Ontario or Cold Steel?

J

John79

Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
225
Hello all, I am in the market for a good durable 18" machete for light chopping and clearing. I really like Ontario's 18" Military Issue machete, but I can't find it on their site anymore. Did they stop making it? I don't like the Cold Steel ones very much, they just seem to be of lower quality, but I figured that I should get some other people's opinions on the CS line before I decide against them. So, which do you guys think would preform better and last longer?
 
I have a few of the U.S. issue sawback machetes and CS machetes dont hold a candle to them.
 
Cold Steel out of Ventura California? Garbage.The owner is a whack job and he has this weird cult like following of little minions... I remember the guy from many knife and gun shows out in Cali hawking his knives(mostly his seconds) and making outlandish claims...nothing more then a snake oil salesman. Ask him and I'm sure he would tell you he invented cutting tools all by his little martial arts self.seriously, that guy is two cans short of a six pack. I bought a panga type knife from him and it was horrible. Made a great boat anchor, though!
 
Ontario Knife Company is a good company with solid (consistant) products. the CS products I have owned have varied quality wise. Get yourself an Ontario and you will be pleased.
 
I must say that my CS kukri is AWSOME & will out work any ontario !;)
I had an ontario & gave it to my brother when I got the CS. The handle is much more comfortable on the CS & out of the box it has a good edge but with a little work you can shave with this thing ! You can cut a 20oz water bottle (full) clean in half (fast & smooth) w/this thing. It will hold an edge & is very easy to resharpen. No I'm not a Lynn Thompson fan or CS freak but for $15.00 you cant beat it! :thumbup:
 
Coal digger, I got a very different result from you. The 3 Ontario machetes I own are of pretty quality and they kept a good edge for most of my cutting chores, but the CS machete requires a little more effort and don't seem to hold the edge as good. I sharpen them the same way on a 120 grit sanding belt.
 
My Ontario's will shave hair with little effort after a little work with a DMT stone. They are tempered to a harder RC than most other machetes and will pass for a backup knife. The saw on the back isn't that great though. Coaldigger were you comparing the thin ontario machets with your CS or were you comparing the U.S. issue heavy duty machetes?
 
Don't get me wrong , I like the ontario ,I really liked mine but when I got my CS kukri it just felt better in hand. No I would not turn down an ontario but if I had to chose I pick the kukri :D . The blade design of the kukri is far more superior than the regular ontario, it doesn't take near as much effort to chop or cut with. I guess you should just try to handle both blades before you purchase one. * Different strokes for Different folks * Both are great knives , can't go wrong with either.;)
 
Cold Steel also puts on a sticky label that's impossible to get off. The blade doesn't come with a good working edge, but I use a carbide sharpener and then the Cold Steel cuts fine. Nice grip, too, but I have no experience with the Ontario. Make sure it has a decent grip, though. Using a machete that has a bad grip can tear your hands up quickly.

Don't believe all the bad stuff you hear about Cold Steel. I've had great luck with their knives and I take everything Lynn Thompson says with a grain of salt. He pounds some of his knives into a car top and makes a big deal of it. I can pound many cheap knives through a car top, too, including a ten dollar Frost Delta Force. But at least they test their knives, which more companies should do, but with considerably less fanfare than Thompson does.
 
I've noticed that the Cold Steel Machetes' come with a very rough,jagged and unfinished edge(saw at a shop) and not the working edge that they claim.But the Bolo that I bought from their Special Projects Division had a better edge was not so jagged but there was a few spots of rust and a burr on the spine.So expect, spending quite a bit of time putting an edge on it.So you get what you pay. While the Ontario Military Machete I bought came nicely finished (no jagged edges,rust or burrs)the only complaints,the handle uses rivets and plastic for a handle that provides areas for rust to start and the phosphate(rough) finish, I have found on the Ontario machetes' tend to catch on things being cut while cold steel's is smooth and slides off what ever you're cutting and their handles are a overmolded of solid texture plastic,making cleaning a breeze.Another,Cold Steel uses 1055 while Ontario uses 1095 which has more carbon in it's steel providing somewhat a better edge holding qualities.I also want to mention that after I sharpened my Ontario Machete and while I sheathed and unsheathed it;the blade snagged the lip of the sheath and I almost cut completely through the material.

Conclusion,If I had to buy another machete it would be a Cold Steel one because of price.Yes,even though it would take a while to put an edge on it
 
i perfer the ontario over the cold steel. i own both and have used them both quite a bit. the ontario is clearly the better machete. it holds a better edge and comes with a decent edge right out of the box. i had to spend a lot of time sharpening the cs machete to get a decent working edge on it. i have only one piece of advice on the ontario though, dont get the ones with the saw backs on them. i have broke them during heavy chopping and the breaks always start in the bottom of one of the saw teeth and go straight down the balde. the saw teeth are a joke anyway. you can hack through anything a lot faster than you can saw your way through the same material with the ontario machete.,,VWB.
 
I have one of the CS kukri machettes and a few of the ontarios.

I wound up taking a grinder to my kukri and changing the bevel here and there to make it cut better. And now it just blasts through stuff that I wouldn't put some of the ontarios through.

Plus CS has different blade shapes in case you want something just a litttle bit different.

On the other hand, it doesn't take much to put a shaving sharp edge on an ontario.
 
Tolly said:
Tramontina!:D
Click to expand...


yea I like those as well

I have several and all work just fine


CS or Ontario?? Ontario for me please

SOME CS knives are pretty good...Lynn is his own favorite person...I have peanut butter on my keyboard
 
Thanks for all of the help guys! I have decided to go with an Ontario, but the one that I like, the 18" military issue machete, is no longer on their site. Have they stoped making them?
 
I've got one of the cheap CS Kukri wanna be machetes and after a good spin on the grinding wheel it has a edge good enough for what I need it for ie. clearing fence rows, trimming branches, that kind of thing. The handle sucks, it'll take your skin off, so I wrapped it in paracord.
 
I have the 12" Ontario D Handle...best machete i have used besides a filipino leafspring knife.
 
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