goldie
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2000
- Messages
- 3,749
I bought this knife a few months ago for 12.00.its made in south africa,has a decent edge. i honed the edge a bit sharper. the sheath is nylon, a bit flimsy,but does the job.the handle is kraton & has a good grip.yesterday i pruned a 45 foot tree using a chainsaw,sawsall & this kukri. after cutting the major branches down with the sawsall & chainsaw, i hacked away at the smaller braches on & off for about three hours to get it into sizes to stuff into bags.it blew through up to 1 1/2" inch thick branches with little effort. it continued to hold an edge through the whole process.even a hit or two on the solid street pavement & throwing it into the grass & making it stick didnt effect it much.the best thing i noticed is after three hours of use,with no gloves, i had no blisters or sores on my hand.the handle is very comfortable to use,gives a nice grip & does not slip.it really did a great job.as far as smaller branches,under 1/2 inch, it went through them like they werent there.2" branches & slightly larger was not a problem either,just took a little more chopping.it cut better than any strait machete ive ever used. & ive used machetes for this kind of work for many years.This was mostly live branches,not dead ones, which sometimes seem tougher to cut.for anyone who needs a cheap cutter, i would highly recommend this one. its about 15 or 20 bucks the most, i got lucky & got it for less. the black finish shows a lot of marks, but its still black & the metal does not show through.blade length is about 13", handle is 5" long.ive used ontario machetes with the 18" blade & chunky plastic handle,my hands always got torn up & it would only cut good in the beginning.the foward bend of the blade on this really gives better cutting power than a strait blade.i have one or two machetes laying around somewear,& i dont think they will ever be used again.anyone got a tree to prune?