Sad Day for My Pride and My Machax

C

cjr7

Joined
Mar 26, 2012
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138
Went on a hike with BeckerRednecker today. Along the way, we chopped everything in sight. Sad to say that my Machax got owned. Here is a pic of me, mesmerized by the blade that bested my beloved.

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A freaking Bear Grylls Parang. That thing is a brush chopping beast. Don't get me wrong, the Machax did good, but the Parang seemed to be in a class above. Even when we switched users the Parang came out ahead. What am I to take from this? Is it simply the weight of the Parang that makes it the better chopper?
 
It's longer, for one. Not familiar with the Bear Grylls parang really. Machetes are chopping beasts though.
 
Interesting.....
I have no idea what the BG Parang can do. So I think I'll subscribe and see if I can learn a little.
Thanks
 
Would be interested to see how it does against a Condor or the Junglas too. Chop offs are always fun. What were you chopping? Just brush, or anything bigger?
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Would be interested to see how it does against a Condor or the Junglas too. Chop offs are always fun. What were you chopping? Just brush, or anything bigger?
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Brush, limbs, and deadwood. We were mainly clearing stuff hanging out into the roads on my farm. Limbs were anywhere from probably 1/4" to 2" and where a mix. Many I didn't bother to identify, but I definitely recall hickory, oak, sycamore, locust, and sassafras.
 
Machax is a cool tool, and for really heavy use I would defintely choose the Becker. However, the truth is there are some pretty dang nice choppers out there that can be had for a lot less money than a 'chax. I have had really good luck with a $20 Cold Steel kukri machete, condor makes some great machetes for cheap, sounds like the gerber parang is a decent tool too. Interesting...


Dax
 
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oh, that Grylls Parang, with a good convexed edge, owns a lot of things. over and over. not bad for $29 or less shipped.
 
But of course, chopping is just one area of application. How did they compare on others? Although I feel the parang may have the advantage when it comes to batoning. But the 4 I guess will best it on everything else :-)
 
i had one of these parangs at the Fall Gathering. it CHOPPED very Very VERY well. moose managed to overmuscle his tramantina for a potential lead. we'd need more data :>

still, both are inexpensive. and long. snap speed towards the end of the sweet spot. good weight on the parang, pretty good thickness overall.

the parang has mystery steel, and is not as hard as the nicely formed 1095cv that KaBar does.

more fitting to compare the parang to Toooj's longer designs maybe - esp the cutlass machete.
 
Machetes generally will outchop a knife. Every machete I own chop better than any knife 10" and under I own. I do have some goloks that do better, though.
 
Bladite said:
oh, that Grylls Parang, with a good convexed edge, owns a lot of things. over and over. not bad for $29 or less shipped.
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No doubt. It was awesome today. And it was less than 28 bucks. Amazing, at least in the comparison today.
 
Bladite said:
...the parang has mystery steel, and is not as hard as the nicely formed 1095cv that KaBar does....
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Just for the record my internet research reveals it is 1055. Appears to be one of the few BG blades with a known steel designation instead of the infamous "Gerber Mystery Steel".
 
Yeah, that'll happen. Like Bladite said, we had one at the Fall Gathering in October and it was chopping right up there with the Tramontina machete, and in case you didn't know, usually nothing outchops that little $7 wonder. No reason to hang your head though, while the parang may chop better in those circumstances than the machax, change the vegetation type and the machax will handle things the BG parang couldn't even come close to managing.
 
DerekH said:
Yeah, that'll happen. Like Bladite said, we had one at the Fall Gathering in October and it was chopping right up there with the Tramontina machete, and in case you didn't know, usually nothing outchops that little $7 wonder. No reason to hang your head though, while the parang may chop better in those circumstances than the machax, change the vegetation type and the machax will handle things the BG parang couldn't even come close to managing.
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Yeap, basically the performance was linked to price. The cheaper it was, the more badass it performed. Go fig...
 
I tested a BG parang against a Junglas and it out chopped the Junglas hands down, even through hard wood. The parang is a very proven design. The Gerber BG is surprisingly well built and holds an edge.
 
Interesting to hear the parang is made from 1055, which according to my research is quite a bit softer than the minimum common of 1075, but see as all the other BGs are made from a 440A or 440B equivalent, but if it works, it works. I guess I should stop ragging on people when they show me a BG parang and call it a "real knife", or at least turn down the volume of my laughing.

Put it up against a patrol machete... NAO! :D
 
With few exceptions lonnger chops better.......The Machax is about compact utility......Try a Reinhart kukri for a middle blade ..... Lots of chop and a decent vegetation remover.......BTW, for a parang or other long macete like object you want to keep the hardness moderate and a lot of companies have gone with an inherently milder steel at very moderate hardness to keep catastrophic blade failure to a minimum..... Cheaper too....The downside is wretched edge holding .....But you can sharpen in a hurry with a file........I like a higher carbon content ( we all know Ethan loves 1095CV ) and solve the impact problems by fiddling with the Rockwell numbers.......I have a good friend that buys a dozen Trammies at a time and keeps a five gallon bucket full of them in his truck........At the end of the day he passes them over a belt grinder and starts the next day with a bucket of sharp......Lots of ways to skin that cat.......

All Best.....

Ethan
...
 
Personally I think that if you're dulling Tramontinas (1075) so badly it takes a bucket of them to last the day then you must be hitting dirt or rocks a lot. i can chop all day with a Tram and only have to touch it up if I hit something I shouldn't--which would end up dulling better steel anyway. Rocks always win. :D That being said I find higher hardness beneficial, especially with regards to stiffness in thin blades. You still want it springy and shock resistant, but when holding a machete out horizontally there should be minimal, if any, droop to the blade, which commonly happens to long untapered machetes of long length.

The Machax is a nice compact chopper that performs better than many others in its length. I just typically prefer longer, broader, thinner choppers.
 
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