akabu = Thanks for posting the link to the Machete Specialist site.

Good prices and they have a nice general information page:
http://www.machetespecialists.com/main.html

Lots of helpful hints and information. I wish I had seen that forty years ago. It would have saved me a lot of school-of-hard-knocks learning.

Thank you all for the information and the links!

I heard the reviews too, and I decided to buy one after I saw my brother use one to clear briars off a path on his farm. I bought the 14 inch wood-handled Tramontina, and the 21 inch rubber handled Tramontina. They were about $6.75 each from www.Bladematrix.com. (no affiliation). The shorter wood handled one is a nicer looking machete, but I actually use the longer one to chop out light brush, cockleburrs, and briars. I carry it in the Trail Blazer, locked down under the tire tool. At the time I made the purchase, I didn't know how to select the right length machete but now I do, thanks to advice from GauchoViejo on this forum.

As far as I can tell, I have not used, or even handled, every model, Tramontina makes solid and functional machetes and other metal goods. Being inexpensive, while maintaining useful function, doesn't hurt either.

Inexpensive means you can stuff one in each vehicle and scatter them around the garage and barn so you always have one when you need one.

Or, if you plan for your emergency response to be a group thing, you might lay in a stockpile for your people. If your plans run toward the even longer term a dozen good machetes might be both useful and useful as trade goods.

Greased, wrapped and kept dry they should store indefinitely. Maybe gain some product synergy by laying in like number of Handy Files, two-sided flat files with a built in handle that are inexpensive and just the thing for sharpening a machete.

I'm curious about people's expectations for a machete. What do you expect to cut?

Given the geographical range in this forum, that's an important question. Apples and oranges etc. Different tools are suited to different jobs.

For me: I expect to cut woody-stemmed material -- light hardwoods like poplar/willow, or softwoods like pine/spruce. Not a lot of tall grass or vines/canes around here. For my tasks, I need a blade with some real mass and stiffness, and the ability to hold an edge like a good hatchet.

How about you?

I found machetes good for trail clearing and cleaning out sight lines for surveying.
Light brush and cane from thumb thickness up to about wrist thick, maybe up to 8 inches for poplar or willow.
Not for very hard woods or dead wood.
I found the style that they call Latin about the best.
The ones by Ontario Knife are pretty good examples.

I find heavier blades like the Collins Bolo style machete don't bite the same and tend to push the brush out of the way instead of clipping it.

What I don't like about machete is a lot of people will swing them towards themselves. You must be careful not to have a leg or anything in line with the swing, always swing away from yourself. One miss and you could amputate a leg or a hand.

edit: I find the 12" ones too short and the 24" ones just a bit too long for comfort. 18" seems about right for me to use.

I will also say that a machete is not really a general purpose tool for me. I use them almost exclusively for brush clearing on trails or for survey lines.
On trails it is just to remove the small branches that snag you on the way by.

I mostly use mine to clear buck-brush. Thin diameter green springy brush that will grow anywhere not cultivated here. Like wild blackberries and hedge-rose mixed in with spindly sapling-like brush that gets 8 ft tall. And for cleaning up branches that fall/trimmed/became my problem (Thanks illegal dumpers, ya'll just make my day! ) This ranges from hedge, walnut, cedar, maple, elm, catalpa, and so on. So hardwoods to softwoods. 1" to 6" pretty much if its bigger around than about a softball i get an axe.
apparently axe is supposed to be capitalized. Spell-check says so! lol

Thanks for all the information.

I ordered a 28" tramontia last night from BladeMatrix. Review to follow after I receive it.

Imacasa is a Central American standard brand, made in El Salvador and the only machete I carry. There are a few other true brands that arent made for "gringos" but are the equivalent of snap on and craftsman to the working people of Central and South America, Imacasa is the leader of those in my opinion. Truper is OK as well. I am in the process of working out a deal with them, up until now I have simply been buying a few each time I go down south to teach a class (Survival, Remote Medicine, etc). They are very affordable, very durable, and nearly every person in Central America that doesnt live in a city (and probably half of them) have used that brand. The blades come in various profiles and lengths, for true jungle I prefer a traditional or narrow profile in a 22 or 24" blade, for general purpose I prefer a 16-18" blade in traditional or narrow profile.

I found out I can get a good Tramontina at a local Military Surplus for $10 no shipping.. ill check it out too!