Well, here it is. I got my 12" Ontario last night. No pics yet, bet everybody knows what they look like. I cut the "D" gaurd off, and put an edge on the blade. Mine came with a rather thick secondary bevel. I removed some metal for a slight convex edge, and took the shoulder down some. The blade is .125 thick 1095.
First the good part. This thing swings and bites exactly like a hatchet. It is also short like a hatchet, but packs flat w/ more even weight distribution. The handle is comfortable, though nothing special. It did not take long to cut through a downed, green, frozen, 3" spruce. Doing so was very like doing the same job w/ a hatchet, though it did not clear chips well.
The Camper weighed just shy of a pound, according to my cheap scale. I felt that it cut similiar to, or slightly better, if comparing effort, to the 17 oz. Gerber backpaxe hatchet.
Now the bad part. The short blade does not have the quick swing needed for lighter, thinner woods. Penetration seemed to stay at about 3/4" or less on things that were not to limber, and none on anything that could move out of the way. This thing does not handle like a machete, but a hatchet, as I mentioned. The thick, short blade transmitted a huge amount of shock to the hand when splitting wood. More so than I cared for.
This blade weighs about 1oz. more than the Corona machete I cut down. I find it much less useful. I think that the main point of this blade is the portability, and the fact that it can be used like a hatchet while retaining some of the benefits of a blade.
This weighs about 4 oz. more than my Vaughan mini hatchet, but is much more useful and powerful. I believe there is a place for this machete, but believe it has the purpose of replacing a light hatchet rather than being a portable machete.
First the good part. This thing swings and bites exactly like a hatchet. It is also short like a hatchet, but packs flat w/ more even weight distribution. The handle is comfortable, though nothing special. It did not take long to cut through a downed, green, frozen, 3" spruce. Doing so was very like doing the same job w/ a hatchet, though it did not clear chips well.
The Camper weighed just shy of a pound, according to my cheap scale. I felt that it cut similiar to, or slightly better, if comparing effort, to the 17 oz. Gerber backpaxe hatchet.
Now the bad part. The short blade does not have the quick swing needed for lighter, thinner woods. Penetration seemed to stay at about 3/4" or less on things that were not to limber, and none on anything that could move out of the way. This thing does not handle like a machete, but a hatchet, as I mentioned. The thick, short blade transmitted a huge amount of shock to the hand when splitting wood. More so than I cared for.
This blade weighs about 1oz. more than the Corona machete I cut down. I find it much less useful. I think that the main point of this blade is the portability, and the fact that it can be used like a hatchet while retaining some of the benefits of a blade.
This weighs about 4 oz. more than my Vaughan mini hatchet, but is much more useful and powerful. I believe there is a place for this machete, but believe it has the purpose of replacing a light hatchet rather than being a portable machete.
