machete with sawteeth

Joezilla said:
I've never seen saw teeth on any knife or machete work. Skip it.
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I would still skip the saw back, but the saw on the gerber gator machete does work quite well.

Just a note, on one of the other forums (I think either tinkering or shop talk), a guy made his gator full tang, and it came out pretty nice. For those of us who own one, it might be something to look into.
 
The sawblades are on the first part of the blade i would want to grind off. but thats just me. ;)
 
Depends on how much you're paying for it. Anything near 250 bucks and I'd say "screw it" and buy myself a TOPS Armageddon.
 
Not meaning to hijack thread but there seems to be some machete experts here so if i can just borrow it for a second, what do you guys think is a really good machete? Brand and also what makes it good, I have seen them in junk shops for $5 and then I see some of the one you guys talk about are hundreds, what makes the difference, also some machetes are 12 inch, some are 18 why the difference, what is better and why, finally (and this is cheeky), would a machete or a kukri be better (with a folding saw) or an axe, for general heavy duty dirty chopping work?
hacking vines, clearing ground, chopping firewood, preparing shelter (slaying zombies).
Assuming I am carrying a leatherman and a small (5 inch) fixed blade and do not want to take a whole mill with me.
 
iBlade said:
Not meaning to hijack thread but there seems to be some machete experts here so if i can just borrow it for a second, what do you guys think is a really good machete? Brand and also what makes it good, I have seen them in junk shops for $5 and then I see some of the one you guys talk about are hundreds, what makes the difference, also some machetes are 12 inch, some are 18 why the difference, what is better and why, finally (and this is cheeky), would a machete or a kukri be better (with a folding saw) or an axe, for general heavy duty dirty chopping work?
hacking vines, clearing ground, chopping firewood, preparing shelter (slaying zombies).
Assuming I am carrying a leatherman and a small (5 inch) fixed blade and do not want to take a whole mill with me.
Click to expand...

1. the good less expensive brands would be tramontina and ontario. both are pretty good steel and can be easily convexed to a razor edge. as far as higher end, there are the ones from Bark River Knife&Tool and the Brian Andrews modded ontarios at offthemapoutfitters.com. you get, to quote pict, 80% of the function with the first 20% of the cost. the more expensive ones will be better, but not dramatically so.

2. as far as lengths, you need different legths for different tasks. for on to take camping, go with a shorter (12''-18'') machete,for portability. but, for a machete that you plan on using around the yard, go all out with like a 20''-28'' since potability isnt really a factor.

3. for just choppin, and axe is pretty far ahead, but the 'chet is going to be better for brush clearing and with the khukuri you get a little of both worlds. that part boils down to preference.
 
The sawtooth on the Gerber really works pretty good.
Yes, I've heard they break easy. We use them a little around the house and use both sides of the blade and they're working pretty good....but we're not beating the crap out of them.
I did see that post where somebody took his apart, cut it to make a full tang(and shorter blade) and then put it back together......it looked like a very handy package!!!!
I'm happy with my Gerbers!
But if it was for survival I'd choose something without the teeth and strap on a Wyoming saw.....just my 2 cents worth.
 
iBlade said:
Not meaning to hijack thread but there seems to be some machete experts here so if i can just borrow it for a second, what do you guys think is a really good machete? Brand and also what makes it good, I have seen them in junk shops for $5 and then I see some of the one you guys talk about are hundreds, what makes the difference, also some machetes are 12 inch, some are 18 why the difference, what is better and why, finally (and this is cheeky), would a machete or a kukri be better (with a folding saw) or an axe, for general heavy duty dirty chopping work?
hacking vines, clearing ground, chopping firewood, preparing shelter (slaying zombies).
Assuming I am carrying a leatherman and a small (5 inch) fixed blade and do not want to take a whole mill with me.
Click to expand...

iBlade,

Here's a thread on the modifications I do to my machetes. I do this with the machetes I'll be using for bush craft. Regular weed lot clearing blades don't get this kind of attention.

Optimizing a Machete

Machete Mods - The Movie

I personally don't own any high end machetes. To me a machete is meant to be used and abused. When mine get too dinged up I literally clamp them edge up in a vice, file the edge totally flat and reprofile.

For bush craft you want a general purpose blade. In my world that means one I will pack on my belt in a sheath. I'm 6 ft tall and anything over 16 inches is a serious embuggerance on the belt. The longest blades I own are 20 inches and they get used mainly to cut tall grass. IMO most people buy too long a blade and only then figure out that they bought a blade specialized to too few tasks.

In Brazil I use a 16 inch Tramontina, in the US I use a 12 inch Ontario, both set up with the mods in the post above. The Ontario's are thicker and heavier for their length and do better on hardwoods than the Tramontina. The Tramontina does very well on grasses and vines, and won't wear your arm out.

Another great blade is the 14 inch Tramontina Bolo, but you will have a hard time finding a sheath for it. IMO the 14 inch Bolo is close to perfect as a bush craft blade.

With a decent convex edge the 18 inch Ontario will chop like an axe in wood but they are a heavy blade that will wear your arm out in weeds or grass.

When I hike up into the mountains in Brazil I often carry a 12 inch Tramontina. Up there length is not important, I just want a utility blade that will handle brutal work like leveling ground and chopping roots out of sleeping spaces.

My suggestion is to buy an Ontario or Tramontina and then figure out if you wan to invest in a high dollar blade. Mac
 
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