Machete Advice

[iacchus]

I usually would reccomend an Imacasa/tramontina at whatever length you prefer. The condor golok or parang are great, but I dont like them for vines and grasses, too heavy. They do really well on thicker stuff though.

These days I do everything w/ a 28" Martindale Croc and an ESEE Junglas. The Croc is a long fella, but makes short work of vines and brambles. I prefer the Junglas to a hatchet for the thicker stuff. It carries easier and you get more cutting edge while giving up very little.

The Junglas puts you over the budget though. Condor makes an 11" pack Golok that might serve a similar purpose.
Otherwise, a 24" standard machete, like a Tramontina 16024 would probably be my suggestion for a solo, do-it-all tool. It's cheap enough and the handle is easily wrapped to make it a bit more comfortable.

 

[19-3ben]

One thing to add to my post above... I've been surprised at how well a thin machete can chop through wood. The thicker (up to a point) chopping blades certainly have an advantage that can't be denied, but we talk of thin blades like they just bounce off wood, and that really doesnt do then justice, nor is it academically honest. I've found that in green wood, a Tramonita 18" Latin machete can really bite pretty deep, as can the 14" Bolo. The light machetes do suffer when it comes to hardened dry wood. For that, I much prefer my Skrama 240.

 

[fishface5]

Just for fun here are some Himalayan Imports kukris - most are heavy but the 3 on the right are good all-rounders

 

[Blues]

After reading the latest comments I couldn't resist taking my 12" Ontario machete to some bushes and shrubs which needed to be cut back.

(My poor Martindale Golok is mad that I touched the Ontario up afterward with the Martindale file. LOL.)

 

[The Grendels]

I've primarily used a big sheepsfoot machete for decades that I got at a hardware store and built up the handle with hockey tape over tension bandaging for a better grip. I got a Condor Mini Duku Parang Machete just for something different to use around the yard, to see how a shorter model worked, but in retrospect I should have gone in the other direction with the Condor Makara or Parang. A lot of people seem to like the Condor Golok.

 

[Henry Beige]

To the OP. Go watch a Joe Flowers video on how to use a machete. He is not necessarily the last word on machete use, but he can give you a lot of useful info. His pinch grip snap cut technique works well in a lot of cases.

Bear in mind that different blades may call for different cutting techniques. For example, a Condor Golok works well on green limbs with a draw-cutting motion. I haven’t found that the same motion works for me with different blades, or on different vegetation. You might find otherwise.

 

[Just Tom.]

possibly bushcraft and camping etc.

A 12” machete is fine for camping. Whatever one looks good to you is fine.

chopping trees 1-3 in roughly and or brush

For real work, short of something mechanical like a Bush Hog, you need a bank blade:

Obviously you are not going to take it hiking, but for clearing brush on your own property it would be a much better tool. It also keeps your hands and face a lot further from the painful stickers.

 

[kobold]

I can't exist without my Condor Bushcraft parang and Mini Duku. I use them daily. I keep them shaving sharp with XC, C, F DMT plates, then strop. I lost my first Bushcraft parang, had to buy a new one, so just in case bought an extra Mini Duku as well. The parang for around the house and the Mini Duku to carry all day.
I have a Condor Golok, but I think I would use it more re-profiled to a convex blade also.

 

[Grizzly3]

I can't exist without my Condor Bushcraft parang and Mini Duku. I use them daily. I keep them shaving sharp with XC, C, F DMT plates, then strop. I lost my first Bushcraft parang, had to buy a new one, so just in case bought an extra Mini Dukus as well. The parang for around the house and the Mini Duku to carry all day.
I have a Condor Golok, but I think I would use it more re-profiled to a convex blade also.

That is what I was thinking too. Watching the above Golok video by Advanced Knife Bro, that Golok didn't seem to be doing all that great at chopping and trimming branches and that edge just begged to be reprofiled. A well profiled Khukuri would have effortlessly cut them with one swat instead of some of the struggling I saw to cut them.

 

[Grizzly3]

[url=https://postimg.cc/JsgzTfrK]
https://postimg.cc/y3BqQP3L
Here is the distal taper that makes this Kailash Blades 11.5" HSI khukuri so versatile that it can easily cut brush as well as branches and limbs.
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[Henry Beige]

A 12” machete is fine for camping. Whatever one looks good to you is fine.

For real work, short of something mechanical like a Bush Hog, you need a bank blade:

Obviously you are not going to take it hiking, but for clearing brush on your own property it would be a much better tool. It also keeps your hands and face a lot further from the painful stickers.

The bank blade brings to mind my billhooks. This is getting away from the OP’s request, but these are pretty handy for cutting along a wall or a fence. The small one from Due Cigne is described as a gardening tool. The Rinaldi in the center came very sharp, and is quite handy. The Imacasa on the right needs some work on the edge.

I have never seen a bank blade in use, and am not sure just how it would be used.

 

[Just Tom.]

I have never seen a bank blade in use, and am not sure just how it would be used.

It’s been years, but for my purposes (clearing lines of sight along nasty overgrown property boundaries etc), you would just sort of whack at the vegetation with it . You can swing it like an axe, over your head, cut branches, vines, cut off saplings (up to several inches in diameter) and sticker bushes at ground level, drag aside what you just cut without getting your hands in it, etc. A machete is ok for light trimming but when you get in the really thick stuff it’s pretty futile.

 

[220-9er]

I've been using Ontario 22" machetes for general usage for decades. I live on a rural property and do a lot of work with saplings and removing smaller limbs on downed trees. Because I'm often switching between a chainsaw and the machete, I have the bright orange handle model so it's easier to see in the underbrush. I also own shorter models but find I mostly use the 22". The weight and length help cutting tougher and thicker branches and saplings.
I understand that Ontario has recently been sold so I'd buy one while current USA made inventory is available, just in case.

 

[Nixelplix]

Oh sweet, a machete thread! Here's my Condor Duku Parang.

 

[Corton93]

I buy mine at the hardware store they got brand new machetes from Martindale for $12.99 this one I paid $9.99. it's called a tres crispas?. It's made in South America I just can't remember what country and it's been through hell and back.View attachment 2255524

Browsing this thread for the first time since it posted. Sneaking suspicion, but I just have to say that I'm 99% sure V Vlade is in his birthday suit just out of frame..

But hey, nothing deters home intruders like a hairy naked man with a giant rusty machete

 

[Joseph Bandeko]

I'll just leave this right here:
4 customs in AEB-L

And no, I’m not taking custom orders right now, lol.

 

[greater]

Do you want something that will do great job clearing grass and lighter stuff all day but a so so to not so great job cutting down tree then get a good machete. If you want a chopper that is good but kind of cumbersome and heavy for cutting grass get a kukri I you want something that does a so so job at both and about everything get one of those combo middle weight jobs