Machete for South Eastern USA Bushcraft?

[The cow]

I have never used the ESEE. It looks like a good design, but that's a lot more money than what the guys who use them every day will typically pay. I imagine it could be worth it though. How thick is the blade? It appears more like a heavy chopping knife than a machete.

I like the Bolo design as it allows for a traditional thin machete blade for grass and yet is still weighted enough by the Bolo for heavier work without needing a lot of length. However the one down side is that you cannot use the standard pull out sheath which you could with a Junglas or Latin style.

This is why I also mentioned the Boomslang which can be drawn out of the sheath and is very reasonably priced for what you get and also comes with a heavy leather sheath. Its also designed for heavy chopping. In most North American forests you may be served as well by a large chopping knife as a traditional thin-bladed machete.

I have no experience with their lite machete but I believe it is a south american make with some decent scales

I've cut paths in the jungle with fair ease and in my midwest oak-filled forest with my Junglas. It's balance point in just in front of the handle. It's very comfortable to use but still fairly easy to chop with. It's really expensive, but It's worth every penny, especially because it comes with one of the better thought out sheaths.

 

[Pindvin]

With a machete you use the widened striking area as the center of the hit. The widened area was well beyond your common striking point showing you would be better served by a shorter Bolo style. Many people who think they need a long machete do not use the full length when striking and simply are carrying steel they do not use. If you have a Bolo near the end, that is where you center the strike. If you had a Bolo on that Machete around 14-16" the rest of the blade would not be needed and you could keep your typical striking range.

You're absolutely right if we assume that im going to chop wood mainly. I also use this machete to cut high grass, reed or nettle. For this purposes a 22" blade in my opinien is just enough. Thats why im in favor of the ontario 22" hd. It's the best all-around machete.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I'm sure a 22+" thin well-balanced blade is preferred for land clearing or extensive trail clearing. My 22" Ontario I have is the definition of clumsy and unbalanced so I would get a new one if I had a lot of clearing to do. However I have a hard time seeing where 22" is the preferred length as a trail carry "Bushcraft" blade which will probably be only used for an hour at the most to "possibly" clear a campsite. A shorter machete has a variety of Bushcraft uses on the trail and can still quickly clear a campsite. I can't imagine hiking with a 22+" machete bouncing along from my belt whereas a 14" Bolo can be right there with minimal inconvenience.

The Ontario machetes in general have more bulk in their design than I would like and I consider their pattern rubbish in anything over 18" as the overall form and dimensions become pretty unfeasible compared to the more advanced designs from companies like Imacasa, Martindale, or (if you choose to include vintage in this case) Collins. Carrying a long machete on the hip is not so hard, but I do like to use either a double-wrap belt or a nylon rendition of a Sam Browne belt that I cobbled together in order to hold it steady on the hip and distribute the weight across both sides of the body. Indeed, the shorter lengths tend to be preferred for bushcraft use or where only occasional clearing will be performed since the increased ease of carry trumps chopping/slashing performance in that case. I personally find that a 16" blade is nearly as convenient to carry but packs just a bit extra "oomph" and so makes a very good compromise. There are certain thresholds of blade behavior with machetes and the zone where the most marked changes occur is in the jump between 12" and 14", 14" and 18", and 18" and 20". This can be a little difficult to explain, but it's easily felt.

 

[thunderstick]

Here's a really good deal on an 18" Tramontina with a "leather" sheath -- special for July only.

http://www.machetespecialists.com/tramontina-18-bush-wood-with-canvas-sheath.html

After all the recommendations for longer machetes I thought I might check out an 18" bush style Tramontina and found they are offering leather sheaths this month. I don't like my 22" Ontario at all, so I thought maybe I'd try a longer machete that has better balance. $35 for the machete/leather sheath delivered is hard to beat--so I just purchased one.

 

[thunderstick]

My 18" latin/bush style Tramontina came today with the leather case. I came home a little early today and tuned her up and put it to work. I continue to be impressed with how good the steel is for what you pay for these Tram machetes. At this length it just starts to feel a bit front heavy but its still quite well balanced. I still don't think that I would want to pack the 18" on a hike. For what I would consider a a bushcraft multi-purpose carry machete I'm still partial to the 14" Bolo.

 

[Traw]

Kershaw Camp 18