Cold Steel machetes (help)

[fishface5]

I like Melt's idea, or you could try this although 420HC = ugh. http://www.condortk.com/productsdetail.php?prodid=8

 

[Swamp Turtle]

You can't go wrong for the money with Cold Steel. I catch them on sale and give away for gifts what I don't use in the yard.

 

[ThomastaylorIII]

i have used the kukri.... it was good for the money.. but if you can find one the Becker patrole machete is my first choice of true machetes

 

[raindog101]

C'mon, guys! Has a machete thread gone on for this long without someone mentioning Tramontina? I can't believe it!

 

[Confederate]

Cold Steel makes excellent machetes. In my younger days, I was about the only teenager wth a machete and I used to cut creeping johnnys and other vines that couldn't be readily found in a hardware store. The best quality of a good machete is the grip. I've seen (and owned) machetes which had okay blades, but they had grips that would blister my hands in a half hour. You can usually spot these because they have duct tape wrapped around them to keep the edges of the grips from digging into the web and palm of the hand.

Cold Steel's machetes are comfortable, but the only thing I detest about them is the sticky labels they put on the blades. And despite their claims about the machetes coming with a "working edge," that's so much hooey. They need sharpening, and a carbide sharpener (which should never be used on a quality knife) is the fastest and most efficient way of sharpening them.

On a final note, machetes aren't made to pierce, but to slash. A good piercer won't be a good slasher and vice versa. The spear point doesn't pierce very well at all. Many workers in the brush have both a good machete and a knife. The worst problems out here in the East are poison ivy/oak and poisonous spiders, such as the Black Widow. They like hiding out in corn fields and places that grow high.

 

[Torm]

Cold Steel's machetes are comfortable, but the only thing I detest about them is the sticky labels they put on the blades.

Ugh, tell me about it. I didn't expect to have to hold my new machete over a steaming pot of water for 15 mins to get that sticker off.

 

[Confederate]

Here's a video if anyone's interested.
http://www.teraasekeskus.com/videot.asp?id=1039&video=1&offset=all

 

[ashtxsniper]

If you want a machete that can be used for thrusting I would recommend the Ontario machete with a handle guard. I’ve heard good things about them, and they are thicker than most.
http://www.gpknives.com/item/ontario-orange-field-machete-18-inch.html

My Ontario Machetes (US issue model) are about 2-3 times thicker than most other machetes. It chops like an axe and has some stabbing potential. The downside is the extra weight. If you swing at something and don't connect it wrenches your wrist due to the additional heft.