Machax vs. Villager (long w/pics)

B

Brian C

Joined
Jan 22, 1999
Messages
2,414
A few weeks back, James Mattis posted a scan of a BK&T Machax and a HI khukuri both here and in the Camillus forum. He felt that they were "Different traditions, same objective." James and others expressed interest in a comparison of the two tools. Since I won a Machax in a recent Camillus contest and have a khukuri or two
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as well, I offered to conduct some performance comparisons.

The khukuri I have that is closest in size to the Machax is a Village model. Here are some specs & pics:

Machax
OAL: 14 3/4" (measured in a straight line from tip to back of handle)
Weight: 23 ounces
Thickness: 1/4"

Villager
OAL: 15" (measured in a straight line from tip to back of handle)
Weight: 22 ounces
Thickness: 7/16"

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The Machax's balance point is about 1 1/2" from the front of the handle. The Villager balances at approximately 3 1/2" in front of the bolster. (The Machax has a full width tang while the Villager's is a stick tang, moving more of the overall weight forward.)

The Machax came shaving sharp right out of the box. The Villager, however, had what I call a slicing sharp edge -- while able to cut ribbons of paper, it would not shave. In order to keep the comparisons as fair as possible, I sharpened the Villager until it easily shaved hair too.

The Villager's scabbard is typical hide covered wood with karda & chakma. It is subject to the elements and does require maintenance as well as care while sheathing & unsheathing the blade. The Machax comes with an excellent ambidextrous Kydex sheath that I found much easier to use than the traditional wooden scabbard. (I'll try to add more pics after next weekend.)

Chopping
On to some work... I wanted to see how the two knives would perform a common camp chore, harvesting dead wood for the fire. As the following pictures show, I identified two dead standing trees of approximately the same 4-inch diameter.
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(That's my Microtech LCC in the pictures for size perspective.)

The trees were in the same thick stand and a variety of soft vegetation, brush, & dead branches had to be cleared in order to create a safe workspace. Both the Villager & Machax worked well in the confined space, clearing the undergrowth like it wasn't even there. Both trees were leaning, propped up by the branches of other live trees. This reduced the effectiveness of my chopping since there was appreciable movement of the trunks upon contact with the blades. I alternated between trees & tools every dozen strokes or so. After chopping approximately halfway through on each tree, I decided to make it easier on myself.
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I used my chain saw to cut down each tree, below the chopping points, and then dragged them back to camp to finish the chopping with the wood leaning against my chopping block. The performance of both knives improved considerably against the more solidly braced wood.

Although both tools made it through the hard, seasoned, wood neither excelled at it. I didn't count strokes but I have to give a slight lead to the Villager's chopping performance. Both bit into the wood without binding but I found that the Villager generally took a deeper bite. This is probably due to a combination of factors including the khukuri's more weight forward design and my familiarity with using a khukuri versus a Machax. What I mean by this latter point is that, after reviewing the pictures & the wear on the blade, it appears that at least some of my strikes with the Machax were made behind it's sweet spot.

(I had trouble posting this in one message so I'm breaking it up.)

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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.

[This message has been edited by bcaffrey (edited 09-25-2000).]

[This message has been edited by bcaffrey (edited 09-25-2000).]
 
To illustrate, here's a pic of me using the Machax:
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Now, here's the side-by-side picture of the two knives again with lines indicating the portions of the blades I was using.
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The area on the Machax takes in some, but not all, of that tool's sweet spot. More practice with the Machax would probably improve my performance with it.

Technique aside, IMO, neither of these tools is optimal for heavy chopping. In a backwoods situation, with no other tool at hand, either knife could be used for this type of task. However, in the interest of conserving energy, I would much rather have my 18" AK, 3' bow saw, or better still my Stihl.
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After finishing with the trunks, I moved on to smaller branches. Both knives effortlessly cut through 1" & 2" limbs, usually with a single stroke. Both would be excellent for limbing.

Splitting Wood
I had a pleasant surprise when I next tried splitting wood. I had rather expected both knives, particularly the Machax because of its thinner profile & lighter blade weight, to occasionally hang up when splitting wood for kindling. Neither did, although it would have been a simple matter to finish the splits by hitting the spines with a piece of wood if they had. Both split 15" - 18" straight grained hardwood with consistent ease. The only real difference I noted in performance was that the thicker Villager seemed to separate rather than cut through the fibers of the wood a bit more than the Machax. (I saw more cut fibers on the Machax split pieces and more loose fibers on those split with the Villager.) Since even my 18" AK will sometimes get stuck in a stubborn piece of wood, I know that I had simply gotten lucky. Nevertheless, I was still very pleased with how both split wood.

Slicing
After finishing with the wood & cleaning up both blades with soap & water, I decided to test their relative slicing ability. I had no suitable heavy rope at hand that I could sacrifice but I did have a heavy corrugated cardboard box. Using the full length of each blade, I made 10 slices into a corner of the box, trying to maintain the same pressure with each slice. The Machax outperformed the Villager by about a 30% margin (i.e., deeper cuts).

Edge & Finish Durability
According to Uncle, the Villager's hardness is approximately 58 to 59 RC. Since the Machax is also advertised as having 58-59 RC blade hardness, the playing field was fairly level here as well. Both knives started out shaving sharp and were still able to pop hairs, although not nearly as well, after I finished the cutting tests. Since the sweet spots of each knife had seen the most use, that was the portion I used to test shaving ability. The Machax was still able to clear a small patch of hair completely, although not as smoothly as before use. The Villager also shaved hair but skipped a few, passing over without cutting them. Both knives required using more pressure to shave than they did with virgin edges.

I checked each edge with both a fingernail and a magnifying glass and did not notice any chipping, rolling, or other structural damage. The edges of each may have impacted slightly, as seen by light travelling along the edges, but since it is so slight I can't say for sure.

The Villager started out with very noticeable grind marks running the length of the blade. The cutting exercises did add a few light character marks but they were much less apparent than they would have been on a mirror or sating finished blade. The Machax, however, clearly showed signs of having been used. The black epoxy finish is starting to wear off on both sides of the blade. In fact, it is already gone completely from the shoulder immediately behind the edge along the sweet spot. Since I use Tuf-Cloth anyway, I don't view the deterioration of the coating as a big deal. However, if appearance is important, folks should be aware that the coating does come off with hard use. (Again, I'll try to post more pics in about a week.)

Conclusion
Both knives are hard working tools that will probably outlast me. I found the handles on each to provide a secure & comfortable grip without any hot spots. Performance wise, either one would be an excellent choice for a fairly lightweight backwoods companion. The Machax will probably accompany me in the Spring when I take my chain saw in search of trees downed over the Winter.

Despite the close similarities in spec, purpose and performance, these are two very different tools. The Machax is the product of a modern cutlery factory's production line whereas the Villager is the result, as Tom Holt said so well in another thread, of "… craftsmanship, tradition, and perfect ergonomics honed by two and a half thousand years of organic development." My next comment may sound foolishly romantic to pure pragmatists who have never experienced anything similar, but the Villager has a soul. I felt its spirit when I first received it and again very strongly as I began to sharpen it. Several of my other handmade khukuris, but not all, have also made their spirit known to me. I can't offer a rational explanation for the phenomenon but it is very real & palpable.


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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.
 
They are very comparable in price as well, Bill. The Villager cost $60 & the Machax can be had for only a few dollars more than that from discount dealers.

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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.
 
In addition to soul, I think the price difference is a little greater - the Machax is $89.99 (+ shipping) at 1SKS, which is usually very competitive on price.




[This message has been edited by Berkley (edited 09-25-2000).]
 
You're right, Bill. The soul was the major difference.

Berkley, I stand corrected. The Machax is more expensive. I was thinking of the BK&T Campanion which I've seen for around $63.

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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.
 
Thanks, Berkley, I appreciate it.

Will, the Machax is 0170-6C high carbon steel. Rumor has it that it may actually be the same as Carbon V. The handle material is GV6H, a "60% glass filled thermoplastic polymer alloy." According to Will Fennell of Camillus, "Gv6h is a 'Glass filled nylon'...hard stuff, not 'rubbery'. It is of Swiss origin... think of it like Zytel, only ALOT stronger. Zytel is 10-14% glass filled, Gv6h is 60% glass filled."

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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.
 
:
Great review Brian!!!
The pix along with the well written article really made it come together.
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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"There's no trick in being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."

...............Will Rogers......

Khukuri FAQ
 
Brian,

Nice review. Yes. The hand made khukuris definitely favored by me over the factory production model choppers. :}

sing
AKTI #A000356

 
Thanks, Yvsa & Sing. I'm glad that you liked the review.

The hand made khukuris definitely favored by me over the factory production model choppers.
Click to expand...

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of handmade khukuris; however, I did not go into the comparisons with the intention of proving one superior to another. Quite the contrary, I was aware of my outlook & tried to be as objective as possible in evaluating each.



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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.
 
Nice work Brian, in regards to performance, if you line up the blades so the handles are parallel the Machax's blade is at a significantly steeper angle than the khukuri, based on this and combined with the increased curvature in the impact area I would expect the Machax to have a significantly reduced the mean cut depth per hit compared to the khukuri, but possibly an increase the maximum depth.

You wouldn't happen to have a Brute on hand would you? I would be very interested in seeing how it compares to the Machax and of course a khukuri thrown in as well.

-Cliff
 
Thanks, Cliff. No, sorry, I don't have a Brute.

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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.
 
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