Best heavy duty machete ?

I hike with a fiddleback 12" machete.
Us it quite often to clear deadfall across trails and on occasion slicing open a finger
 
I live in hawaii and to start off this story me and my father were working on building a bridge on some land we own crossing over a small stream. In the gulch where we were working it was very overgrown with ferns, vines, and guava. Guava being a relatively hard and springy wood. I needed a good machete to work on clearing out all this brush. I originally purchased a cane knife one with the big long handle that tapers up to a maybe 7 inch wide end. No point on the end of machete. I took it to the guava just regular chopping and it didn't even hardly want to cut so i looked at the blade after about 5 minutes and found out that i had ended up rolling the blade a ridiculous amount the steel was worthless against anything harder than grass it chipped and rolled and not minor rolling like the whole grinded part like maybe a 1/4 inch of the blade rolled. Needless to say i was pissed off. Went back to the store and bought an Ontario knife company OKC 18" field machete made with 1095. Let me say i was AMAZED. I went to chopping and hacking relatively small maybe 1-3 inch guavas and periodically was checking the blade, No damage to chipping rolling it wasn't even hardly getting dull. I knew i had a good tool then. As i progressed deeper into the brush i had to cut a few trees not accessible with the chainsaw. i ended up batoning this machete through some 1 foot diameter trees with another piece of guava maybe 2-3 inch diameter slamming that on the back of the machete. Going at it with everything i got. I would get maybe halfway through the tree and i would need to get a new battening stick because the just the back of the machete tore up the little log in my hand. After a few days of this the machete looked no worse for wear i would wipe down the little bits of rust ( in nearly 100% humidity in and out of water all day ) and had no problems keeping it looking new. Even the coating was faring excellently. After about a week of this daily borderline abuse the machete was still sharp enough to cut ferns and vines etc and had absolutely no chipping rolling you couldn't even tell the use i put it through. I was absolutely ecstatic about the quality and price i only paid 40$ for this machete. I especially appreciated the hand guard. works great. Sorry for the novel but in my mind i would buy and buy and buy this machete it is indestructible not borderline indestructible but really indestructible. I mean if you try to break it with a truck or something yeah it'll break but used as it is meant for and even a little abused. you cannot go wrong!
Thanks.
 
sterling95 said:
I live in hawaii and to start off this story me and my father were working on building a bridge on some land we own crossing over a small stream. In the gulch where we were working it was very overgrown with ferns, vines, and guava. Guava being a relatively hard and springy wood. I needed a good machete to work on clearing out all this brush. I originally purchased a cane knife one with the big long handle that tapers up to a maybe 7 inch wide end. No point on the end of machete. I took it to the guava just regular chopping and it didn't even hardly want to cut so i looked at the blade after about 5 minutes and found out that i had ended up rolling the blade a ridiculous amount the steel was worthless against anything harder than grass it chipped and rolled and not minor rolling like the whole grinded part like maybe a 1/4 inch of the blade rolled. Needless to say i was pissed off. Went back to the store and bought an Ontario knife company OKC 18" field machete made with 1095. Let me say i was AMAZED. I went to chopping and hacking relatively small maybe 1-3 inch guavas and periodically was checking the blade, No damage to chipping rolling it wasn't even hardly getting dull. I knew i had a good tool then. As i progressed deeper into the brush i had to cut a few trees not accessible with the chainsaw. i ended up batoning this machete through some 1 foot diameter trees with another piece of guava maybe 2-3 inch diameter slamming that on the back of the machete. Going at it with everything i got. I would get maybe halfway through the tree and i would need to get a new battening stick because the just the back of the machete tore up the little log in my hand. After a few days of this the machete looked no worse for wear i would wipe down the little bits of rust ( in nearly 100% humidity in and out of water all day ) and had no problems keeping it looking new. Even the coating was faring excellently. After about a week of this daily borderline abuse the machete was still sharp enough to cut ferns and vines etc and had absolutely no chipping rolling you couldn't even tell the use i put it through. I was absolutely ecstatic about the quality and price i only paid 40$ for this machete. I especially appreciated the hand guard. works great. Sorry for the novel but in my mind i would buy and buy and buy this machete it is indestructible not borderline indestructible but really indestructible. I mean if you try to break it with a truck or something yeah it'll break but used as it is meant for and even a little abused. you cannot go wrong!
Thanks.
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Cane knives tend to be extremely thin stock, so that's not too surprising. If you had used something like an Imacasa one they're on the thicker side and can stand up to use on wood, but ones like Tramontinas are crazy-thin.
 
I don't know how to quote so fortytwoblades. I am pretty sure it is a tramontina. But that was pretty much what they had at garden supply where it was bought either that or the ontario. For my purposes the tramontina wasn't exactly the best. Im sure they have their purpose. For what I used it on though the ontario was awesome. If ever need a specific cane knife though ill look into the Imacasa ones.

*Edit right after i posted i saw the reply with quote. oh well
 
Svord kiwi machete I've beat the hell out of mine and it never quits!! Holds an edge for a very long time as well!
Got it as Baryonyx knife shop online :) ( 2 posts above) ^^ great service!!
 
sterling95 said:
I don't know how to quote so fortytwoblades. I am pretty sure it is a tramontina. But that was pretty much what they had at garden supply where it was bought either that or the ontario. For my purposes the tramontina wasn't exactly the best. Im sure they have their purpose. For what I used it on though the ontario was awesome. If ever need a specific cane knife though ill look into the Imacasa ones.

*Edit right after i posted i saw the reply with quote. oh well
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Yeah--the Tramontina ones are practically machete-sized razor blades in terms of their stock thickness and durability. Great for light stuff, but you can't push them out of that range or there'll be trouble. :)
 
My experience with machetes is limited to Ontarios, but I heartily recommend them. The econo models are thinner, a little over 1/16" thick but truthfully I generally prefer them over the standard 1/8" thick models. If that sounds too thin to you I can understand but I will say that I've beaten on mine w/o fear and it has taken it all.

The ones with molded "D" handles look like a good option though I have not tried one of them yet. My expectation is they would be very modifiable and secure.
 
I have a Kiwi and the handle is very small.ImageUploadedByTapatalk1402239864.908217.jpg
I prefer a little more bulk in the grip, but it is very light and I love the steel. Between that and the Svord Golok, the Golok wins easily but is much more expensive.
 
Ya I thought it was a little small too but not super small I could have worked with it personally. I fixed that problem with some electrical rubber tape! Works great. And this is electrical rubber tape, not just electrical black tape. So it has a softness and squishyness to it. You can wrap it to your desired thickness. :)

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1402249456.029224.jpg
 
Blue Sky said:
My experience with machetes is limited to Ontarios, but I heartily recommend them. The econo models are thinner, a little over 1/16" thick but truthfully I generally prefer them over the standard 1/8" thick models. If that sounds too thin to you I can understand but I will say that I've beaten on mine w/o fear and it has taken it all.

The ones with molded "D" handles look like a good option though I have not tried one of them yet. My expectation is they would be very modifiable and secure.
Click to expand...

The D handle works great prevents it from flying out of my hand. And i know perfectly what you mean about beating the ontario machetes. they never quit.
 
I own a tropical farm in Ipan Talofofo Guam. I grow all varieties of fruit and ornamental palms. It's in the middle of a jungle. My workers and I use machetes every day. Quite often it's hard use. Iron wood. Tangan tangan. Most of my Ontarios snapped with moderate use. Sorry but that's my experience. I've tried different machetes over the years and found the WW2 vintage Collins superior. The Guatemalan Collins is on par. I believe they were made in Guatemala under license. I found a batch of NOS that were made in the 1960s (I think). I have over sixty of them. Extremely tough. If I told you how quickly one can take down a coconut tree with a 15" base you wouldn't believe me. They rust overnight but still take a great edge. That's my machete story.
 
miguet said:
I own a tropical farm in Ipan Talofofo Guam. I grow all varieties of fruit and ornamental palms. It's in the middle of a jungle. My workers and I use machetes every day. Quite often it's hard use. Iron wood. Tangan tangan. Most of my Ontarios snapped with moderate use. Sorry but that's my experience. I've tried different machetes over the years and found the WW2 vintage Collins superior. The Guatemalan Collins is on par. I believe they were made in Guatemala under license. I found a batch of NOS that were made in the 1960s (I think). I have over sixty of them. Extremely tough. If I told you how quickly one can take down a coconut tree with a 15" base you wouldn't believe me. They rust overnight but still take a great edge. That's my machete story.
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Yup! Ontarios trend towards the overly hard side. Just one of the reasons why 1095 isn't as sound a choice as 1075 for a mass production machete.
 
I recently picked up an old Guatamalan made 14" Collins machete with S.American leather sheath. Haven't used it much yet and because I'm so used to my much thicker Ontario and Martindale bolo machetes I was quite suprised how light and thin the blade is at the spine on the Collins but you can tell its previous owner did not baby this machete judging by the rust and nicks on the blade and it still feels like there's plenty of life left in it.
 
Ontario Knife makes a quality 18" machete.......no brainer.....$25
 
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I love my Fiddleback Forge machete (16 inch and 18 inch) I like the 18 more but he makes 12 - 18 sizes for $100. one of the others I would recommend would be one othe the guys on here called Kalel It looked like He made some sweet machetes in the $200 dollar range or one of 42 blades machetes.
 
I like this Imacasa, I replaced the handle and reshaped the tip. works great

 
I have used a Kabar Parangatang to clear weeds and saplings in the back yard. It is 1095 and holds an edge pretty well. It will chi if you hit pavers, but the blade is tough, useful, and reasonably priced.
 
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