As a college student I spent a summer clearing lines and pulling chain for a forester. I used a machete everyday in the Washington and Idaho woods. At first I tried a hachet
and then a pole axe, but for overhead, and upper body chopping, a machete
is the way to go. If you miss and it bounces off your shin it won't bruise or
worse like an axe. It is much lighter to carry than an axe too.
I used a new $4 military surplus one in 1978 and it worked fine.
Points to remember.
1 always use a wrist strap so the thing doesn't go flying off at someone
when your hand tires or you get distracted mid swing.
2 always wear thick gloves when sharpening it.
3 They are designed to slice on the pull, don't just try to beat something
in half as if you have a splitting maul. You can easily cut a wrist sized
branch with one swing when you figure that out.
4 use a file then a round stone to sharpen. I liked them to be as sharp
as a knife so it can shave the hairs off your arm. On the other hand it
doesn't have to be particularly even, a few small nicks don't hurt anything.
DO
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