Variations of panga machetes

M

Mr.Wizard

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Feb 28, 2015
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What is the difference between the various panga machetes that Imacasa makes? In a 22" length there are models 32, 33, 648, 648J, and 980. paging FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades or Joezilla Joezilla

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They're all slightly different different shapes, which leads to differences in their mass distribution and the presentation of the spine (they have nearly the same presentation of the cutting line as one another.) My personal favorite is the No. 32 in the 20" blade length.
 
Are some heavier than others? Better at one task or another? Why is No. 32 your favorite?
 
I'm not sure about the 980 or the 33 but the 648 has a slimmer base stock thickness that tapers to about the same tip thickness as the 32. The reason I like the 32 is that it has a full-profile tang that can be properly flushed down to fit (the "ideal" handle is a mortised tang with open space beyond the tang's end) and has a particularly nice flare, large sweet spot, and a good stout spine thickness at the forte.
 
FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades since I don't know if the forum would appreciate a separate thread on every product Imacasa makes I'll ask here:

Can you tell me about the red varnished No. 31 machetes compared to the No. 127?

Is the No. 157 "Pulla" a good multipurpose design? Still light enough to swing fast but with deeper chops than the No. 127? Machetespecialists.com shows it as 3oz heavier with about the same distal taper.
 
The No.31 has a different handle shape than the 127. I don't have direct personal experience with those models. The 157 is a more forward-weighted chopping design.

I think you'd save yourself a lot of headache and analysis paralysis by just buying several machetes of different patterns and getting some field experience with them. They're economical enough that there's no harm in buying multiples to build up your hands-on knowledge and ability to read a pattern and its suitability for your contexts. A lot of these questions, while simple at surface level, are beyond what can be meaningfully answered concisely and would require a lot of typing for something that's made readily apparent with just a little field time with a handful of different styles to play around with. Most of these designs will get your tasks done and the most important thing is if they're a light pattern, a medium pattern, or a heavy pattern, and if they're long or short. The further distinction between them gets down to hair-splitting that, while definitely meaningful for folks using them for more than an hour at a time, are VERY laborious to communicate through written word out of context.
 
Not to worry. I enjoy answering questions generally, this is something that's just very difficult to properly articulate via text when getting in even a few sessions of actual work done with machetes exhibiting different build styles will teach you all you need to know! I'd focus on just getting a representative of the major categories, heavy, medium, and light build styles. The 18" Latin pattern is basically the archetypal representative of the medium type.
 
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