My set up ( advice )

[Logan5219]

I am thinking of asking my local blacksmith to make a kopis design as a machete these are some of the designs i found on the internet to help create.

So what do you think of the design as a machete, and by the way I live in Malaysia which is a tropical jungle just for some background information.

and also i am thinking of using a Bowie knife as an all purpose utility knife which will be 7 1/2 inches blade or 8 inches and a 4 inch bladed knife for more finer work.

Please give me your advice.

 

[amg137]

That design looks pretty reasonable to me, though I wouldn't want quite such a delicate tip if I'm going to be hacking through dense underbrush - the tip might break if you hit a thick branch or something.

It's hard to judge the length and thickness based on these pictures, but for a jungle machete (I'm assuming your intended use is as a bushwhacking machete and basically nothing else) I'd probably be looking for something with a very long, relatively thin blade in the range of 15-18" and about 2-3.5 mm blade stock. You'll also probably want a high toughness carbon steel for ease of field sharpening and durability. Something like the 10x5 series of steels or 5160 would probably work well, though there are "premium" high toughness steels like 3V available if you want to go that way.

 

[EChoil]

While the machetes you picture are "nice looking," they don't appear to me to be of the best design for truly slashing and chopping in the bush.

I prefer a bolo knife or a bolo design machete. It puts more weight to the front and usually has a very different profile from those in the pics.

The idea of a bowie and smaller blade to supplement sounds good. For your small blade check out the line of DPx HEST II fixed blades. I really like mine--perfect for the smaller stuff in camp.

One of my favorite combinations is my 16" bolo, a Ka-Bara USMC....then either my HEST II Woodsman, BK-11, or HEST 2.0 folder in my pocket.

 

[S.Alexander]

Check out the custom knives for sale forum here. There are some very talented makers who can make choppers like that.

 

[olpappy]

If you live in Malaysia I would think you would have access to some awesome parang perfectly suited to the vegetation you have there. There are lots of people recommend Bidor parang which is a commercial brand made in Malaysia, there are probably also many other local blacksmith who can made a fine Malaysian style parang to be superb cutters. The handle design of the native parang also shows you how the tool wants to be used, it almost forces you to use the correct chopping technique. A quick internet search brought up this interesting link, for example:

http://www.sepuh-crafts.com/

 

[JayGoliath]

If you live in Malaysia I would think you would have access to some awesome parang perfectly suited to the vegetation you have there. There are lots of people recommend Bidor parang which is a commercial brand made in Malaysia, there are probably also many other local blacksmith who can made a fine Malaysian style parang to be superb cutters.

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