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

Retired UPS Driver said:
If measured from the very back of the handle going forward, it balances at exactly 12.5 inches. It’s the only machete I’ve ever owned or used, so I have nothing to compare it to.

I would use that and a lopper (for the underwater cutting) to clear out trails all day long on the weekends. The extra reach it has made the work day a lot more productive in my perspective, as it was some really thick overgrown stuff I was cutting through at the time.
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I just measured my 18" bladed tramontina latin machete and it balances right about 11.5" to 12". Either way, now we know it's made by Imacasa per 42blades post above. That's a pretty neat bit of history you have. 22" blade is a good size, I need to get one in a pattern like that. I often don't need a longer machete for where and what I cut most of the time, but when there's a clearing along the trails I help maintain, the added length would sure be nice with my back degrading a bit over the past 5 years. I was looking at different options all weekend. We can't get much other than the tramontinas, fiskars, or low-end "off-brand" stuff, like from Menards (yard works?) locally.

Anyway, cool blade and I love that it shows the use from when you used it. Thanks for the share, and thanks to FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades for the history lesson.
 
bikerector said:
I just measured my 18" bladed tramontina latin machete and it balances right about 11.5" to 12". Either way, now we know it's made by Imacasa per 42blades post above. That's a pretty neat bit of history you have. 22" blade is a good size, I need to get one in a pattern like that. I often don't need a longer machete for where and what I cut most of the time, but when there's a clearing along the trails I help maintain, the added length would sure be nice with my back degrading a bit over the past 5 years. I was looking at different options all weekend. We can't get much other than the tramontinas, fiskars, or low-end "off-brand" stuff, like from Menards (yard works?) locally.

Anyway, cool blade and I love that it shows the use from when you used it. Thanks for the share, and thanks to FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades for the history lesson.
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Yep, getting old isn’t always easy. Young, buff, and full of calloused hands I am not anymore, and I do know what you mean about your degrading back matched up with trail maintenance, sorry.

It’s my pleasure to share it with you guys, and I really do appreciate the history lesson we learned today. Thank you for the compliments too.
 
Huntsman Knife Co. said:
I used to make a machete specifically for this called the Fell Beast. They were made from .110 or .125 thick stock, so much heavier than a true machete but still only weighed about 23 ounces. I made them from 52100, AEBL, and 3V and kept the edges in the 58-60RC range to deal with hardwoods. After using one for years, I really believe a machete is the best big blade for pretty much any environment. Going back to a 10in chopper after having swung a 18in blade is disappointing. If I ever have the time and space to make knives again I'd love to put out another run of these.

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Huntsman Knife Co. said:
I used to make a machete specifically for this called the Fell Beast. They were made from .110 or .125 thick stock, so much heavier than a true machete but still only weighed about 23 ounces. I made them from 52100, AEBL, and 3V and kept the edges in the 58-60RC range to deal with hardwoods. After using one for years, I really believe a machete is the best big blade for pretty much any environment. Going back to a 10in chopper after having swung a 18in blade is disappointing. If I ever have the time and space to make knives again I'd love to put out another run of these.

0MErFC6.jpg
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Those fell beast are almost the exact dimensions I've been hunting for in a blade, like a slightly longer cpk lc. If you make anymore or are open to a custom order I would love to talk with you more.
 
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 Baryonyx machete and the Skrama are both on my shelf. They are both excellent tools, but so different that there is really no basis for comparison. The Skrama is essentially a camp knife, excellent for splitting wood and an excellent chopper for a knife. As a chopper, it compares favorably with the “big knives” with blades around 10” or so. Some people think it chops better than thr Junglas, others say no. I wouldn’t be able to say. It chops better than my BK9. I have no idea how it compares agains the high- buck choppers like Siegle and Busse. It will cut brush and grasses, but it would not be my first choice for that. I think one reason it chops so well is the long handle, which allows it to generate head speed like a 13” or 14” chopper machete.

The Baryonyx machete is a whole ‘nother animal. 16” leaf-shaped blade, long handle. Think of it as a big Smatchet with a brush hook on the back. It ghosts through grasses and light brush. It excels in the light to medium-sized brush it was designed for. It has enough weight to cut larger green wood. The relatively heavy blade cuts deep into green wood rather than throwing chips like the Golok. It excels against a wider range of vegetation than anything else I have. I like it for buckthorn and blackberry brambles. If I have a defined, identifiable patch of something I can clear in half an hour or so, I will get it out. Otherwise, a few hospitalizations over the last couple of years have cost me some muscle and wind, so it is not something I want to carry around the yard looking for something to cut.

BTW, I have been really enjoying this thread. I have a lot of the machetes under discussion, a lot more than I need for the size of my yard. It is as much amusement as anything else. I like to put three or four blades in a wheelbarrow and see how they compare side to side on a given patch of vegetation. A lot of the observations here confirm my own, rather limited experience.
 
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Henry Beige said:
The Baryonyx machete and the Skrama are both on my shelf. They are both excellent tools, but so different that there is really no basis for comparison. The Skrama is essentially a camp knife, excellent for splitting wood and an excellent chopper for a knife. As a chopper, it compares favorably with the “big knives” with blades around 10” or so. Some people think it chops better than thr Junglas, others say no. I wouldn’t be able to say. It chops better than my BK9. I have no idea how it compares agains the high- buck choppers like Siegle and Busse. It will cut brush and grasses, but it would not be my first choice for that. I think one reason it chops so well is the long handle, which allows it to generate head speed like a 13” or 14” chopper machete.

The Baryonyx machete is a whole ‘nother animal. 16” leaf-shaped blade, long handle. Think of it as a big Smatchet with a brush hook on the back. It ghosts through grasses and light brush. It excels in the light to medium-sized brush it was designed for. It has enough weight to cut larger green wood. The relatively heavy blade cuts deep into green wood rather than throwing chips like the Golok. It excels against a wider range of vegetation than anything else I have. I like it for buckthorn and blackberry brambles. If I have a defined, identifiable patch of something I can clear in half an hour or so, I will get it out. Otherwise, a few hospitalizations over the last couple of years have cost me some muscle and wind, so it is not something I want to carry around the yard looking for something to cut.

BTW, I have been really enjoying this thread. I have a lot of the machetes under discussion, a lot more than I need for the size of my yard. It is as much amusement as anything else. I like to put three or four blades in a wheelbarrow and see how they compare side to side on a given patch of vegetation. A lot of the observations here confirm my own, rather limited experience.
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Great post! Thank you!

Zieg
 
Here in The middle of Michigan I most often use a "Fiskars Brush Axe" or my heavily modified Ontario 22" heavy duty machete. The Ontario has 3 inches cut off the tip ,squared and ground like a chisel for scraping. The edge is thinned out and I removed the plastic"D" handle and made a very ergonomic new handle made of wood and dipped in probably 10 coats of plasti dip. It swings well, isn't too heavy and cuts anything under 2 inches thick in one swing(unless I'm getting tired). The Fiskars Brush Axe is a bit soft for my liking but holds an edge fairly well and the hooked design is great to grab and move things as you work without always having to bend over. Neither one gets the tip speed of a long , thin south American style machete but I rarely cut grasses or very small brush.
 
The True North said:
Yep, limbing trees for shooting lanes and chopping roots are my primary uses here in Alberta as well.
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Also from Alberta, and I use one for clearing shooting lanes, and every trapper I know has one strapped to their Tundra. I find that you dont want too fine of an edge on your machete for taking out willows, and the bend and chop method is more efficient than just hacking away.
 
As one who once worked on a land surveying crew, cutting (many hundreds of yards of) line out in the woods for wetlands surveys, etc., I can tell you that (in southern New Jersey, at least), a brush hook was a far superior tool, and was used far more, for clearing lines than any machete. If you tried to use a machete on the stuff we were cutting (pine, mountain laurel, highbush and lowbush blueberry, scrub oak, holly, etc.) you would wear yourself out and not accomplish anything, since the brush would just bounce around like a spring rather than getting cut. (A machete would also be a good way to hurt yourself, as opposed to a nice long brush hook.) The key to cutting that stuff (as opposed to just thrashing it around) is to hit it with close to a vertical stroke very close to its roots...and for that, you need something at least around 3 feet long (if not longer if you don't want to lose a foot or leg), with most of its mass out near the end of that length.

To be clear: On a three-man survey crew, from "bottom of the totem pole to the top," there's the "rod man" (which was my job ... cutting line, holding the plumb bob or rod, etc.); the "instrument man" or "gun man" (who carried and ran the theodolite/transit/level/"gun" and tripod for same); and the "party chief" (boss) who carried a notebook and pencil and drew pictures. If you needed to cut serious line (in order to be able to see through the woods with the theodolite/transit), the "rod man" did most of that work...with a brush hook. The party chief carried a machete, but mostly for his Indiana Jones sense of sartorial style, for swatting the occasional mosquito, and for preventing the random twig from disturbing his coiffure. Think: Napoleon and his ceremonial saber LOL
 
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Bush hooks are incredible tools that mostly don't see a lot of use because of both their niche application (volume removal of scrub brush too thick for a scythe but too thin for an axe) and the lack of good instructional material on how they're meant to be wielded. Most of their use is an underhand pendulous stroke sort of halfway between a scythe stroke and a golf club swing, using the mass of the tool to your advantage to carry through the growth.
 
calaska said:
Playdoh and tennis racket wrap, back in business in no time
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Sugru is a product that works even better. It feels and molds like Playdoh, but sets up into a firm, durable rubber. Last time I looked, it was kind of expensive, though, with a shelf life of only a few months. I have done some very serviceable repairs and modifications with it. I don’t need it that often, so it is hard to keep enough on hand for many projects.
 
Rather than rivets I suggest using machine screws and self-clinching fasteners. Makes for a very attractive round nut that's available off-the-shelf at a lot of brick and mortar locations (like Fastenal) and super easy to find online. Ideally, use a counterbore for setting them, but they work fine in normal holes too.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
machine screws and self-clinching fasteners
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I just did a search and lots of different items came up. Do you have a particular model or picture that you could refer me to?

I’ve been wondering if I should recycle the old pins or get something else…
 
scdub said:
I just did a search and lots of different items came up. Do you have a particular model or picture that you could refer me to?

I’ve been wondering if I should recycle the old pins or get something else…
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These little guys. The integral serrated washer keeps them from spinning once inserted, especially if you stick 'em in a counterbored hole so they get good flat contact at the bottom. But, like I said, they work in standard drilled holes, too. Counterbores are pretty cheap if you know how to google, and it's not too hard to find interchangeable pilot ones so you can get the right match of hole and counterbore.
s-l1200.webp
 
Huntsman Knife Co. said:
I used to make a machete specifically for this called the Fell Beast. They were made from .110 or .125 thick stock, so much heavier than a true machete but still only weighed about 23 ounces. I made them from 52100, AEBL, and 3V and kept the edges in the 58-60RC range to deal with hardwoods. After using one for years, I really believe a machete is the best big blade for pretty much any environment. Going back to a 10in chopper after having swung a 18in blade is disappointing. If I ever have the time and space to make knives again I'd love to put out another run of these.

0MErFC6.jpg
Click to expand...
I was lucky enough to pick up two of huntsman’s machete - one was a bolo pattern. Both are 51200. They are awesome. I have a dozen other brands/types and the huntsman machetes are what gets used. They really are the very best. I keep checking to see if production has started back up - I want to pick up some more.
 
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