Does anybody use a woodman's pal machete?

I've seen them in a few stores - like Gander Mtn - and was not impressed with the look of it so didn't bother picking it up.
 
My mate has one and i think it performs really well. Not as good as my ww2 bolo machete but still pretty good. The "gator grip" on it is great, doesnt give you blisters or slip either. i live in aus and we have more gum trees out here than you can shake a stick at. Anyway me and my mate spent a whole day chopping with the thing and it worked suprisingly well. I chopped about 7 trees from 6 - 10 inches thick down just fine. The sheath could be alot better though.
 
I'v had one for a few years it is a great tool and comes in handy quite often. the main blade is very easy to sharpen, but the brush hook on the top is an absolute bitch to put a nice edge on (I don't have the patients to do it). It definitely doesn't cut like a regular machete. the blade is heavy and weighted more towards the tip. it makes quick work of thicker saplings, but has trouble with the thinner springier ones that a thin machete can slice right through. I think it handles more like a hatchet than a machete.
 
^ Agreed. My brother has one and likes it, but the caveat is that he only uses it on young pine and "trash" saplings. Down here palmetto and vines are everywhere and it is virtually worthless in those instances.
 
It strikes me as a good hatchet replacement, but I'd change several things about the design if given my druthers.
 
Raisedby wolves said:
I think a lot of the negative replies are due to location.



It is NOT a replacement to a hatchet/axe in the hardwoods

It is NOT a replacement for a machete in the jungle

It is GREAT as a truck tool, for car camping and for use in the pines.

So take a hunters axe in the Pacific NorthWest, a machete in Florida and South America, and the Woodmans Pal along Appalachia and the NorthEast and you will be happy.[/QUOTE

Spot on. I use a Busse Basic 11 and my buddy has the WP with leather handle. Where we live it is just fine ( along great lakes ) if you like it buy it. Nothing else just throw it in your truck and if you evere need it it's there.
Click to expand...
 
This appears to be a hell of an old thread, but here is my opinion anyways,

The design principle for me looks like something really versatile, like something you will carry in a true survival situation, if you are looking for a brush clearing go for the jungle machete, if you are lookin for a chopper go for the hatchet, but in a "middle of the jungle" with-only-one-tool sort of situation, well, I gues the woodsman does its job very well, the construction might not be out of this world, but I believe in a situation where you need a bunch of tools, one that can get you out of the problem, is appropriate.

That being said...an expendable option should be less than 80 buck, which happens to be the price of the woodsman pal, so the Gerber gator pro, sounds like a good choice, actually technologically better.

I am actually planning to get a custom one built, but, that depends on the budget really.
 
Short and compact but has its uses. Used that hook to untangle and repair a fence on a crick bottom last summer. Red Willows had really snarled up the strands of the barbed wire and that hook was used to "pull out " the branches.
 
I recently purchased the Gerber Machete Pro in a package deal with a Gerber DMF manual tanto folder from Walmart.
It was part of Gerber's zombie line. $30 for both, with free shipping.

For $15, I think I'll give the Gerber Machete Pro a whirl this summer while camping.
 
cscholtes said:
I recently purchased the Gerber Machete Pro in a package deal with a Gerber DMF manual tanto folder from Walmart.
It was part of Gerber's zombie line. $30 for both, with free shipping.

For $15, I think I'll give the Gerber Machete Pro a whirl this summer while camping.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear that.
 
The gerber gator pro is an exceptionally good product. I have had one for over a year, and I beat the crap out of it. However, I have a woodmans pal coming in the mail, and I'll compare the two.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top