- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
- Messages
- 9,786
Despite volcanic ash clouds, my light machete has finally arrived.
So, as Jeff indicated - the sheath sucks. But that is fair given that Jeff stated that outright even before I ordered it. The machete is great. Handles are fat, to my hands a bit wider than I'd like, but still quite comfy in use. The handles are clearly going to outlast the blade.
Blade has more flex than I thought it would, but it really took using the machete to see the advantages it has. I have to admit, I have not really used machetes much before. For a little test, I attacked a living mulberry tree in my yard. Mulberry's are the rodents of the tree world. You go to sleep and the next day the sapling you noticed the night before is now 8 feet high!
The blade bites deep and with confidence. It flexes quite a bit when you are digging it out of the stump, but the temper on it seems really good. Despite a lot of flexing the blade always returns to true. Gotta love that carbon steel! I can see the merits of the 0.066" diameter. True to its name sake, this is indeed light, light in weight, and that is going to make the difference in carry motivation!
The micarta handles is quite nice and has a good grip. As I indicated above, I would have preferred a slightly thinner handle to this one (How ften does ESEE hear that???). However, it isn't too thick and I think it is just a matter of getting used to it more.
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The machete easily cleaved through this 1.5" thick mulberry branch in single chops. For the 2" trunk pieces, 2 chops would take you through it. Mind you this is green wood and a relatively soft tree at that, but I immediately saw the value to the machete over an axe, saw or chopper.
In about five minutes, I reduced an 8 foot tree to a little pile of cut up pieces. I would not have been able to do this nearly as fast with an axe nor a saw.
As part of my order, I took the opportunity to buy one of those fancy shmancy Sharpshooter sheaths for my forum knife.
Admittedly, $55 seemed like a lot to pay for sheath, but this is a top notch product. Weatherproofed leather, firesteel loop, drain hole, molle compatible holes at the belt loop and bottom of sheath and an extra wide belt loop to accommodate 2" belts. The fit with the retention strap is super secure and the snap has just the right tension and grip.
Seeing as I gotta firesteel and loop with the sheath now, the forum knife went through a bit of a modification. I removed a small amount of coating along the spine and at the edge. I know this will accelerate coating wear a bit faster, but the spine sparks that firesteel like the dicken's now.
Anyhow, I'm super happy with the KSF RC-3 sheath and also quite happy with the ESEE light machete. I have to use the machete some more to get a real feel for its capabilities, but my 10 minute backyard adventure already left me impressed!
So, as Jeff indicated - the sheath sucks. But that is fair given that Jeff stated that outright even before I ordered it. The machete is great. Handles are fat, to my hands a bit wider than I'd like, but still quite comfy in use. The handles are clearly going to outlast the blade.
Blade has more flex than I thought it would, but it really took using the machete to see the advantages it has. I have to admit, I have not really used machetes much before. For a little test, I attacked a living mulberry tree in my yard. Mulberry's are the rodents of the tree world. You go to sleep and the next day the sapling you noticed the night before is now 8 feet high!
The blade bites deep and with confidence. It flexes quite a bit when you are digging it out of the stump, but the temper on it seems really good. Despite a lot of flexing the blade always returns to true. Gotta love that carbon steel! I can see the merits of the 0.066" diameter. True to its name sake, this is indeed light, light in weight, and that is going to make the difference in carry motivation!
The micarta handles is quite nice and has a good grip. As I indicated above, I would have preferred a slightly thinner handle to this one (How ften does ESEE hear that???). However, it isn't too thick and I think it is just a matter of getting used to it more.
The machete easily cleaved through this 1.5" thick mulberry branch in single chops. For the 2" trunk pieces, 2 chops would take you through it. Mind you this is green wood and a relatively soft tree at that, but I immediately saw the value to the machete over an axe, saw or chopper.
In about five minutes, I reduced an 8 foot tree to a little pile of cut up pieces. I would not have been able to do this nearly as fast with an axe nor a saw.
As part of my order, I took the opportunity to buy one of those fancy shmancy Sharpshooter sheaths for my forum knife.
Admittedly, $55 seemed like a lot to pay for sheath, but this is a top notch product. Weatherproofed leather, firesteel loop, drain hole, molle compatible holes at the belt loop and bottom of sheath and an extra wide belt loop to accommodate 2" belts. The fit with the retention strap is super secure and the snap has just the right tension and grip.
Seeing as I gotta firesteel and loop with the sheath now, the forum knife went through a bit of a modification. I removed a small amount of coating along the spine and at the edge. I know this will accelerate coating wear a bit faster, but the spine sparks that firesteel like the dicken's now.
Anyhow, I'm super happy with the KSF RC-3 sheath and also quite happy with the ESEE light machete. I have to use the machete some more to get a real feel for its capabilities, but my 10 minute backyard adventure already left me impressed!
