Posted: 9/6/2009 6:19:02 PM EDT
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What Style, Brand?
Do you need one, or just extra weight? |
I have a Gerber "Gator" machete......I carry it in the gear bag on my ATV when I am out on the ranch. I think I paid about $20.00 for it. Haven't really used it for much except for flipping over rocks and boards and for keeping my hands away from things like this:
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They are very useful if you need one. Figure out what you need it for, then you will know better what to get.
The shorter ones (12") don't seem to chop as well, and don't have much tip speed for light stuff either. You can get a 12" 1/8" thick Ontario, but it is more like a cheap camp knife than a machete, as it is sort of clumsy due to it's thickness, without any length to give it speed. 14-16" seems about right for most stuff. The ones with a much wider blade toward the tip end or a hump up there are geared a little more toward chopping heavier stuff, like branches or cane stocks, while the ones that are narrower toward the top give more tip speed for lighter materials. It can still chop, but will need to be longer to get the momentum to do so, like toward 16" rather than 14". The big long 20" and up are really hard to get moving. They may work really well for someone, but I just couldn't get enough speed up with them. They are also REALLY big. Stay away from the ones at WalMart or similiar. Other than that, I don't think it matters too much what you get, though I do like to be able to see the tang all the way through the handle. On many, the rivets through the handle will give way and you will end up replacing them, but it is no big deal. Whatever you get, you will need to spend an hour or three putting a decent edge on it, otherwise the things are worthless. If you file the shoulders down so they are rounded, it makes a big difference in efficiency. If you really want to get fancy, there is a guy from Brazil on Youtube that shows several mods he does for his purposes that look pretty slick. |
| Tramontina makes the best machetes for the money that I've found. They're about $6-7 from SMKW and can take a lot of abuse. I've had ones I've used for over a decade and only have some minor discoloration to show for it. They're good high carbon blades that sharpen easily. I use a belt sander to put a quick, functional edge on machetes so I don't feel bad about using them hard. |
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How long is that Parang? |
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Cold Steel Bolo Machete.
I like the extra weight on the tip of the bolo. You get it started and let the weight carry it through. I use a machete quite a bit building and brushing hides and blinds during hunting season. I use mine for cutting through ornamental bamboo, river cane, box cedars and corn stalks. For the money they're tough to beat. Cold Steel Bolo machete |
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I have an Ontario 18 and it's a fair machette, but the blades not sharpened over enough of the length and the handle isn't the most comfortable. I realized I wouldn't ever carry it since there's just not enough need for chopping thick bush where I'm at and a hand retracting/folding saw is better and easier to pack than a machette, ax or large blade since I have other knives. If splitting and chopping wood is important to you though, than you might just consider a larger fixed blade that has more blade weight/thickness instead that can cover more duties like a RAT7. 
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| I have been cutting survey lines for over 12 years, and have always used Ontario machettes, get the 20 inch blade for 20 bucks, hit holds an edge, make sure you get yourself a file too. and your good to go, I can chop down a trail in no time with it and take down stuff up to 6 inches no problem. Any thing over 20 inches is a waste, since 90% of the time you use the bottom 6 inches of the blade to do your cutting anyway. just my .02 I have about 15 ontario blades and swear by them, if you use them you won't be let down. |
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Quoted:
I have been cutting survey lines for over 12 years, and have always used Ontario machettes, get the 20 inch blade for 20 bucks, hit holds an edge, make sure you get yourself a file too. and your good to go, I can chop down a trail in no time with it and take down stuff up to 6 inches no problem. Any thing over 20 inches is a waste, since 90% of the time you use the bottom 6 inches of the blade to do your cutting anyway. just my .02 I have about 15 ontario blades and swear by them, if you use them you won't be let down. I'm guessing you mean 18" blades? Or maybe they don't make the 20" any more? |
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Quoted:
Tramontina makes the best machetes for the money that I've found. They're about $6-7 from SMKW and can take a lot of abuse. I've had ones I've used for over a decade and only have some minor discoloration to show for it. They're good high carbon blades that sharpen easily. I use a belt sander to put a quick, functional edge on machetes so I don't feel bad about using them hard. +1 on the Tramontina. I also have used their sugar cane cutter which looks a lot like the Woodman's Pal. It will cut right throw green saplings. |
| I have a Gerber Brush Thinner here which is by far the best tool I have ever used, it's really lightweight and not too long, and will cut through 1 1/2 inch thick cedar with a single blow, it actually replaced hatchets/axes/other machetes in my gear because of its awesome performance. |