Short machetes

Y

Yorkshire Boy

Joined
Sep 27, 2008
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I'm looking at the Condor eco parang and the Cudeman bolo machete. 42blades helped me a lot talking about the eco parang and I pretty much made up my mind to get one. 1075 steel, 3mm thick, bit worried the handle could be a bit thick.

But I've seen the Cudeman reduced to the same price £50, nice leather sheath, G10 handle, MOVA stainless steel, 12 inch blade just under 3mm thick, it looks like a refined Ontario cutlass.

Writing this from my phone so can't upload pictures. Which would you choose?

Any other suggestions (don't want to spend the money on a junglas). I want an orange handle, it must be cheap. I've also seen an EKA machete for about £80, looks like the Ontario cutlass with a saw back, kydex sheath and 12 inch 12c27 blade. Was going to post in the outdoor section but not many people go there anymore. Thanks for any replies.
 
KooKooforKukripuffs said:
What's wrong with the Ontario Cutlass or camper? They are heavy duty machetes and they certainly are inexpensive. If you don't like the knuckle guard you can cut it down/off easily.
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/ON8512/ontario-camper-machete-12-inch-blade-orange-knuckle-guard
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From what I've seen people complain about the Ontario cutlass handle and having to sharpen the blade when they buy it. The Condor, Cudeman and EKA are good to go from the box.
 
My Condor Mini Duku Parang came not too long ago, and I have really been enjoying it. I would expect the Eco Parang to be similar, at a much better price.

Your best bet would probably be to get the Eco Parang from Forty Two Blades and get the special grade treatment, which he does for free on Condors. The factory edge is probably good, but his edge is better.

You didn’t mention the Varustekela Skrama, which is quite good, although the handle only comes in black. More versatile than most machetes, cheaper than the Junglas, and felt by many to be better than the Junglas at doing Junglas things.
 
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I have had very good experience with Condor stuff, hence suggest the eco-parang.

Don't like Ontario stuff. Would never buy another one of their machetes. Have several that I consider this one step away from the trash can as I have a broad selection of Condors at this point. 42 says that you can sand down the plastic handles if you want or need to. It is why I generally get wood handled Condors.

Yeah, I own an Ontario Cutlass machete as well.... it stays unused. It was one of the very first machetes I bought in search of something I really like. Do not like the D-handles at all. Want to protect your hands? Wear gloves which I suggest regardless.
 
KooKooforKukripuffs said:
Y Yorkshire Boy
Youd do realize that almost any machete after any real world use will require being sharpened. Unless you are buying it just to look at it with it's professionally sharpened mirror edge.
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You know I never realized that cutting tools ever needed sharpening, thanks for that!

What I don't want is to have sort out the blade and handle when it first arrives, if I want that I'll buy a tramontina.
 
Yorkshire Boy said:
You know I never realized that cutting tools ever needed sharpening, thanks for that!

What I don't want is to have sort out the blade and handle when it first arrives, if I want that I'll buy a tramontina.
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The machete will need to be sharpened occasionally when used.
 
Mecha said:
The machete will need to be sharpened occasionally when used.
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See, that's where I'm going wrong because when it gets blunt I hold it by the blade and chop with the handle.

What I don't want is to have to sort out uneven grinds and spend time on the handle on a brand new tool. I want it to work straight from the box and just have to maintain it.
 
It's $18, as opposed to the 100+ US $ equivalent you are looking at. You said inexpensive and orange. What's $18 US to GBP, like 13?
It would take all of 15 minutes to cut the handle and put a better than factory edge on it.

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In my personal estimation, Ontario runs their machetes too hard, and the form is awkward, with a very "dead" feel in the hand. I only carry them in my shop because they're essentially the only economical USA-made machete at present. But I'd suggest other options to anyone willing to entertain a different choice. For a good short machete, the Svord Kiwi is a nice one.
 
As FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades mentioned, the Svord Kiwi machete is great!
It is a little more expensive, but the Fiddleback forge production 12 inch machete is very well made.
Ontario blades are good for their price, but I prefer their older handle shapes. The new ones don't feel as good in my opinion.
 
I'd forgotten about the Kiwi machete, available in the UK too. The Camp 10 gets rave reviews. Both are good to go out of the box which is what I want.
 
I don't care for the Camp 10, personally. The grip texturing is too aggressive and the rubber is tacky. It's a hot spot machine.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I don't care for the Camp 10, personally. The grip texturing is too aggressive and the rubber is tacky. It's a hot spot machine.
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Probably why the YouTube videos I've seen people are wearing gloves.

If I ordered an eco parang from you how much would it cost to ship to the UK? They sell for £49.95 here and shipping is negligible.
 
22-rimfire said:
I have had very good experience with Condor stuff, hence suggest the eco-parang.

Don't like Ontario stuff. Would never buy another one of their machetes. Have several that I consider this one step away from the trash can as I have a broad selection of Condors at this point. 42 says that you can sand down the plastic handles if you want or need to. It is why I generally get wood handled Condors.

Yeah, I own an Ontario Cutlass machete as well.... it stays unused. It was one of the very first machetes I bought in search of something I really like. Do not like the D-handles at all. Want to protect your hands? Wear gloves which I suggest regardless.
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I needed a long machete so I bought the D-handled 22". Being a one handed heavy short sword the handle isn't great at all, but it won't slip out of my hand and gloves make a huge improvement which as you say should be used anyway. The edge needed help but we're looking at a dollar an inch blade and I don't need a mirror edge when going through low brush. I don't know but maybe the poster should buy something that's not orange because of the greater number out there and do an orange paracord wrap.

https://atwoodrope.com/collections/nano-cord/products/75mm-x-300ft-nano-cord-neon-orange

Nanocord might be better to put over an original handle because of its narrow diameter.
 
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FortyTwoBlades said:
In my personal estimation, Ontario runs their machetes too hard, and the form is awkward, with a very "dead" feel in the hand. I only carry them in my shop because they're essentially the only economical USA-made machete at present. But I'd suggest other options to anyone willing to entertain a different choice. For a good short machete, the Svord Kiwi is a nice one.
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I think also think they run their machetes too hard. I had one a little over a 20 years ago. I bought it as a "nice" one and bought a dead soft cheaper machete as a beater. I was clearing some wood at my folks and was really enjoying the deep, firm bite of the Ontario.

Until I swung down and hit a hidden brick under the leaves. The edge chipped about an inch and came back hard enough to hit my knuckle with enough force to split it open.

I think I am the only person in a world who needed stitches due to a machete injury....caused by a chipped edge.
 
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