machete

[DeLightsabor]

what is a low cost, easy to get, long lasting machete?

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A genius learns more and more about less and less until he/she learns absolutly everything about nothing

~Daniel a.k.a. DeLightsabor~

 

[Quarterstaff]

Ontario GI issue machete. You can find them at your local army surplus store for around fifteen dollars

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It hurts to be on the cutting edge.

 

[matthew rapaport]

My Ontario beaver tail was $13 from Smokey Mtn. a couple of years ago. Cliff Stamp sent me a used Barteaux I haven't worked much yet because I've been swamped with real work (alas computers don't take well to machetes). I think he said it was $25, and its got an 18" blade, much too big for most of what I do with a machete. Pound for pound though, the Barteaux has a lot more going for it than the Ontario.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I don't know the price of the Barteaux models off hand but you can find them on the net. The one Matthew is describing is the "heavy duty" model and yes it is quite hefty for a machete, so much so that it verges on being a light parang. Barteaux makes various other models in different lengths and heft. Be prepared to do some serious edge work if you buy one however.

As for Ontario, I had a couple of theirs, an 18" and 12" Both were far too brittle and suffered large fractures on hard woods. The handles also will literally explode if exposed to significant vibration (splitting wood).

-Cliff

 

[Roadrunner]

Ontarios aren't bad if you're using them on light brush. I wouldn't want to use them for even light chopping though, for the reasons Cliff described above. They are easy to get, you can find them at nearly any Army surplus store and lots of mail order catalogs. If you're interested in the Barteaux machetes, there's a link to their website here somewhere, a search here or in the Reviews forum would probably turn it up. Also, there are LOTS of brush clearing implements to be found at www.knifecenter.com. Cold Steel www.coldsteel.com markets machetes now too. I have no idea if they are any good or not, but they are cheap. If you want links to some higher quality machetes, let me know and I'll be happy to post some.