Machete Technique Questions...

matthewdanger

matthewdanger

Joined
Jan 29, 2003
Messages
1,568
Oh great and wise machete gurus,

I often see people on here talking about how they hold a machete using some secret technique. I tend to hold one with a hammer grip, mostly because no one has every taught me any different. This hammer grip tends to tire the wrist pretty quickly.

What is the proper way to hold a machete, or at least a better way? Do you have any other machete techniques that I should know about?

Thanks!
Matt
 
Info Traded for a Laconico knife ....









LOL just kidding ask Joezilla or Jeff upon return in a few days,I just chop away until tired or damage is done
 
Kinda hard to describe... you just sorta whip the blade around and then snap your wrist and let the speed do all the work.
 
You should be grasping loosely with the forefinger and thumb, the other fingers in the relaxed position. Start with the arm close to the body, and snap the mass of the blade forward with the wrist, (with a slight squeezing of the handle) allowing the handle to pivot freely in the crotch of the hand. This generates a lot of speed, and allows the mass of the blade to do all of the work.

I think of it as "throwing" the point. Hopefully that helps a bit, but if not I'll try to describe it a bit better. :)
 
I don't swing a machete full speed like I'm trying to hit a baseball with a bat, I kind of just let it "fall" into the brush. Doing power swings gets tiring; instead of trying to blast through a limb with one massive swing, just smack it a few times instead to save energy. Hitting things diagonally instead of straight on usually results in deeper cuts to.

And keep it as sharp as you can, a dull machete is pretty much useless.
 
The machete is held with the thumb, index and middle finger. It is allowed to rotate in the hand as the strike is made, increasing the blade speed and doing more work with less muscle. It takes some practice. As has been mentioned, don't slash straight on, but at an angle. For heavy chopping, I use the hammer grip.
 
Horn Dog said:
The machete is held with the thumb, index and middle finger. It is allowed to rotate in the hand as the strike is made, increasing the blade speed and doing more work with less muscle. It takes some practice. As has been mentioned, don't slash straight on, but at an angle. For heavy chopping, I use the hammer grip.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the input everyone.

I am going to get out and practice this tomorrow. I have used a technique that is identical to what Horn Dog described just because it felt natural with a tired wrist from doing it the wrong way.

Thanks again.
 
Horn Dog said:
The machete is held with the thumb, index and middle finger. It is allowed to rotate in the hand as the strike is made, increasing the blade speed and doing more work with less muscle. It takes some practice. As has been mentioned, don't slash straight on, but at an angle. For heavy chopping, I use the hammer grip.
Click to expand...

Sounds like fly fishing :D
 
I keep my grip loose and let the weight of the blade do most of the work.

Not saying that's the "right" way, just the way I use it.
 
I got videos now! will respond when I gets them all fab-atized
 
I use a hammer grip. I relax my grip, using mostly the index and middle fingers and the thumb to grip. I use my ring and pinky finger along with the wrist to control and snap the blade as it hits the target. I try to hit at an angle of about 25-45 degrees to the grain depending on what I'm swinging at. I think that the thing I worked at most when working with a machete was training myself to swing straight. I was glancing the blade off stuff too much and realized that it was because my swing was either not straight, too hard, or twisting at the end. I use the same principal as a golfer swinging a driver. My swing never curves. It keeps the same angle and plain from beginning to end.
 
Dylside said:
I use a hammer grip. I relax my grip, using mostly the index and middle fingers and the thumb to grip. I use my ring and pinky finger along with the wrist to control and snap the blade as it hits the target. I try to hit at an angle of about 25-45 degrees to the grain depending on what I'm swinging at. I think that the thing I worked at most when working with a machete was training myself to swing straight. I was glancing the blade off stuff too much and realized that it was because my swing was either not straight, too hard, or twisting at the end. I use the same principal as a golfer swinging a driver. My swing never curves. It keeps the same angle and plain from beginning to end.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Edge alignment during the cut is key, or else you're just slapping stuff! :thumbup:
 
woah guys, don't complicate it! Just loosen your grip and flick the thing! The rest will come later!

Try to get a Central Latin American guy to show you and they can't explain it, despite the language barrier!
 
You've got a couple options. Take one in each hand and either "helicopter" or "windmill". ;)
 
Agree with FortyTwoBlades, Horn Dog and Shotgunner11

I have been used tramontina, martindale and also local Indonesian machete called golok (you can find at valiant co).

I prefer to use the local one.
It is more comfort to use compare to martindale and tramontina because the local golok has "hooky handle".
Indonesian people just use it by gentle grip (loose grip), and use the hook on the handle as the center of gravity for our grip. Swing it with appropriate power (depend on our target). 1/4 part the blade tip is the most effective part to cut something, middle part is good to split wood for fire wood.
Here is one of my goloks
Golokdaritombakilang.jpg
 
I just use the rolling snap. Whichis what everyone hass been trying to describe. Same basic movement you will see if you ask an old experienced carpenter how he drives nails with a framing hammer.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
You should be grasping loosely with the forefinger and thumb, the other fingers in the relaxed position. Start with the arm close to the body, and snap the mass of the blade forward with the wrist, (with a slight squeezing of the handle) allowing the handle to pivot freely in the crotch of the hand. This generates a lot of speed, and allows the mass of the blade to do all of the work.
Click to expand...

Is this machete advice, a danielle steele novel, or did I drink too much again?
 
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