# machetes



## The Count (Dec 3, 2010)

I always take my sawback 12" ontario with me; I would take my parang Condor made but it is way to heavy.

long time no see a machete discussion.
:hmm3grin2orange:


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## Rookie1 (Dec 3, 2010)

I take a Woodsmans Pal with me if I need to do small brushcutting. I dont think Ive learned how to use it correctly yet. Heres link.http://www.woodmanspaltool.com/


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## The Count (Dec 3, 2010)

this is my parang

http://www.machetespecialists.com/17-parang-high-carbon.html


and this is my ontario

http://www.machetespecialists.com/on12trsacaan.html

i like the weight on ontario but the parang is just a work of art. good range too.


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## The Count (Dec 3, 2010)

that is a fine blade you have there. wouldn`t mind to have one myself.


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## slowp (Dec 3, 2010)

It took a few years for my arm and shoulder to get back to normal after swinging one a few years doing road profiles on the Oregon Coast. Owie. 
Salmonberry is easy to cut, vine maple no.


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## clinchscavalry (Dec 14, 2010)

I've used many, many brands, sizes, and types of machetes over the years, but a friend gave me one of the Gerber bush hook type knives shown on the following link, and it is by far the best I've ever used.


http://www.knivesplus.com/gerber-knives-axes.html


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## madhatte (Dec 14, 2010)

For small stuff up to 1" in diameter, this little guy can't be beat:







For 1"-5", you want one of these:






Machetes are too long and too light to be useful in woody material. They bounce easily and offer too much opportunity for injury.


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## 2dogs (Dec 15, 2010)

madhatte said:


> For small stuff up to 1" in diameter, this little guy can't be beat:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yep, the Swedish brush ax, aka the Swede hook, is the best for my use.


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## Gypo Logger (Dec 18, 2010)

2dogs said:


> Yep, the Swedish brush ax, aka the Swede hook, is the best for my use.


 I like those Sandviks, they never rock out and are a perfect heft for driving wedges. It's a good call to paint the handles a bright orange against loss.
John


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## Joe46 (Dec 19, 2010)

Good tool. I don't know how many companies make them or if Sandvik was even the first, but out on the Olympic Peninsula we just said "Sandvik" and everyone knew exactly what tool you were talking about.


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## Walt41 (Dec 19, 2010)

I have a couple of the Gerbers that see heavy trail cutting use, I purchased both at the same time but I find one seems to hold an edge better than the other.


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## The Count (Dec 20, 2010)

I have lost an axe in an working area of only 30 sq meters for not having it painted bright colors.


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## mhyme71 (Dec 22, 2010)

best machete i ever owned was a cheap o from a miltary surplus store. you cant dull its edge if you wanted to. I have got a gerber with serrated saw blade on the back its a pretty heavy hitter for 20 bucks


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## The Count (Dec 23, 2010)

if money and space were no problemo, machetes would have been the first thing I would start to collect (and knives in general)


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## zogger (Jan 6, 2011)

*gerber or fiskars*



clinchscavalry said:


> I've used many, many brands, sizes, and types of machetes over the years, but a friend gave me one of the Gerber bush hook type knives shown on the following link, and it is by far the best I've ever used.
> 
> 
> Gerber Knives: Gerber Axes and Folding Shovel


 

I just looked at the link and dang if those gerbers don't look exactly like fiskars. I wonder if they are really the same tools just branded differently? I have the fiskars super splitter, and all the way to the handle carrying case it looks identical, at least in the picture.


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## clinchscavalry (Jan 6, 2011)

zogger said:


> I just looked at the link and dang if those gerbers don't look exactly like fiskars. I wonder if they are really the same tools just branded differently? I have the fiskars super splitter, and all the way to the handle carrying case it looks identical, at least in the picture.



The first time I used the Gerber was helping a surveyor friend of mine. I was the brush cutter, and I tackled a large vine that was hanging near a tree. Rather than try to cut it off in midair, I decided to press it against the tree and used the trunk as a chopping block. I repeatedly struck it time and time again with the back of the blade before realizing that side isn't sharpened, but I figured it out when I put my glasses back on  The cutting side really works well, and I'll leave my other machetes in the truck in favor of the Gerber from now on.


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