Ontario Machete's, any good.

R

rage

Joined
Mar 19, 1999
Messages
124
Hello people, i have many home self-defense type weapon, but I am interested in getting a Machete. This Machete would be used for chopping wood and such, and will definetly be used as a secondary home defense weapon. The Machete's i'm interested in are these, the ontario standard issue military machete, w/18inch blade, with no saw, or a 22inch blade Blackie Collins heavy duty machete, also made bye ontario. This one has that knuckle guard, tell me, which do you think is better, is the extra heft of the 22 inch blade better, or the versatality of the 18inch better. And also, how do these machetes come to you, are they all rusted up, gunky, dull as hell, do they have a point, overall how good are they. Oh yea, i'm gonna spend no more than $30 beans for this, i have a place where i can get either one for under $20, and a collins sheath for about $10 bucks, so don't recommend a $300 dollar machete, thanks.
 
Among machetes, Ontario's seem to have a good reputation.

I don't care for them though, too springy.

I like the Barteaux Heavy Duty Line. Heat treated L6 steel, injected molded safetly handles.

http://www.northwest.com/people/~neil1525

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Marion David Poff aka Eye, one can msg me at mdpoff@hotmail.com If I fail to check back with this thread and you want some info, email me.

My site is at: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Meadows/1770/index.html

Check out my review of the Kasper AFCK, thougths on the AFCK and interview of Bob Kasper. http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Meadows/1770/kasperafck.html

 
In my opinion for the wilderness it's the best 15 bucks you can spend. They don't use them the world over for no good reason. Ask Rwanda how good of a weapon they are. I would just about bet that more folks have been killed with a machete than all other knives combined. - Jeff

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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com

 
The ones I have came clean and fairly sharp from the dealer.If you really think you may have to swing one indoors, get the shorter.Otherwise,the longer will give you a marginally better swing for heavy work.Remember that machetes are more for brush cutting and agricultural use than for heavy wood chopping,so you may be disappointed in its performance in that capacity.If it does get a little dull, the Ontario machete is easy to touch up with most any sharpening too. Good value by any standard.

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"To grow older is inevitable.To grow UP is optional."


 
Jeez, thanks a million for the fast responses to my post, i will probably get the 18incher, cause i think it would be much quicker in the hand, THANKS. And I wouldn't really do heavy chopping with it, just light hacking, and yes, it can make a good weapon.
 
Rage,

I have one coming in this month from AKI that will have a 14" ATS-34, 1/8" stock that I'm very anxious to get. The guy has a special heat-treat that he uses and these blades are really neat. He makes one of 1/16" stock that is very nice also.
I'll post the results when I get to really try it out!
 
I love Ontario machetes, they are my prime camp knife for big-knife jobs. I have a 12" beaver tail and an 18" military. If you're looking for a specialty heavy wood chopper, there are better choices, but as a light wood chopper and brush clearer, machetes in general are a good choice.

For defensive use, do you really have enough room to swing even an 18" machete in your house? No narrow hallways? I'd strongly suggest checking out the 12" version. Actually, for defensive use, I'd lean strongly towards a fighting bowie in a big knife. But I understand, you want the machete to do double-duty, so I'll work within your constraints.

Okay, I do not like the Blackie Collins machetes. The handles are an abomination, you have to work with them a while to see how uncomfortable they are. Keep with the regular Ontario line with open handles, regardless of the size you get.

I haven't tried the Barteauxs that Marion mentioned. They seem interesting, though I'm not sure if I'm thrilled with the tanto-like shape or d-ring handles. But L-6 might be a very good steel for this application, so they might be awesome.

Joe

 
Yipes! Maybe I'm doing something wrong. The only time I've ever used a machete was when I had to clear out some thorns in my backyard. I have an Ontario "katana" (not a katana at all if you know anything about swords) which I would prefer as a home defense blade, but now that you mention, I'd hate to get cut by a sharp machete. I've never ever taken one camping though.

Howie

Different (kinfe) strokes...
 
Larry,

>>I have one coming in this month from AKI that will have a 14" ATS-34, 1/8"<<

I picked up a 14" "machete" from Ricky Fowler. You can see a pick of one on his website (http://www.homestead.com/customknives/homepage.html), but it's out of 1/4" stock. Much too heavy for a machete, but a hell of a chopper. Made of blued O1 steel, micarta handle.

I recently had him make me a 16", out of 1/8" stock... *much* better. I'll bet you're gonna like yours.

Kirk
 
I have a very old Barteaux machete that I bought at a fleamarket. It has an aluminum handle and it is very heavy duty. I think you could easily cut someone's head off with it in one easy swipe (just kidding). But I did use it to decapitate chickens.
smile.gif
You can't miss their scrawny necks with this thing.

The problem with this machete is that after a lot of heavy chopping (I chopped down a bunch of dead pine trees with it.) the hand and arm begin to vibrate and go numb. Not much forgiveness in the aluminum grip. But I'm wondering if the new polypro handles are more forgiving? Or maybe the newer blades are a little softer? I dunno. This one is easy to sharpen and holds a pretty good edge. Takes a lot to dull it. It's an armful to swing, though, but it is one heck of a machete.

Would love to get a different handle for it though. Any suggestions? Maybe I should just buy a new one.

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Hoodoo

Cogita tute
 
I Just got a Barteaux 16" on sale for$6.99 at Farm and Fleet It chops really well but I think im going to rehandle it and reshape the blade to make a cheesy version of newts RTAK.I will probably blue the blade and make a Kydex sheath.Hope the project doesnt turn into a clusterf%&$.Many of my"great ideas at the time"do...
troy
 
Finally...

I have been dropping hints about the Barteauxs for weeks....

As to the D-ring handles, they are large enough that you can forget about the 'D' and they are just fine. Also they have other models, but they are not as nice overall.

As to the tanto, I think the idea is actually corn knife with tip, but a little time with a grinder would take the secondary point off, no problem.

I seem to think that they are harder than the Ontarios. And they are definitely harder than the CS Rifleman's Hawk, it was easy to sharpen in comparison to the Barteaux, but both were accomplished with a file.

I am planning on sending Cliff some of them to kill and see what he has to say.

Their site is
http://rogue.northwest.com/~neil1525/

And you can buy from mail order from an Ace Hardware, Barteaux has a deal with them to act as like a factory direct or some such. The number for Barteaux is 1-800-385-1142, and they can give you the other number.

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Marion David Poff aka Eye, one can msg me at mdpoff@hotmail.com If I fail to check back with this thread and you want some info, email me.

My site is at: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Meadows/1770/index.html

Check out my review of the Kasper AFCK, thougths on the AFCK and interview of Bob Kasper. http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Meadows/1770/kasperafck.html

 
From what I could find out the economy Barteaux machetes are 0.070 thick and the heavy duty are 0.090 thick. They're advertised as not being 'too hard', where they're designed to dent instead of chip if one hits a rock by accident for example. They both seem to have the kind of funny tanto tip, and it appears that the heavy duty model has a D handle and the economy has a 'regular' handle.
 
I don't like the Ontario machetes as they break apart on hard woods. They however make excellent slicers and choppers on soft materials as they are ground very thin which also makes them very easy to sharpen. I think I may eventually grind my 12" one back to a usable form and just reserve it for lighter work.

For those curious, they are very flexible. After my 18" one lost a big piece out of its edge I broke it in half at that point to make a smaller knife (way to much work to grind the blade down do to the penetration of the damage). The handle actually bent way past the 90 degree mark before snapping and approached becoming parallel to the part of the blade fixed under a shelf. The break was only at the fixed part with no fractures and the remaining pieces were left straight.

-Cliff
 
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