I don't know that I agree that a tomahawk is a poor splitting tool. but I would definitely agree that a small one is ... I bought a small 'hawk called a "mousehawk" and that thing is next to useless for anything. you do need a certain amount of weight in the head of the tomahawk before it splits wood.

i'll tell you where it comes in handy - at least for me. it's in those campgrounds where all the visitors have gathered up ALL the kindling. so you look around and there is literally not a single small bit of dry branch or twig to be found. all the small dead stuff got burned by Moms and Pops doing smores for the kids. I've got nothing against it. but what usually happens is that you manage to find one huge piece of an old log and there's no way to split kindling off the thing. and you just don't want to throw the whole thing into your campfire - which won't start anyway because you've got no twigs. that's why I usually carry a medium sized tomahawk in my vehicle.

and I do agree that you have to swing them carefully - the wounds from an accident are gruesome.

Pete2