Best machete in your opinion.

[stabman]

i'm a big esee fan and been using my junglas for awhile now (i have serial #19 so i was one of the early buyers) but i hate to say it in my experience the ontario 12" cutlass machete and the cold steel kukri out chops it and they both feel faster in the hand too/better balanced.

For me I found the Junglas outdid 12 inch machetes, but the 14 inch and up machetes beat it.
For all round woods tool, I like the Junglas. For machete work, I want a machete with the length to really shine as one.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

For machete work, I want a machete with the length to really shine as one.

Bingo! :thumbup:

 

[KiljoyKutlery]

Yeah, I'm just expressing a fantasy. I recently got the Bark River machete and a Fiddleback 14". I wish I could have the best of both, Andy's handle with the 1095 Bark River convex edge.
I even think that Andy could make a better handle out of the Ontario than Bark River. BR's mod is very good, but I like a bit thicker handle. Again, I'm just expressing a fantasy. I mean, how expensive can we make a machete?

Before he sold his machete..he did just that (Fiddleback). I remember that he sold a few pretty damned fast here on the forums a few years ago. I always thought that those few machete's (modified Ontarios) are what caused him to start his own line of machete's. He saw a demand, and decided to oblige us consumers. I could be wrong..but I think that I am correct. Also, he is a knife user, and knows what an outdoorsman needs.

For me...
BEST MACHETE?
Well, I have a love for the Tram Bolo, after I tweak it a bit, its a F-ing bad ass tool. I have to many to list, but I love the Trams, they are so cheap and tough, whats not to love???. I love me some Condors, and some others that have no name...I have a really cool old vintage (80's) made in Japan that is a fantastic bush tool. I have some made in Indo China, hand forged...they are all cool.
Machete's cost a small % of what most of my knives cost...why not grab a few and decide for yourself. BUT, buy a TRAM, they are THE BEST bang for the BUCK.

 

[foxx]

Now that you mention it, I do seem to remember seeing pics somewhere of a Fiddleback/Ontario machete. I'll have to look for that again, or hope that someone else has one. I'd like to see how he did the handles on those.
I imagine cost was the reason Andy chose the Imacasa's over the Ontario blanks for his current models. Just look at the cost of the Bark River's modified Ontario!
Thanks for the reminder!

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I don't remember seeing a Fiddleback/Ontario, but I have a Fiddleback/Collins #223.

 

[sooner7nc]

I'm cheap as hell so my favorite is my Cold Steel Heavy machete. A little bit of file work on the spine, a bottle opener right in front of the handle, a bit of grinding on the front edge so it's not so square, etc.
Also have a $7 dollar 14" Tramontina that works real well.
A big Tex-Sport made in Colombia that I found in the middle of the road at night while riding my scooter. (Just try riding a 750 Ninja while swinging a machete over your head)

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Personally I like the front edge on cane knives. That 90 degree angle can be used like it's the point.

 

[foxx]

I don't remember seeing a Fiddleback/Ontario, but I have a Fiddleback/Collins #223.

Looks like Andy did plenty of machetes early on...http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ch-O-Machete-s-Done?highlight=ontario+machete

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Ohhhhhh yeah...NOW I remember those! My Collins was from the very first batch of machetes he slapped scales on. The scales are a little on the thin side because he hadn't sourced any really thick micarta at that point.

 

[mr.trooper]

I've got several brands, and they are all more or less equivalent. None of the mass produced traditional types stand head or shoulder above any other.

The machete that has my eye lately though, is the Mora #333 light machete.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

It's a nice piece of work! I was originally going to sell the one I used in my batoning test video as a "Grade B" just since I had used it, but I think I'm gonna' keep it. Gonna' get some pants made for it and strap it to my EDC pack since it's so slim and light--that way I'll always have a chopper, but I won't even know it's there until I need it! It won't compete with a full-sized machete but it handles like a regular Mora (it feels like a small knife in the hand) so it handles knife usage very nicely. Lots of knives and machetes claim to be a half-way hybrid between a knife and a chopper, but the #333 is the first that I've seen that I really believed to be one. It handles like a small knife, but chops like a small machete.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Call me crazy, but I still think that if I could only have one chopper (or sharp wilderness tool in general) then this would be it.

I'm still waiting on hearing an official yes or no from Condor on it for 2013, but given how far in advance that work has to be done I figure I'm at least closer to getting an answer. Even if the answer is no, though, I'm not giving up! This thing works too well not to see it through to the finish.

 

[PayetteRucker]

it's an ugly SOB but it's Condor's MO.... before Joe came along, the thing they had going for themselves were their crazy survival multi-tool designs.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Yeah the whole Multi-Knife and the "Wilderness Tool" are ugly and weird but I guess they work for some folks. They were designed by Arlan D. Lothe, who was best known for his "Miracle Blade" seen-on-TV stuff. Glad the man had success but...ummm...yeah. The Bush Knife at least is based off of traditional English billhooks, and is a very useful piece of work, so I give him credit for that one--it's a favorite of mine and served as a partial inspiration (among many others) for my Baryonyx design.