How To machetes use in woody , North-American brush.

The square-ended model is a corn knife! While they later came to use machete-style construction, they originally had more in common with scythe blades, and were done with one flat face to the interior side of the cut with a bead and spine ridge along the opposite face, and were made with laminated construction! Once they shifted to a simple machete-style flat blade they were whole steel, and the stiffening of the rib and chine were no longer needed to compensate for the iron cladding.
 
svacua said:
Machetes are obviously a good tool for equatorial rainforest, with its spongy vines. But how does a machete hold up to "woody" thickets like what would be found in northern Maine?
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I won't argue with FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades because he has The Knowledge. I can only share my experience which is with the Skrama by Varusteleka. I really like this chopper and it is made for the Scandinavian North, similar our northern climes. One day I'd like to compare it in the hand to the Baryonyx machete.

All this said, I have used a Cold Steel seax machete to make and break fishing camp here in Colorado. It's a bit thicker than a normal Latin machete, but it never felt incapable in the Rockies (though it ain't an axe).

Zieg
 
The Zieg said:
I won't argue with FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades because he has The Knowledge. I can only share my experience which is with the Skrama by Varusteleka. I really like this chopper and it is made for the Scandinavian North, similar our northern climes. One day I'd like to compare it in the hand to the Baryonyx machete.

All this said, I have used a Cold Steel seax machete to make and break fishing camp here in Colorado. It's a bit thicker than a normal Latin machete, but it never felt incapable in the Rockies (though it ain't an axe).

Zieg
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The Skrama is an interesting "big camp knife"-class chopper but I'd consider it in no way a machete or a suitable replacement for actual machete tasks. Rather the upper end of its useful range includes some tasks commonly handled by machetes, but it's a fraction of what machetes do or the degree of efficiency with which full-size machetes operate. It's a neat tool, though.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The square-ended model is a corn knife! While they later came to use machete-style construction, they originally had more in common with scythe blades, and were done with one flat face to the interior side of the cut with a bead and spine ridge along the opposite face, and were made with laminated construction! Once they shifted to a simple machete-style flat blade they were whole steel, and the stiffening of the rib and chine were no longer needed to compensate for the iron cladding.
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It did say corn machete on the package when I got it from you when you had the grab bag deal going a few years back. 😁


It's cut corn stalk or 2 during the time it's been here.
 
Vlade said:
What do you call them stickers that are in the woods that poke you every time you try to walk through them? I don't remember the name of them but they hurt like a Dickens. I suppose a machete might work on them.
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Around here in Florida, that sounds like hawthorn--large shrubs or small trees with thorns a couple inches long covered with nasty bacteria that can cause infections. If I had to try to defang one, I would prefer something long, like a brush hook or a pole saw.
 
I’ve always used a 22” Ontario and been happy removing limbs on downed larger trees and general smaller trees, softer wood especially.
They do a really good job on pines and the weight really helps go through larger branches.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The Skrama is an interesting "big camp knife"-class chopper but I'd consider it in no way a machete or a suitable replacement for actual machete tasks. Rather the upper end of its useful range includes some tasks commonly handled by machetes, but it's a fraction of what machetes do or the degree of efficiency with which full-size machetes operate. It's a neat tool, though.
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True, true!

Zieg
 
Another Shepherd said:
Around here in Florida, that sounds like hawthorn--large shrubs or small trees with thorns a couple inches long covered with nasty bacteria that can cause infections. If I had to try to defang one, I would prefer something long, like a brush hook or a pole saw.
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A corn hook or a "cazanga" pattern machete works quite nicely. The cazanga is a socketed hook-shaped machete usually used by grasping the socket as the handle, but you can pole-mount it as a slasher, and can even attach a scythe nib to that pole for use as a scythook.
 
Back to the Original question on how something would work in the "Woodys Thickets of Northern Maine", I think a Skrama would work just fine. A very good friend in Finland sent me one, went to a friend's cookout where he cut some saplings, 2 1/2 to 3 inches thick, set them horizontally between two logs, and everyone got to bring their favorite choppers and have a go at them. I loaned my Skrama to SideHill Gouger, who has decades of experience with knives and worked as a logger in Washington State. He stepped up and with one hit cut thru that sapling. Now he is a fan of machetes, likes and has used a lot of them, but he was impressed with how the Skrama cut. John
 
Not in any way as a dig against the Skrama, as it's a fine tool, but I'd point out that to a degree, being impressed by the performance of a tool is often a function of the estimations being made of that tool at a glance vs. how it performs in use, and not how well the tool does on a task compared to other options. As a big camp knife type chopper, it's very well suited to Maine, especially during the colder months. I just wouldn't want it to be my only option if dealing with volume clearing or dealing with lush vegetation or brambles/swampy lithe woody growth. The advantage in machetes, especially ~16+ inches in blade length, is that they're able to do deal with such a wide range of targets effectively.
 
John A. Larsen said:
Back to the Original question on how something would work in the "Woodys Thickets of Northern Maine", I think a Skrama would work just fine. A very good friend in Finland sent me one, went to a friend's cookout where he cut some saplings, 2 1/2 to 3 inches thick, set them horizontally between two logs, and everyone got to bring their favorite choppers and have a go at them. I loaned my Skrama to SideHill Gouger, who has decades of experience with knives and worked as a logger in Washington State. He stepped up and with one hit cut thru that sapling. Now he is a fan of machetes, likes and has used a lot of them, but he was impressed with how the Skrama cut. John
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I would rather use my Skrama 240 than a machete for larger birch limbs- just a personal choice. It also holds an edge really well. It is truly a phenomenal knife.

Machetes are awesome for so many things, especially what I consider ‘dirty work’ where I might hit something like rocks and would not want to chip a more expensive blade. I grew up with machetes and have cut many different things with them. There is likely no more utility tool other than a shovel imo.

Im my snowmachine bag this week riding into my remote cabin I will have both my Skrama 240 and an Ontario machete- I love them both.
 
The Cold Steel All Terrain Chopper appears similar to bikerector bikerector 's and Wild Willie Wild Willie 's Imacasas.
Some reviewers mentioned woods versus leafy. Possible minus, the long length and weight (2.26 lbs) could be exhausting over long cutting sessions.
Can't say much about its other properties.
 
Both myself and my dad have cleared a fair amount of old trail and fence line with a Stanley brand machete (pretty basic latin, maybe even a Tram rebrand that he picked up while working in PNG) in mid-temperate/ edge of shield Saskachetwan. for light brush like new willow, wild raspberry, hazel and similar brush they are far more efficient than a lot of tools, and when it comes to the larger trees, well a sapling is a sapling. Even the harder to cut stuff like caragana falls well enough within limits. Basically for a few cuts, it was just as good as the saw-bladed stihl weed whacker, and everything above what the whacker could take was real saw stuff anyway. Also really good for clearing fresh growth of thistle or stinging nettle, again, depending on the trail and the size of the operator (I was a small ten year old).
For comparison where I live now in the sub-tropics, a machete has it's obvious advantages, but one of the species we deal with (Lantana) can be, and is often dealt with by those in uniform on exercise by the "platoon pack crawl" and other names, often with the smallest members of the squad being thrown upon the pile of patrol packs to aid in smashing it to the ground. It's a pain to push through, but it's pretty weak stuff, so often the best way to move through it is to just crush it. So a rolling road of patrol packs, logs and smaller squadmates are used to bring the limbs lower down, and then broken by boot as the unit moves along.
 
svacua said:
The Cold Steel All Terrain Chopper appears similar to bikerector bikerector 's and Wild Willie Wild Willie 's Imacasas.
Some reviewers mentioned woods versus leafy. Possible minus, the long length and weight (2.26 lbs) could be exhausting over long cutting sessions.
Can't say much about its other properties.
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That's one I've often considered grabbing, but with that niche being filled, and the fact that shipping seems to be twice what the machete costs, I've held off.
 
Wild Willie said:
The imacasas don't come with them either, unless you have FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades work his magic on them.

Do long as I know ahead of time, the required sweat equity doesn't bother me much.
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Tramontinas come with a semi edge and the cold steels have the best edge on a stock machete. But I resharpen all my machetes when I get them. I do leave the tips stock though, because I am likely to hit a rock or solid object with it when swinging for low brush.
 
Cold Steel jungle machete came with an edge, that’s why I was surprised the all terrain didn’t.
Condor Discord came with a nice edge and cut through hard wood (acacia, at least) like a good axe. It’s my favorite machete-like object to chop. Not the fastest cutting light vegetation, though.
 
I'm of the opinion that no machete comes with a good enough edge, not even Condor. Many come with usable edges, but they all need work to be brought to proper performance. With rare exception you shouldn't have an edge angle greater than 15° per side, and typically a bit under that for most applications.
 
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