Machete Suggestions

VFMA1995

VFMA1995

Joined
Apr 7, 2024
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3
Recently watching a survival dispatch video concerning machetes. I’m looking for some suggestions on where to find one similar to what is held by the gentleman on the right. The size, shape, and thickness is what I’m looking for.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Depends where you are going to be. In a northern climate, I'd want an ax (something like a 3/4 size single bit) rather than a kukri or machete.
 
It's hard to beat imacasa or tamontina for the money. An order from our very own FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades will even allow you to have one ready to work for a small additional fee.

If you're looking for luxury liner type stuff, look to condor... Made by the same folks as imacasa, but with a bit more panache.
 
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It appears to be a lightly-modified Ontario Knife Company (now out of business) Bushcraft Machete.

95037_ontario-bushcraft-machete-w-nylon.jpg


They were around $100 street price back in the pre-inflation days when they came out, which at the time was a not-so-great deal for what you got. These days that's closer to their fair value relative to other market offerings, but still a bit spendy for a machete that only qualified as premium due to being 5160 steel (but not heat treated special or given a geometry to make the most of it, so no real performance boost over plain steels) and being USA-made. There are now, at present, no USA-made "blue collar" working machetes thanks to Ontario's closure, and even when they were the one name in the game, Imacasa ran circles around them.

A fun little fact with machetes is that it's less about thickness and more about mass distribution. You sling the mass of the blade at the target with a squeeze of the fingers and elbow/wrist action almost like casting a fishing line. Thinner blades blades generally get up to speed better as a result, even when they have a lot of mass towards the tip for chopping. Imacasa does a great job with distal taper to keep their blades nice and thin without becoming floppy, since they have lateral support from the taper.
 
Alberta Ed said:
Depends where you are going to be. In a northern climate, I'd want an ax (something like a 3/4 size single bit) rather than a kukri or machete.
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Thanks Ed. I’m content with a number of axes for different situations. And, agreed as I’m in the Northeast. My butchering knives are Ontario old hickory and this one reminds me of them.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
It appears to be a lightly-modified Ontario Knife Company (now out of business) Bushcraft Machete.

95037_ontario-bushcraft-machete-w-nylon.jpg


They were around $100 street price back in the pre-inflation days when they came out, which at the time was a not-so-great deal for what you got. These days that's closer to their fair value relative to other market offerings, but still a bit spendy for a machete that only qualified as premium due to being 5160 steel (but not heat treated special or given a geometry to make the most of it, so no real performance boost over plain steels) and being USA-made. There are now, at present, no USA-made "blue collar" working machetes thanks to Ontario's closure, and even when they were the one name in the game, Imacasa ran circles around them.

A fun little fact with machetes is that it's less about thickness and more about mass distribution. You sling the mass of the blade at the target with a squeeze of the fingers and elbow/wrist action almost like casting a fishing line. Thinner blades blades generally get up to speed better as a result, even when they have a lot of mass towards the tip for chopping. Imacasa does a great job with distal taper to keep their blades nice and thin without becoming floppy, since they have lateral support from the taper.
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I knew it was Ontario! Wish I could find one used that someone would be willing to part with. Thanks for the info. I will look at the brand you suggested.
 
The machete you highlighted is of a really common profile. The one I learned to use was an 18-inch WWII USGI machete, which has a similar profile. To this day I much prefer it to other, newer ones. Here it is:

DSC00480.JPG

Now, my suggestion is to try several different ones; you might wind up doing that anyway.
 
An 18” Tramontina bush machete is the closest thing I can think of to what you show there. It should cost you closer to $20 than $100, a bit more if you get it from FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades and have him tune it up for you. If I could only keep one machete, it would very likely be the one.
At 2.5 mm thick, it is pretty stout for a light machete, and pretty versatile, able to chop green wood a little bit.
 
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And above all, be sure to learn how to use it before you go hacking away at stuff!

True story: Scott Paper Company once issued machetes to its Foresters, a group of veterans who were also skilled outdoorsmen. A year or two later it took back all the machetes because of the alarming incidence of serious machete-involved injuries. Why? The Foresters were never actually taught how to use them!!!

A properly-sharpened, -used and -maintained machete will amaze you with its capabilities and versatility. One that isn't can quickly cost you an important appendage, or maybe even your life.
 
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For a northern chopper, I'd honestly recommend a Sandvik brush axe for a lot of uses (I refer to mine as a Viking machete):


I've used a few heavier machetes and the only one I liked was the thick backed 18" blade beast (top of picture) I bought at a hardware store as a teenager for not much money. Because of its sheepsfoot blade, some people whack at things the wrong way around. I watched a sergeant borrow it and he got an inch into a tree with the back of it, asking if I ever sharpened it, before I suggested he use the other side.

I'm planning on buying a couple Tramontina machetes (made in Brazil) this year, which come blunt, so you'll probably have to be willing to work on them with a file before you put a stone on them, depending on what sharpening options you have. The Ka-Bar Cutlass Machete is one that also interests me.

I do find myself using the Terava Skrama 240 a lot around the yard since buying it though. I'm not certain what I'll do with the Condor Mini Duku Parang Machete (seen below in picture). I bought it to use in the role that I currently use the Terava Skrama for, but it just wasn't quite what I wanted. I also have an Ontario Knife Spec Plus SP-8 (coping machete) that's designated for the pioneer tool kit in my vehicle; along with a forester's axe, saw, and a crappy collapsible shovel.

52156272678_55b77312a9_b.jpg
 
Choctaw Dan said:
And above all, be sure to learn how to use it before you go hacking away at stuff!

True story: Scott Paper Company once issued machetes to its Foresters, a group of veterans who were also skilled outdoorsmen. A year or two later it took back all the machetes because of the alarming incidence of serious machete-involved injuries. Why? The Foresters were never actually taught how to use them!!!

A properly-sharpened, -used and -maintained machete will amaze you with its capabilities and versatility. One that isn't can quickly cost you an important appendage, or maybe even your life.
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I spent a couple of years with a woods engineering crew of another timber company. Machetes were standard issue and yes I was surprised at all the injuries but it wasn't users cutting themselves. They were hitting the guy behind or next to them when swinging the blades. I learned to give the guy with the machete plenty of room as I didn't want those scars they seemed proud of.
 
abcdef said:
Vintage UK made Wink.

ZXrsZPh.jpeg
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If that's Wink Martindale, he used to do a kid's afternoon television show in Memphis TN back in the 1950's. I think it was on WMCT. He dressed like a space man, and each day he'd "blast off" to take his young studio audience on another Buck Rogers adventure.
 
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