Machetes & Bush Knives

pict said:
Mike,

Looks kind of familiar...

In Brazil the machete literally touches on every aspect, every task associated with wilderness survival. I live in Central Brazil so it isn't jungle like the Amazon, but depending on the time of year and where I go conditions are very similar. When I moved down to Brazil in '99 (I had also lived there before) I went from being a machete user to being a full blown addict.

Now when I'm back in the US my preferred way of doing things in the bush still revolves around my machete skills. In the summer here I don't really notice any change from what I do in Brazil. Where the machete starts to lag behind in the north is in winter. A machete can be pressed into service to hack through logs but as RAT said "Eventually we got through it". Yes, it can be done but somewhere in the process you will ask if someone brought an axe.

A machete is a poor tool for generating a large volume of firewood. In Brazil I don't use the machete for stocking camp with firewood, I just use deadfall and break it. The thing is that even in Brazil's brutal 45 degree overnight winter lows you don't need all that much wood to get through the night. If you can pile up one cubic meter of deadfall you are pretty much set.

When it's below zero your fuel needs are an order of magnitude greater. Dropping dead trees, bucking them up, and splitting them is the province of the axe and saw.

Mac
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Pict,

I'll bet that it does look familiar, Thank you:thumbup:. I agree that a machete won't perform the work of an axe or a saw, but neither will my other big knives. I wear a 12" Tram and don't generally feel like I'm missing anything around the property and camp. I carry folding saws in my packs (chopping is hard work), but probably wouldn't have any real need for them, there is so much wood readily available in this area, I've never been in a position where that was an issue. If I need a little more firewood, I'll just bring my girls and a RAT or Busse:

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FortyTwoBlades said:
Why hold out? There are so many wonderful styles of machete out there to try...and they're cheap enough there's no reason not to have a dozen or so! :D
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Alright I buckled. I bought the 12in Condor Inca Knife like the one in Horndog's pics. I have a few 18in machetes but wanted one with a shorter blade. Something to calm the jitters until the RAT machete comes out.
 
Nice! That's one I've been meaning to check out myself. Don't forget to take pictures! :D
 
monk3yfist said:
Alright I buckled. I bought the 12in Condor Inca Knife like the one in Horndog's pics. I have a few 18in machetes but wanted one with a shorter blade. Something to calm the jitters until the RAT machete comes out.
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Yea, I folded too. This thread is directly responsible for me ordering an El Salvador. The next hike I go on, there's going to be a ridiculous amount of firewood by the time I'm done chopping/splitting/sawing.
 
Dizwolf said:
Yea, I folded too. This thread is directly responsible for me ordering an El Salvador. The next hike I go on, there's going to be a ridiculous amount of firewood by the time I'm done chopping/splitting/sawing.
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Me three, there's a Tramontina 18" on the 'bay with my name on it. But I do have a legitimate reason for getting one, and they're fairly cheap. No regrets.:thumbup:
 
Just got my first Machete in, a Tramontina 18", have a Marbles Bolo on the way, and a couple of others...... when I took the knife out, my wife kind of gave me the evil eye.... I told her to blame Joe and Jeff :D
 
MrCoffee said:
Just got my first Machete in, a Tramontina 18", have a Marbles Bolo on the way, and a couple of others...... when I took the knife out, my wife kind of gave me the evil eye.... I told her to blame Joe and Jeff :D
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FIRST Machete?
 
I just picked up a barkie machette ... first machette for me too... while i wait for a batch of trams and icanams (sp?) ....

and i can dig it... went out to do some trail clearing.... the fav. around here is saws and axes so i grew up using them , mainly cause the local woods are hickory and pine... so not to many people know of the joys of the machette... im waiting for it to stop raining so i can have some more fun with this one... hope you enjoy it mr coffee cheers
 
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R.A.T. said:
FIRST Machete?
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Well yeah, the first one I owned myself, the others I had were my Dad's or a friends.... and I don't count the gerber machete because I ordered it from FleaBay and never got it. So yeah these are the first ones I have owned, me myself.... I do have a SP8 and a KaBar Cutlass, but they aren't in the same class as a thin machete.....

Everyone up here always talks axes, hawks, and hatchets.....

EDIT: I guess I had a shelter childhood..... Dad had no problem handing me the Woodsman's Pal, an axe, or a chainsaw, but NO machete......
 
I think you should blame Joezilla. As he told El Guapo, he has a plethora of machetes. Me, I only have many machetes.
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Holy hackin blades Batdude! That's a lot of machete's! Gotta save the picture so I can show Mrs Coffee, then she MIGHT forgive the dozen or so I have ordered....

I have over 250 Swiss Army Knives in my collection and less steel then in that picture! LOL.
 
very cool .... but no with out yours and jeffs reviews and indorsements i probably wouldnt of taken the plunge.... yea i got a dozen or so machettes on order right now... a few silly a few in differnt lengths... most were cheap enough i dont feel bad if i dont use it....

the bark river had me sold though , a nice leather sheath , and a barkie treatment , the micarta is so comfy compared to the one at lowes

and thanks joezilla for the links i had to place an order with them.
 
I have a hard time letting go that kinda cash for a revamped Ontario machete from BRK&T.
now the Woodsman pal is sweet....
 
The good thing about collecting machetes is that most are cheap and are actually useful. I still like my cheap Tramontinas the best. Those thin light blades are easy to swing all day.
 
yea i cant wait to get my hands on a tram now ... the barkie showed up next day... the trams later this week , and the incams i think in a few weeks....

i cant wait to give em a shot i hope i can find a good sheath to carry em in when i find the one i wanna pack around....
 
Wife just called, seems she has a co worker who has a small side business of making sheaths...... wants to borrow a couple of machetes to make sheaths for them.... Will post pictures if/when she makes a couple for me.. :)
 
texastonydobbs said:
I have a hard time letting go that kinda cash for a revamped Ontario machete from BRK&T.
now the Woodsman pal is sweet....
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The Bark River KSF machete is the Cadillac of machetes, but maybe machetes were never meant to be "high end" knives. Part of their value has always been their utility for the buck. The surface grinding and convexing cost a lot of money. The leather sheath added more to the price. It would not surprise me at all if the RAT machete ends up costing $60 to $80 sheath included. Maybe more.
 
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