Cheap machetes

R

RH

Joined
Jan 31, 1999
Messages
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Among the cheaper machetes, what's the best value for brush clearing in the yard, or kindling splintering:

Cold Steel
Tramontina
Ontario (cheap?)

Please, I know Bill Siegle makes some great stuff, but I'm looking for <$15 here, for occasional use.
 
I own a 10' (that's inch if I got the number of thingys wrong again)
Tramontinita I bought from Laci Szabo who sharpens them up to hair popping level and has them custom fitted to a kydex sheath with your choice of Tek-lock or a belt loop for $35. I beat the hell out of that sucker and it's still sharp and still cuts like mad.

that's my vote.


www.szaboinc.com under the new stuff header.
 
I would probably pick one of the Ontarios with the newer D-guard handles for all round machete use. The heavy duty Barteaux D-guard machetes would make a good choice if you want something a little more durable for wood chopping and such, although these are needlessly heavy for light brush clearing.


In the $10 and under category, I would go with the one of the Barteaux Economy machetes over the Cold Steel Panga. I have not used the Tram machetes, so I can’t comment on those.


I did some reviews of a couple of Barteaux machetes and a Cold Steel Panga a while back; you can find them by searching in the Reviews and Testing section, if you are interested.





- Frank
 
My 14 inch Tramontina was under $2 U.S. (bought on sale in Mexico), no sheath, cheap plastic handle, works OK, I did hand pick one from a bunch, but they were all similar, should have gotten a dozen to give to my nephews and daughter for their scouting groups.

My old 14 inch Collins from Guatemala is quite good, came with a nice crafted sheath and I don´t remember paying much for it, it´s over 20 years old, I wonder if they still make those.

I have used Mexican machetes and none has been comparable to those two.

I don´t have any experience with U.S. machetes, I would guess they are much better and cost much more.
 
I like my CS Bolo machete. It's a bit more expensive than many other machetes, but I found the steel to be pretty rust-resistant (given the fact that's it's carbon steel) and a good overall performer.
The handle is comfortable and won't give you any hot spots even after extended usage.

They don't come very sharp, though.
 
Martindale easily, Ontario and Tramontina can give decent performance but you can see a lot of variation from one blade to the next whereas Martindales are very consistent. Barteaux also makes a solid product but has a much more limited product line, one a few models compared to dozens with Martindale. Check out :

http://www.cutsforthknives.com/

-Cliff
 
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