I have had a couple lying around for a long time, and I put a large one to the test last month in preparing a site for my ground blind. The land is in southern Minnesota and belongs to a relative of mine. It is mostly agricultural, but with many mile-long 200 foot deep ravines winding through the region. The wooded areas are steep and brushy with huge hardwoods. The the sunny perimeter between the woods and the cornfields is overgrown with tall grasses and forbs. I was impressed with the way the machete lopped limbs, swept through brambles, and tall grass and then served as a splitting axe when I built a campfire later on.

I also carry a larger one one in the Trail Blazer in case I have to cut brush to stuff under the tires to get out of the mud.

I'm going to field test the little Ontario CT1 to see if it is a good survival knife. My requirements are a stout CS blade, a robust comfortable handle, lightweight, and cheap. I envision lopping pine boughs for shelter, prying up rocks for a firepit, chopping and splitting wood for shelter and fire, hacking through ice, digging a pit or digging up roots, and even as a mini frying pan for cooking small pieces of fish or meat. The field knife I have used for years can do most of these things, but not as well.