Best machete? Your opinions, please.

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Hi,
I am A brand new member but A full time collector of some of the worlds best blades.
I'm sorry to say that the beset machete out there is not some costly big name brand that most of us would know right off hand, the best machete that I have ever seen or used is called A Meyerco axe machete.
This blade has A D handel to protect your fingers during use the blade is 1/4 of an inch thick and can take down an 8" pine in ten swings or less.
This is A very good blade for your money $26.99 at S.M.K.W. right now, and worth every cent that they are asking.
I have 23 machetes most of them are collectables and high dollar items but not one of them are half the machete that this one is, after 3 years the blade is as stright as the day I bought it.
I read your question yesterday and went looking for another Meyerco machete after two hours on line with every sporting good store out there I went back to where I get some of my knives.
I found the biggest selection was at S.M.K.W. and at some real good prices.
I was useing A sog an A kabar and nither one can compare to this one and it is 1/3 the price of them so I just bought 3 more to avoid ever having to hunt one of them down again.
I assure you it will be money well spent and you will be very pleased with the product, it is just under 20 inches long with A 15 inche blade and comes with A sheath, overall this item is A 10 out of 10 !!!!
God Bless!!

Need your opinion on the best machete out there. I'm looking for quality, if such a thing is available today in a machete.

I don't want any more throw away cheapies.

We need a few, I'm going to need +/- 16-18" blade, and maybe +/- 20-22" blade.

What do you think?

Thanks.
 
Can you use a machete on vines that are attached to trunks? I've seen some nasty collateral damage from accidents.

Well, if you are cutting the tree down, I would think collateral damage from a machete is not going to be noticed much. ;)

I have a machete but never learned to use it well, but after reading this, using a chainsaw to slash little stuff is starting to look like using an AK-47 on a mosquito.

Yeah, not very efficient, but a whole lot more fun! :D



I'm surprised it took 16 post before somebody mentioned the Collins! :dizzy:
 
how is the stainless steel of A Meyerco axe machete working ?
I was let to believe that only carbon steel is worth having.
 
I've been making a ton of trails lately and been using couple machettes.

One is just a cheap 18" Corona that I really like. It is a cheap blade and does not come sharp, but sometimes I prefer the cheaper blades since they take just a couple seconds to sharpen with a grinder. They wear a little faster, but like I said, a quick pass with the grinder and your good to go. This one works really well for most everything, although I use a longer machette for thinner, brushier material.

Another machette I've been using is my friends Condor 20 inch viking machette. http://www.machetespecialists.com/vima20inulwa.html. , I love this one and plan on getting it myself. It is weighted really well for thicker vine maples and such, but the length is really nice for skinnier brush as well. Also nice to have such a long reach when your dealing with thornier plants like devils club and blackberries.

My newest is the Woodsmans Pal. I got the one with the wooden handle and have been very happy with it. It is the best for the thick stuff. I did'nt like the fact that the blade stops about an inch shy of the tip though, so I rounded the tip more and continued the blade. The hook is also really nice for moving slash out of your way that you've already cut. I don't use the grinder for this one or the Condor though unless theres a big gouge. I usually use a grinding stone. Only complaint about the WP is the handle was kind of loose when I bought it. I soaked it in some water for a night though and it seems good for now. Also really digging the cordura sheath.

I paint all my machettes orange or white also to easily find them once they've been set down.
 
I've had a couple of the Ontario U.S. Army ones matchetes for years and have had excellent service out of them. I also made one out of an old solid nose stihl chainsaw bar and it has been excellent as well.
 
I have to put in another vote for the woodsmans pal i own one and whenever i hire a new ground guy as a sign of good faith once hes been with me a month i buy him one too to keep, these are excelent machetes and make quick work of cutting lines and clearing slash we have also used them for quick limbing of small stuff

as for anyone being able to shop down an 8 inch diameter tree with a machete in 10 swings i call BS on that one, i challenge anyone to make a youtube video of them cutting an 8 inch dBH tree(and i wanna see the tape) in 10 swings, i can do it with my racing axe but i find it really hard to believe it can be done with a machete feel free to prove me wrong i will gladly buy the guy the can a 6 pack and rep the **** out of him cause that man doesnt need a chainsaw:jawdrop:
 
I think it can be done; maybe not any tree, but there are some machetes 1/4 inch (axe like blade),thick and very long therefore being capable of great performance. i haven`t tried it,but with my Condor parang, I have cut a 3-4 cm (I am going to measure next time for precission and maybe make a video; maybe try an 10 inch) plum branch in one clear cut. However I do not make a living out of cutting trees, I do it for fun and as I progress, I find that actualy smaller blades came in more handy; I got myself an Ontario 12 inch sawback machette, and it is great except for the part of the handle that touches my fingers; it is more confortable to hold backwords. So I was thinking to hold it in a vice with the blade facing up and with a sand paper to shape that part of the handle (I don`t have profi tools). Have anyone tried that on an Ontario ?
 
I was very happy with 12" saw back ontario; both the job done and the ease of use and cary of that light blade
 
best machhete

I took a worn out stihl bar to the grinder the bar came of my 66 it cuts like an ax at first I had it so sharp you could shave your arm you could bury it so deep you had to get a maul to get it out Ive even splt all kinds of wood with it .Ive since put a different angel on it less like a straight razor mor like a hunting knif its indestructable . you have to wear a glove it dont have a handel a handel would make it real nice.:hmm3grin2orange: and they all say I break everything .

oh a guy was picin on it and said I coulnt cut down a tree with it and i cut down a medium elm one handed a hndel would of been nice
 
Hi,

the best working machetes are made by Martindale (used the world over for cutting sugar cane etc.). They are carbon steel and easy to sharpen. I use the No. 2 (golok), which is also the standard issue "blade" in the British Army, for the tougher cutting. It's quite nose heavy and has a good size for general work. Martindale also make lots of other types of machete if you prefer longer, thinner or other shaped blades.

Agricultural Hand Tools - Ralph Martindale - Europe and North America

If you search a bit you can find lots of tests of machetes, goloks and co. on the web.

Bye
Cold steel and martindale.
This quote above should just keep getting posted to the front every 2-3 posts.
ask the guys who cut thousands of coco's every year.
woodsman would be nice for 20 bucks but its way over priced.
 
Simple answer

I am no fan of Cold Steel Knives. You are not going to find a better Machete then the Cold Steel even if you spend more money. That is unless you want to step up and spend some serious coin on a Phill Hartsfield Machete.
 
Claymore FTW ...

Restricting ourselves to edged weapons to be used to eliminate undergrowth I'll go for the Ontario Knife w/sawback as the nostalgic choice, or the Cold Steel Kukri with the PVC handle (both ~ $20.00) over the $200 Cold Steel stainless w/kryton handle for field use ~ now if you just want to hang it on the wall ...

Here's mine:

6853598709_03bd5ecb11_b.jpg


Here's the link for Cold Steel (the $20 Kukri is listed below the stainless Kryton model):

http://tinyurl.com/7fm4kyv
 
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A kukri is good in a fight but the African panga or Polynesian bolo (it seems to me that the Philippine bolo is more of a fighting knife..) I've used a 2-hand panga that had some wicked balance. As Burmie said a few years ago the bellied nose helps with chopping. I had a bolo hand forged from spring steel while I was in S/E asia that I could control with a loose 2 finger_thumb grip. The jungle was so think we would trade off every 15 minutes on point cuz point man was trail-breaker. Work traded back to tail then back to point.
 

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