I'm wondering about Cold Steel machetes

CS machetes are great and well worth the money ($9 on closeout). So is a $50 Condor with a great leather sheath.
 
I have the bolo. Nothing wrong with it. Seems pretty tough. Not the hardest steel but in my opinion that's a good thing. holds an edge fine.
 
I have the CS Kukri (small one) and I love it. You get what you pay for but you can always make it better on your own and thats what I did. I convexed the edge, sanded off the coating, added a nice patina, wrapped the handle and it really is a beast in the woods for a 12 dollar machete. It has seen countless batoning sessions and even been batoned thru a big fatwood log with the back of a cheap hatched and the handle held up fine. I treat mine like a true beater and I coudnt be happier with my purchase.
 
I've got the panga and two bolos, one for camping and one I left dull for FMA drills. I had to take a shoe rasp and some steel wool to the handles on all of them, but they're comfortable enough now to get in a workout without getting hotspots. Take a wicked edge if you're so inclined, or just hit 'em with a file and a kitchen steel. The handle shape they came with is fine if you have larger hands or (as previously mentioned) if you're wearing gloves. Can't speak for any of the other Mfgs out there, but I like mine.
HH
 
They are less springy then my tramontinas' I guess good if you like some of the more stabbing type designs.

for the money, I find the tramontinas work great at work. The CS seem to be thicker stock and hence a little more weightly for chopping when going into shorter designs thatn the trams.

Also, had bad experience with a close out 12 inch barong handle loosening up very quickly. Cut it off along the tang with a butter knife!

18174_1321391396980_1296673043_919282_4770743_n.jpg


I picked up some CS barongs and a bowie on close out. inexpensive and sharp and combative.
 
It's really not hard to make a good cheap machete. Tramontina, Imacas, and others make very good ones for next to nothing. Better than CS, in my opinion. Condor (Imacasa) makes the best, but they are better than you really need. They only make them because there's a market for them (including me!). Cheap machetes work just fine.

Buy anything by Condor and you'll be set for life.
 
I've had a CS Machete in the Bowie style for about a year and a half and as some have pointed out they come dull. I don't have any fancy sharpening devices, belts or grinders so I pulled out the handy little dremmel and did put a pretty decent edge on it. I've put it through some major projects around the house to include some wilderness survival chores when out with Boy Scouts setting up shelters and such, no problems at all. I don't believe I spent more than $22 total for it total. I haven't received blisters as well, another plus.
 
For reference, the CS machetes in the bowie, spear point, barong, sax, and kopis styles were all made for CS by a Chinese manufacturer, not Lasher Tools of South Africa like the rest of the the CS machete line. The Chinese-made models were discontinued only because the factory that was producing them burned to the ground and all of the tooling was lost. Rather than go through all of the effort of making them again, CS decided to just drop them and keep working with Lasher. A shame, too, as I liked the build quality of the Chinese-made pieces and they came with a better degree of fit and finish from the factory. :(
 
I've got an 18" CS Bowie machete that I've used for over a year and I've never had a problem with it. I used it to chop up countless 2x4's and 4x4's when tearing down a shed and it did great. I think the ESEE Lite Machete is well worth the money though.
 
If you don't want to pay for shipping you might want to check out a Corona machete. They are available at a lot of hardware stores in the gardening section, and they are a good quality for the price.

Once you start looking online the other brands already mentioned (+1 for Condor) are solid choices.
 
I have a CS Bolo (lasher) and a CS Spearpoint (chinese manufacturer) They are both nice useful tools.

You will need a file to put an edge on tho.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top