Junglas, RTAK, etc. vs. Cheap Machete

One of these things are not like the other:
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That kind of damage looks like the blades weren't tempered so much as annealed. I can see SOG's low end stainless doing that. And the mystery steel golok is likely that: a mystery.

Get a Tramontina or Imacasa/Condor. Even a Cold Steel. Those are good and durable plain carbon steel. My Trams survive all day pounding and batoning, will bend thirty degrees on a knot, and just spring back to shape.
 
a machete will work for most better than an expensive large heavy chopper knife. most of the rural world carries a machete as their only tool and they accomplish far more in a day than anyone carrying a large heavy chopper does on a bunch of weekend excursions. point being, they get abused and used heavily and if they didn't work well or failed easily, they'd replace them with some other chopping tool, and yet they don't. it's not just price point either, that makes the machete one of the best wilderness tools........

a machete is part large knife and part axe. kind of the best of both worlds. i myself can do more with a machete than a large chopper. i own lots of both. i enjoy my large chopper knifes for backyard fun and such, but when i go deep into the swamps, those don't come with me....a machete does. as usual ymmv......
 
I have never broke either of my Ontario machetes. 18" & 12". I have had the 18" for 20 yrs. The 12" since April. I liked it so much, i modified it & now like it even more. It is now worthy of a custom sheath, which will cost 4x more than the 12" machete did to begin with. Mine take & hold a razors edge. I have even chopped wire with mine (not on purpose) & had minimal dings, that sharpened out within 30 min or so. They are thin, so i would'nt pry with them, unless life depended on it. They cut deep & chop well.

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1966c10 said:
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* Batoning. Are you guys playing with me or something? I read multiple posts in here about people batoning with their machete. What kind of wood are you guys talking about here? Every strike was more painful to my hand than the last. The hits just vibrate right up into your hand. It was like I was hitting myself in the hand with the baton. I couldn't make it through 1 piece of would. Neither could the machete. A few inches in, half the blade decided to take a left turn. It's fine now and pretty much back to straight, but how am I supposed to baton with something like that? I had to pound it out (which wasn't easy). I dropped my B11 in the same slot and split it in 2 hits. No hand discomfort. This wasn't some gnarly twisted piece either. It's about as straight as it gets around here. ...
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I've batoned with a custom machete from Koyote, as well as my machetes from Condor. Usually it is Oak that I am batoning through, and I haven't had a major issue with either of them yet. They are both around 1/8 of an inch, the Condors may be a little less, but they are close. They have no issue with batoning at all. They don't baton as good as a thicker blade, but they get through the wood all the same. They have a little more vibration to the hand, but not much.
 
Yeah Tramontinas dont baton so great, but they'll handle small stuff for kindling just fine. However, use it to make some wooden wedges, baton it to start the cut and....
 
I had a few machetes price range from $5 - $30 most expensive, and none of them broke or failed. They have been through most heavy tough tasks.
I have seen a few Junglas and RTAK knives broke, halved in two, and chipped beyond repair during normal usage on internet somewhere.
 
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