you can see the tang from the edge side but the haft hides the tang from the back side.

The tang extends down about as far as the beard itself and is bolted into the shaft with several torx-head chicago bolts, just like the grip on the Honshu Grosse Messer.

The head thickness is about 5mm, consistent, with a hollow grind and a secondary bevel. This axe is fairly short, but with a large bearded head.

I wanted to give some initial impressions/specs and ask if there's any specific tests anyone would like to see with it before I start filming. So I just got my hands on a Honshu Karito Axe for review.

Honshu karito battle axe