Machete recommendations

scars

scars

Joined
Jan 26, 2008
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82
I plan on canoe camping this spring and was wondering if anyone could suggest a decent machete? I've been looking at different Cold Steel machetes as well as their Kukri but am not sure about their serviceability. Thanks in advance.
 
Ontario has some nice machetes, but you cant go wrong with cold steel they are good for the money.
 
the cold steel kukri & magnum kukri are both good for under $25.
Ontario 18" model comes in military & light - depending on if you want thick and strong or thin and light for carry.
you might also check out Condor and Imacasa.
 
Funny, I just bought a cheapo made in china machete at walmart today for about seven bucks. Don't know what kind it is (I forget, threw away the plastic packaging), but it was right in front of me when I was getting a box of 12 gauge rounds so I had to get it. I wonder how well it'll work...

I'm interested in seeing your guys opinions about a long lasting, affordably machete.. I have a 9 dollar no name from a military surplus that has held up to hard use but is now rusted, I'd like a higher quality replacement.
 
Tramontina, Martindale, Cold Steel, Corona Condor. Those are the main brands in my growing collection. I'm rather fond of the 14" machetes made by Martindale, specially their standard 14" and 14" Bolo. IMO a good packable size for hiking/rafting.

Heber
 
tarman245 said:
Funny, I just bought a cheapo made in china machete at walmart today for about seven bucks. Don't know what kind it is (I forget, threw away the plastic packaging), but it was right in front of me when I was getting a box of 12 gauge rounds so I had to get it. I wonder how well it'll work...
Click to expand...

It won't... I bought one a couple of years back since it was cheap... I was only going to use it to lop off a few branches that hung over my wall from the neighbor's FIG TREE...

Fig trees are not hard wood... but the cheap machete had a limp blade, and wouldn't sharpen well or hold an edge. The handle sides (scales) broke off, too. This wimpy machete lasted all of about 2-3 minutes, and never really even worked on the branches, bending a few without cutting them!!!

I went to a Army Surplus store and got a REAL machete... the only thing I kept was the sheath...
 
Over the years I've had scads of machetes.My choice in a machete for actual machete duty is a Colombian caneknife. It's about 24" total with a 9" riveted wooden handle which leaves a 15" blade that starts out at about 1.75" at the end of the handle and swells to about 4" wide at it's widest (in the sweet spot) on point and a handy unsharpened hook on the back. It's like the bastard child of a machete and a hatchet. Six whole dollars at the hardware store.
I've hacked through Hell's Half Acre of dense East Texas underbrush, prune crape myrtle trees, 2" hackberry saplings with one good or 2 ok shots, butchered hogs, and it makes a handy camp spatula to boot. Great for anything you don't want to screw up a good knife doing.
When I got it there was a ColdSteel one right next to it twice as thick and twice as heavy with a shorter plastic handle for like $25.00. I much prefer the lighter $7.00 no name from Colombia.
 
Those cold steel machetes and tomahawks are good cheap tough users. The spetnaz shovel is required truck gear and might fit well for canoeing, it makes an ok hatchet and can chop and clear pretty well.
I used the 13in kukri last year clearing and chopping roots and it was great. For the canoe get a short latin style or the barong for coolness and protection, it is actually a great machete.
 
Condor, Imacasa, Hansa, Tramontina. All great machete companies, and listed in order of my preference. I've got three machetes (two Imacasas and a Tramontina) set to arrive tomorrow that I'm going to mod up and put on the exchange forum. Here's a look at one I did a week ago. Took some elbow grease to make it this pretty, but I think it was well worth it. Should be arriving in Australia soon! :D

CIMG8650.jpg


Here's the Condor Viking machete. Condor is a subsidiary of Imacasa, and represents their finest work. They're targeted at the North American/European market primarily. Top notch machetes, and you don't need to do a thing to them out of the box.

CIMG8360.jpg
 
FortyTwoBlades,

So you are saying that your Condor Viking machete pictured above came sharpened just like it looks in the picture??? That looks totally awesome!!! Can you tell me what the handle material is, and the length and thickness of the blade? What is the cost?
 
All Condor models come with a polished convex edge on them right from the factory. :cool: The handle material is some kind of Central American hardwood, and the blade is 20" long and 2mm thick. It comes with a real sweet swiveling leather sheath. :)

MSRP is around $85 which means you can find it as low as $46 on the 'net. :cool:
 
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