Using the Rodent Rucki as a heavy machete?

Raging Rhino

Raging Rhino

Joined
Nov 14, 2011
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Has anyone used and or packed their rucki yet for machete type work..,limbing trees, or chopping? I'm curious how it performed for ya. Did it get heavy after awhile...i.e., tiring? Trying to justify strapping it to my pack on my next jungle excursion, which will involve lots of hill hiking, mild climbing, and dense beyond belief jungle vegetation...not sure if it's worth the extra weight unless defense may be an issue, which on this trip it will most certainly not... What's y,all's opinion of the rucki as a do all camping pack strap, in addition to a small blade ofcourse? Just want some feedback from those who have some experience with this sweet little rodent...
 
I've used it for chopping, battoning, and some brush clearing. The factory edge needs some thinning but it's worked pretty well for me. My go to machete is a modified condor w/ about a 14" blade. The rucki just doesn't have that sweet spot that I'm used to w/ my latin style machetes. I'd say try it and see. It's not much heavier than the junglas or bwm.
 
Thanks...will do. I use condor machetes routinely, mostly the 14" Latin and 12" bolo, they work great, which is one reason why I want to spare the rucki the abuse...but I'm feeling guilty for neglecting it. Just worried about having a heavier, less effective tool for a week. Then again, it will be the coolest long blade in my group for sure...which may be worth it.
 
I've been wondering how it would perform in this role too over an extended period. Looking forward to the results, keep us posted. I'm sure there won't be a lack of machetes around if the rucki doesn't work out, so what is there to lose?
 
I'd imagine that 5 minutes of "simulated" swinging would tell you. Stop each swing by your own strength, just the forearms. I had a Waki for a while, and tried to use it to trim bushes. The weight of the blade made stopping the swing more the problem, not initiation the swing. For chopping wood, the wood is your brake, but not with light vegetation. The edge is too thick on these, like mentioned. That's great for preventing damage, bad because that much steel has to penetrate the material being cut.
Convex and thin out the whole blade, add a swedge, and you might have a nice bush sword/machete. That would be one wicked sword for sure!
 
I figured I'd convex the edge and thin out the grind profile after I messed up the finish...doing that to a new shiny rodent hurts my feelings. Swedging the spine limits some applications but improves penetration, which I don't think will be a problem...these things are very pointy... Yep, it would probably suck at clearing tall grassy and green veg...but inner jungle woody veg it may be quite fun. If I take it I'll post pics and review of my findings...bringing a $350 machete into a highly corrosive jungle environment for a week... better bring oil with me, I'll cry if it gets messed up.
 
monk3yfist said:
I've used it for chopping, battoning, and some brush clearing. The factory edge needs some thinning
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Raging Rhino said:
I figured I'd convex the edge and thin out the grind profile
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I thinned my edge out and convexed it. Helped a lot with chopping and biting deeper.

It's a light machete, a lot lighter than what I'm used to carrying, so there's no user fatigue by carrying it.

Where the fatigue comes from is when you chop some well seasoned or dense wood because it vibrates like a sonofabi***. But, it was desinged to clear brush and zombie heads, I can vouch for the brush and can only imagine for the zombies.
 
Yeah, the Rucki works great as a machete when the edge is thinned a bit and if you use both hands for the lightest stuff, which I can't do with the B11.
I like my Rucki a lot.
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AZTimT said:
Yeah, the Rucki works great as a machete when the edge is thinned a bit and if you use both hands for the lightest stuff, which I can't do with the B11.
I like my Rucki a lot.
rwrrps.jpg


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AZTimT,

Is the Rucki in the middle? What is the blade on top?
 
I kinda hate to say this, but the 1311 does a much better job at that kind of thing based on my experience clearing brush at my Aunt's horse property.
 
I used it to limb some bamboo--worked effortlessly. But now that I have a 1311, I'm partial to the resC
 
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