Imacasa 28" Pata de Cuche machete.

[gomipile]

I needed something for cutting down excess cattails in my pond. I wanted something that could reach out a bit while I'm standing on the shore.

After putting a convex working edge on it and filing off the wire edge, man does it perform! It takes no effort at all to go through many green cattails in a swipe using only the weight of the blade. dead cattails require some snappy wrist action, and that does get tiring with this long of a machete.

It is very thin to begin with, and also has a distal taper, which I find impressive.



It took a fair bit of work to get the clearcoat off the blade with Soy Gel paint stripper, but it was worth it for the patina.

This is a fairly specialized tool, but for what it is, it does a wonderful job.

[FortyTwoBlades]

Heeheehee--that's practically a sword! Looks like a great machete for your purposes. The taper makes all the difference in long-bladed models, I find.

[gomipile]

Yeah, on my property, cattails are about the only thing I'd find this ideal for, but I have a lot of cattails mocking me...


Edit: I just measured it, and the blade is 2mm at the handle, and 1.35mm thick at the tip. This is the first thin machete I've had with a distal taper, and it seems to make a huge difference. It is very comfortable to swing, and as tiring as it is to chop with, without that distal taper it'd be murder.

[FortyTwoBlades]

without that distal taper it'd be murder.

Yeah--not only would it feel heavy, it would also feel "dead" and would be pretty floppy.

[TheGame]

I like big blades... but that is just too long for me

I can see it being useful on grasses and such if it is thin enough though. Generate a lot of speed.

[FortyTwoBlades]

Yeah usually anything over 24" becomes unmanageable in thicknesses designed for chopping wood. Light targets only, at that point.

[Mannlicher]

I still think a machete is a machete is a machete. I can't find much difference between them, especially the South American stuff. They all work just about the same, with nothing to differentiate them from each other.

[FortyTwoBlades]

I still think a machete is a machete is a machete. I can't find much difference between them, especially the South American stuff. They all work just about the same, with nothing to differentiate them from each other.

And I think that's crazy talk. There's actually a ton of difference in the performance of different patterns and models between manufacturers, as well as appropriate tasks for each. Try pitting a sable pattern against a rozador in a hardwood chop-off and the rozador will win by a landslide. Go against dense grasses and the sable will be the clear winner.

[TheGame]

I have to agree with 42 here. My 14" bolo will outchop most of my other machetes. Some may do about the same, but none are really better. It may depend on my technique, I suppose. But I've found that to be the case.

[gomipile]

I still think a machete is a machete is a machete. I can't find much difference between them, especially the South American stuff. They all work just about the same, with nothing to differentiate them from each other.

Tell that to my socks when I fill them full of mud trying to reach cattails with a 14" blade :P

[FortyTwoBlades]

Also try comparing a Wal*Mart machete with a Condor, Cold Steel (Lasher) or Tramontina. If your Wal*Mart one hasn't suffered a rapid unscheduled disassembly by the end of a long chopping session then we'll talk.

[gomipile]

The handle on this Imacasa is really comfortable. It's not my favorite machete handle, but it's miles better than my Ontario 22" heavy duty.

[FortyTwoBlades]

Yeah the Ontarios are pretty pathetic as they come stock. There's a reason I Special Grade them. You'd murder your hands if you took a regular one and tried chopping with it.

[Grease]

As weird as they look, I think you may have just found a use for one of Cold Steel's two handed Kukri machetes. 34" OAL would be about the same size reach as your 28" blade here, and would probably be a bit easier to use...


Or you could just invest in a pair of waders, and use whatever tool you want

[HardTripper]

My buddy just brought me home that exact machete home from Peru, kinda useless in boreal forest though, more of a wall ornament at this point.

[gomipile]

With the blade tip as thin as it is, it just sails through green cattails. I think it's fine the way it is now. I suppose I could put a longer handle on it, but it takes practically zero effort to down the green ones.

[FortyTwoBlades]

My buddy just brought me home that exact machete home from Peru, kinda useless in boreal forest though, more of a wall ornament at this point.

Don't take it with you to a forest--take it with you to a field.