My birthday is coming up, and I'm asking for a machete. The Tramontina sounds like the classic type that I see guys carrying around on some of the more modest Caribbean islands.

I really want an authentic knock-around machete, and the Tramontina with the wood handle seems to fit the bill, but it appears the longest blade length available with a wood handle is 18". Any idea what your typical Caribbean cane-cutting blade length is? Any particular models of Tramontina to recommend? Any places recommended to buy from?

The Tramontina site http://www.tramontina.com.br/product/product.aspx?language=1&cat_id=18&cat2=1&cat3=549 shows a whole bunch of machetes they make in all sorts of different blade styles. Pretty interesting. I figured a machete was a machete, but it looks like the choice is more complicated than I thought!

Thanks for any ideas!

Dave