Machetes

I'm not too picky on machetes since all I do with them is clear out brush and occaisonally a few smaller branches.

Anyways as long as you don't cut hardwood and don't need aheavy-duty machete, a wal-mart machete works, I boutght mie for around $5 and after I gave it a quick temper job (it apparently had none or a very poor job, I could bend the edge fairly easily before the tempering) it worked quite well, actually the only problem i had was from the blade chipping when I hit a rusted nail in the base of this large shrub (i think it originaly had barbed wire attatched to it), which I think would happend to any other thin machete if it ever contacted something laike that too.

Also my friend has a homebrew machete made from an old scythe blade (extremely heavy-duty) and it kicks some major butt. It is very heavy, but it can handle hardwood extremely well and handle the brush too. the only downside is that it is unbelieveably heavy and is carbon steel so it rusts easily, but if you are a strong person it is not bad, too heavy for me since I am darn well near a twig.

Hope this post answerend your question and got some gears turning for ideas for homemade ideas as well.

SFoley

would insert a witty quote but I have not had any cheese puffs today.
frown.gif
 
I picked up a Collins in Cartagena Columbia in 1969 and it is as good as the day I bought it from a sugar cane farmer complete with two sheaths and a traditional woven belt for $4.20 US.The edge can be sharpened to shave with. I've used it mainly to cut weeds,But I've seen the Indians in Columbia cut the grass in lawns to about 3 inches high by squatting down and swinging it from side to side while crab walking across the yard. It looked like a lawn mower had been used when they were through.
 
LBWHeat,

You say it looked like they'd used a lawn mower??? Do you know if Collins makes a "mulching" version yet
wink.gif
Hmmm ... maybe the "mulching" version would be one in each hand
wink.gif
I can see the look on my neighbors' faces now
redface.gif


Dave.
 
I have just completed a head to head review of the Ross Aki Straight Backed Machete (which I bought after reading the other review posted at the top of this thread and conversing (via email) with Ross for a while), and the Livesay Recon Combat Machete. I also include the Ontario Beavertail in there as a low-end benchmark against which to compare the others... You can read the review at http://www.crl.com/~mjr/sbm_rcm.html

Please let me know what you think...

 
Matthew --

Great review! Is it new? If so, please post a new pointer to it in the Knife Reviews forum, rather than just leaving it buried here at the end of a machetes thread.

I have some questions for you: What was the hardest thing you chopped with the 1/16" Aki? How did the edge hold up on both the Aki and RCM knives, relative to chips, dings, and dulling? How secure was your hand on the SBM? I ask that because there doesn't seem to be very much finger protection up front. I realize most machetes don't because they're not made for doing much thrusting, but the SBM's seems like a particularly gentle curve. For strict weedwhacking around the homestead, the SBM seems like just the ticket!

Thanks! I'll re-post these questions in Knife Reviews if you start a thread there for your review.

Joe
 
Hi Joe... OK, I started a "machetes review" topic over in reviews and posted the pointer under it. I'll answer your questions here though for now.

I didn't try the SBM on anything "hard" it just seemed pointless to do so as I don't want to have to find myself trying to re-temper it or sending it back to Ross for that job. I did try it on some very. I wish I had a palm trunk to try it on, but I didn't, and in anycase, even with very soft wood, the tool isn't meant to be used on large diameter plants. It is a brush tool, so I tried to use it as such. Indeed the RCM is by far the woodier tool, and much less of a loose brush tool. I think the two machetes are designed with very different purposes in mind.

The SBM handle is just not a problem. Newt commented to me and said it looked like the wrapped handle might lead to blisters if used all day long. Since I've not literally used it all day, I can't be certain, but it seemed to me that the handle was very comfortable and sturdy. It certainly does not slip with sweat or wet hands, so its fine in that regard, and the machete is so light that creeping up on the blade by the hand is just not a problem. I would like to have seen a hold in the butt for a lanyard or loop, but that is a point I failed to mention in the review and will update it accordingly.

 
Joe, I think you've seen it already, but if not please read my review of the Aki Straight Back machete, too, and you will see that it is for a LOT more than "gentle weed-whacking". It is a hardcore machete that eats tree branches and wood for breakfast, too. http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/aki.html

------------------
My Custom Kydex Sheath page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html

 
Newt Livesay emailed me and pointed out that his machete was designed with denser more fiberous tissues - for example really thick stands of hemp - in mind! Newt claimed that light machetes like the SBM delivered considerable shock stress to the hand when you strike something hard that the machete does not sink deeply into. I believe he is referring to the sort of shock one might receive when hitting a hardball with a softball bat (sorry American baseball analogy).

I didn't hit anything hard enough with it to experience that kind of shock, but I did hit things that stopped it very quickly - a certain variety of weed that when dried out becomes very woody and hard. I did feel, to a minimal degree, the shock that Newt describes. By contrast, Newt's machete is the hardball bat. It can hit that hard stuff without transmitting the shock of being suddenly stopped, to the hand. I have used the RCM to chop some pretty big pine logs, so I know it remains comfortable in the hand (if a little tiring on the arm) while doing so.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top