Good Beater Machete?

A

a Trexler Ranger

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Nov 17, 2016
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Hi all. I am currently in the market for a decent machete hopefully under $20. I'm not against a kukri, as I have been eyeing the Cold Steel Kukri Machete, and Kukri Plus. I just need something that as a 15 year old I can play with in the woods that can take some abuse. I'm not to worried about sharpening, I'd probably bring a Smiths pocket pal with me in the woods and push the PP along the blade to sharpen. So, who can give me some thoughts? (Jeez thats really awkward wording)
 
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I have the Cold Steel Kukri machete.

"Beater" is an apt description. It'll take some punishment. I have a 14 year old and a 17 year old, and they can't break it.

Doesn't take up much space, and is comfortable enough. I wouldn't want to swing it all day, but it's good with gloves on.
 
I just ordered 2 marbles machetes ( made in El Salvador by imicasa ) which I hear are a really good value for 14$ .they come with an edge unlike the tramontina machetes, and ( from smkw ) come with a nice nylon sheath and sharpening stone. The sheath with stone which I here are an extra 10$ most places that sell the machetes alone for that 14$.
I've also heard that the sheath alone is pretty much worth as much if not more than the machetes cost.
I chose the 20"oal scouting and 24" oal workhorse machetes, but they have a few different models.
 
Cold Steel Kukri machete my go-to for some 10 years now. It just plain works.
 
Tramontina, Imacasa/Marbles, Cold Steel, Hansa, Okapi, etc. are all economical brands with solid performance. Marbles and Cold Steel have some fantasy/fun designs that aren't serious work tools, but are mostly solidly built functional machetes.
 
Screwdriver said:
I bought my last one from Harbor Freight. Worked great....
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yeah i got one and many trams, imacasas, condors, and about every other brand out there. the harbor frieght is very cheap 6 bucks i think i paid, but for a few bucks more the tram is far better heat treat. its amazing they can make such a good machete for that kind if money. i now use my Harbor for chopping roots in the dirt. cause it never held a great edge very long and its softer and easier to sharpen quickly compared to the trams and imacasas.
 
Like most of the others, I'd go with a Tramontina machete from Baryonyx. I'd consider one of his sharpening stones as well.
 
I like my Ontario quite a bit. Good Ht. You can get them in 12", 18", and 22" blades. I've had some 18" ones for a long time, and just got a 12" which is really nice and light!! Very good machetes!!
 
I'd keep the machete under 18" in length with about 16" being real flexible in terms of use and easy to control.

I REALLY dislike Ontario machetes. I use Condors, but they are above your price range.
 
a Trexler Ranger said:
Hi all. I am currently in the market for a decent machete hopefully under $20. I'm not against a kukri, as I have been eyeing the Cold Steel Kukri Machete, and Kukri Plus. I just need something that as a 15 year old I can play with in the woods that can take some abuse. I'm not to worried about sharpening, I'd probably bring a Smiths pocket pal with me in the woods and push the PP along the blade to sharpen. So, who can give me some thoughts? (Jeez thats really awkward wording)
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I have an 18" Tram that I can send you if you'd like. I bought it and a shorter bolo style and much prefer the bolo. It has a semi-convex edge because I ran out of sand paper but its still better than the factory edge was. I used it one time and the edge has some patina. I'll let you have it for the one time price of $Free.99. As you stated you are a minor, it would be nice if you okayed it with your parents first. Tell me what you think.
 
ATJ999 said:
I like my Ontario quite a bit. Good Ht. You can get them in 12", 18", and 22" blades. I've had some 18" ones for a long time, and just got a 12" which is really nice and light!! Very good machetes!!
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I bought an 18 in.Ontario US from the army navy store in the mid 60's and it has been going strong ever since (other than loosing a handle fastener, which I repaired). I will have to hand it down to someone, for it surely will out live me.
 
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FortyTwoBlades said:
Tramontina, Imacasa/Marbles, Cold Steel, Hansa, Okapi, etc. are all economical brands with solid performance. Marbles and Cold Steel have some fantasy/fun designs that aren't serious work tools, but are mostly solidly built functional machetes.
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Yep, that covers all the brands I was gonna suggest. Even some of the Cold Steel "fun" designs(like the Kopis machete) are actually pretty effective tools. I made use of my kopis machete out in the yard(it happened to be on top of my machete box at the time) and it worked quite well.
 
I was in a Walmart store about 16-years ago and they had $3.98 machetes on sale for $1.98. I bought two. One lives in my truck the other in my wood shed or on my tractor. Both have been great and both get used regularly. They sharpen easily. I thought they'd bend, crack,or just plain break but no, they're doing just fine.-
 
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