We’ve covered a couple of tools from Wingard Wearables before, including the Quill and the MicroDickPick. The Empress ups the ante a bit more.
The Wingard Wearables Empress is spontoon tomahawk. This tomahawk design has the express purpose of causing damage, typically in self-defense. While this tool could take big pieces of wood and turn them into smaller pieces, the reality is that doing so is a secondary purpose of the Empress.
The Wingard Wearables Empress
The Empress features a head that is cast from high-strength, rust-proof, silicon bronze. The talon side is about 2.25 inches long and is hooked and slightly curved to follow your body contour if you carry it at your waist. The underside edge is sharpened. The other side, called the primary piercing blade, is about 2.0 inches long and has a sharp edge, but is smooth for each extraction from the target.
The handle is hickory and runs about 13 inches long. It’s scarred and charred for weatherproofing as well as to provide a secure grip. Hickory wood wedges secure the head to the handle. There is also some sort of adhesive filling in the space between head and handle.
My Empress weighs 8.2 ounces. Each one is hand-crafted and unique. There will be slight variations in length, weight, and appearance. Each one is a custom job.
It comes equipped with a quick-release Kydex carry system. There are clips that allow you to attach the Empress to your pack or in another location. Otherwise, you can just slip it into your waistband.
Empress Performance
Having gained some experience with other offerings from Wingard Wearables, I was eager to check out the Empress. I have a few tomahawks, including one modeled after the LaGana Tactical Tomahawk that saw service in Vietnam. But the spontoon design was new to me.
I considered heading down to the local disreputable drinking establishment to see if I could aggravate someone enough to swing at me, so I could then deploy the Empress and see how well it would work. But I don’t earn enough here to pay the bail and lawyer fees for something like that.
Instead, I went out to the backyard and beat the hell out of some logs and what not. The Empress is very fast in hand. It’s long enough to really crank up the leverage when you’re swinging on something, but still short enough to be easy to control with one hand.
The handle design is amazing. At the very end, there’s a spot where the handle bulges out a touch. This serves to keep your hand from sliding off when you swing. The very tip of the handle as a sharp wedge shape, which is perfect for use as an impact weapon.
The primary piercing blade drives deep into the target but it is remarkably easy to remove. Just a quick jerking motion loosened it each time. The hook is intended more for catching and pulling, rather than piercing. That said, it’s plenty sharp enough to do serious damage. I did notice that the black finish started to wear off the primary blade after a while. I kind of like the look of it, though, with some of the bronze exposed.
All in all, the Empress is definitely a unique option for an EDC defense weapon. It’s also loads of fun.
The Empress is available now from Wingard Wearables with an MSRP of $280.
