Tristan --
Go out and try it! I'm dying to know myself. Theoretically I can raise objections, but for all we know your sword will do just fine.
So, what would my reasons be for not using a sword?
Well, first, gut instinct tells me that when indigenous people settle on a general blade format, it generally works very very well. In the Americas, that format tends to be a machete.
The machete is thin-spined but wide as measured from edge to spine. For chopping -- and a machete can do a lot of it -- it's plenty strong in that direction. In fact, all cutlery with a primary or secondary chopping mission are like this, not always very thin-spined but always very wide: bowie knife, kukri, machete, bolo. Will your shorter but thicker sword be able to take all the pounding? Is it tough enough, and strong enough in the right direction? That question isn't just rhetorical, I really don't know, but there must be *some* reason all choppers have good height.
Joe
jat@cup.hp.com
[This message has been edited by Joe Talmadge (edited 20 November 1998).]
) I would spend $25 anyway. Has anyone handled this type of sword, and do you think it would work well as a machete? If not, which machete is best?