Hey, outrecording, did you decide yet? No pressure, just curious.
Hey! Sorry not to get back to ya so quick. Had a three day holiday and catch up with work afterwards. Finally have a chance to breath now.
I did choose a machete. Though I don't know "what" machete at this point (more below) Perhaps not the best choice, but given my limited choices and a last minute decision, it fit the bill.
I decided I didn't want to take up a new "hobby" of sharpening. (Got way to many hobbies as it is!) I wanted something that was ready to go out of the box, and then me touching it up as needed. So I called/emailed around to see which sellers could sharpen for me. Most were just sellers so couldn't help out. But I found one guy who actually makes knives (the hollow handle type Haze showed in the above picture) He assured me he could sharpen it correctly, as (in his opinion) few people in Taiwan truly know how to sharpen one.
Other than the Taiwan style knives, he carried Ontario machetes. So I bought the Ontario military 18".
As to not knowing what machete I bought, this looks exactly like the Ontario but isn't stamped "Ontario Knife U.S." as I've seen on other pictures on the net. Mine is only stamped "Machete" and came with the green plastic sheath stamped "1991 Machete". I'm hoping it's just an older model and not a fake.
I've taken it out already and put it through its paces. It has weight, but doesn't bother me as I'm a bigger guy and tbh, if I need to chop more than 5 or 10 minutes to open a trail, I'll turn around and find another one. Fatigue isn't a factor for me.
Also, the sheath gives me some comfort. I don't think I'll be strapping it outside my backpacks now, but this sheath has to be a major step up from a nylon.
Last time I was out I had a fall that hurt my leg. I should have stopped and went home, but I'm stubborn like that. I made it to the top of a smallish mountain in a gnarly rock/dirt/muddy trail. Fell a few more times cuz my leg couldn't support the weight on some hard turns. At the top I hiked another kilometer or so to the top. After a 40 min rest, my leg decided it didn't want to go anymore! I needed to get downhill over a kilometer on a shabby hiker's trail will full backpack and bum leg. This is where the machete came in handy. I cut a good sized walking stick that took my weight and helped immensely. Prob would have crawled out on my butt were it not for that stick! And it was nearing dark, so...
I'm sure I could have came up with something without the machete, but it just helped speed things up. And this particular machete (whatever it may be) didn't flinch at the challenge. So far so good.
The question is, is this real or fake?
