i have a machete from the local hardware store that has an upswept tip, like that of the panga, but less pronounced. my version also happens to have quite a thin blade, about half of the thickness of an ontario machete i once handled. because of this it better lends itself to cutting grasses and various vines and prickers more than wood. the thin blade tends to bind, and the lack weight does not make it a very efficient chopper, except for thin saplings no larger than about 2".
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what do you use a panga for ?
- Thread starter Myal
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 27, 1999
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- 3,164
When I was in Northern India, the Tibetan refugees had panga style machetes that were a bit thicker with a handle like a cold steel bushman. The back hawk bill was sharpened so the women could go out and could de-limb small braches off the trees for fire materials. They had the wood in woven backpacks, kind of similar to what they hold their babies in. A very picturesque scene, in the gateway to the Himalayas.