I guided expeditions in the northern Amazon on and off over a 12 year period. I kept a Swiss army knife in my kit and wore one of my own knives on my belt. In the rain forest machetes are carried. Scabbards are used in the llanos where they ride horses. In the rainforest you would be sheathing and unsheathing every yard along the trail, so they just carry them in the hand. Point being, if your dugout tips (a very real possibility for a gringo), your $2.50 machete goes to the bottom. But, you still have the knife attached to your belt. I always told my clients that with a few exceptions (cameras, etc.) don't bring anything that they could not afford to lose. Customs officers can take anything they want. Most are fine, but it happens. Originally I stock-removed a camp knife from ATS-34 to carry, but it did not perform well. So I made a damascus bowie with African Blackwood. Worked great, but there was always that little customs thing. They would ogle that knife and each time they tried to confiscate it, I would point to my "Vandeventer" logo and tell them that it was my father. He had made the knife for me and now he was dead. Worked every time. When people would ask me about what I would do if they took it, I just replied, "I'll make another!"
Have a good trip! And make it a better one than T.R. had.
Terry Vandeventer
ABS MS