Machetes

I carry a 12" Ontario CT-1 and sheath on my rucksack for chopping, splitting wood, digging and whatever when I am in the back woods. Last week, I used it to dig a 3' trench that was 1' deep, prying out rocks, and chopping roots all the way. A quick session with a file and a little WD-40 when I got back was all the care it needed. I have four or five other longer ones that I use for BOB and for clearing campsites.

Machetes come in a great variety of shapes and styles. Some have significantly thicker blades. For those who dont have the money or inclination to buy and abuse one of those big knives in the $200-$300 range, a good quality machete and sheath can be an economical option.

Here is a website that has the largest selection of machetes and sheaths I have ever seen in one place. They also seem to have pretty good prices, at least for the knives I am familiar with.


http://www.machetespecialists.com/machete-brands.html

I'm a fan of machetes. Some time ago, and still in very isolated areas, many people use it as an all-purpose tool. Butchering wild game, clearing trees, weeding the garden, slicing vegetables and carving delicate items out of wood all gets done with the same machete. Very poor families may have only one metal tool, the family machete.

Machetes with a flipped up sharp point on the end can be gripped near the tip and used for fine work as the handle lay across the lap. Machetes work well for even inexperienced users cutting softwoods and tropical vegetation. If you know what you are doing a machete will work on very hard woods. Some of the hardest wood known to man comes from tropical jungles and if you control the swing and angle, and take your time, a good machete will cut even very dense and tough wood.

With some practice a lot of people can get along quite well with the combination of a machete for large stuff and a smallish folder for fine work. A file and a small sharpening stone can keep both sharp indefinitely.

The good news is that good quality machetes are not expensive.

Hi.

Personally, I don't use machete. My Mora Clipper and the my SAK's saw are all that I need, at last in the europeans woods

I can't speak for Art, but I've had a machete going back to my Scout days...one of the very first purchases with my "own" money was a 1944 Collins machete...much more practical than an official Scout hatchet for Florida's climate... I couldn't afford real Boy Scout equipment so made do with GI canteen/cup/stand, pistol belt/suspenders and 2 first aid pouches (black tape, tincture of iodine, 4x4s, film can with matches,Scout knife,whistle,candle,compass,Cutter snake bite kit, halizone tabs)

my current is a 12inch cut down Collins SA from Guatemala

my personal experience is to not go cheap on a machete, meaning stay away from flimsy plastic handles. A quality handle saves a lot of pain in the chopping hand.

I really like my Ontario 12" Camp Machete (w/handle guard) but its hard on the wrist so I recently switched to a Fiskars Brush Axe to see if that works better. I've heard good things about it so we'll see.

I only looked at the kabar offerings on the suggested site. They are MUCH more expensive than buying through amazon.

it is pretty hard to beat the current Ontario GI isssue for most use... with or without saw teeth ...Dave Canterbury has a good video on Scandinadian blade style modifications to a section of the blade for more utility

Check oot a Woodsman's Pal and you will hooked. If you can't do it with this tool, you don't need to do it.

A Scoutmaster had a WWII issue one. 25 years later I got one, carried it the weeds in many places, found a myriad of uses. Easy to sharpen, doesn't rust easily if you keep it oiled, holds an edge well.

This is a little off topic, but I have serious reservations about the referenced incident that CK relates. Please note the lack of specifics. For starters, which of the Channel Islands are we discussing and when did the incident occur?

My skepticism has nothing to do with the sting ray envenomation, but the general circumstances of the trip. I was Park Archaeologist at Channel Islands National Park from 1985 to 2001. I can assure you that nothing remotely like his described trip occurred during that time. Indeed, if you are doing any kind of research, or any kind of activity for the NPS, you will not be traveling to the islands in the manner described in this incident. You will reach the islands on an NPS boat or a chartered NPS plane. Your departure and arrival will be tracked and noted. An obvious and important rule is to always travel with your gear, however you may reach the island. During my time with the NPS, I have never traveled any other way, nor has anyone else. Certainly the work CK describes did not happen after 1985, and I seriously doubt it happened before.

The only incident I know of, and I am well acquainted with the archaeological research history of the islands, would be an incident that happened on San Miguel Island about 1964, involving an archaeologist named Charles Rozaire. San Miguel was owned and managed by the US Navy then, and Rozaire and his crew were working under contract for them. Someone in the Navy "forgot" they were on the island, and their return transportation was about four days late.

It is axiomatic to carry a bit of extra food when you travel to the islands, but four extra days is a bit much. This was not a problem for archeos, though. When the Navy plane finally showed up, they were living on abalone and other shellfish foraged from tide pools, following the example of the people they were studying.

So, again - what island, when, and what was the project? It just may be a fairy tale.....

This is a pretty egregious hijack...Should we continue on a separate thread? I do apologize, but this really pulled my chain, as you can probably tell.

Sooooo, I take it that referenced post from 'CK' was deleted from the thread?

It rained every day of my vacation, so I was surfing u tube for knife tests. I came upon one where a couple of young guys 'invented' a big knife they called the 'Wolverine'. It looked like a version of your Russian knife, but with a point.

Hey, this is how real life campfire conversations go........
Now for a ghost story

I agree with the sentiment that a good machete is an excellent all-round survival tool. Thanks to the original poster who gave the link to the machete web site ... quite helpful!

NightHiker - it's interesting that you have a Spetsnaz machete. I've always been curious about that tool. I have not had time to read the link where some guy panned it ... but i would be cautious about ridiculing any item that was developed by an active special forces team (esp. the Spetsnaz). It's possible that the tool could be made with a better metal alloy - dunno' if that's the problem. But they have probably given a lot of thought to the length, width and weight of the item. Likewise, I'd be careful about buying copies that are a different size than the original Spetsnaz machete - unless the replacement item has been extensively tested. Let us know more about the Spetsnaz machete when you get a chance.

Pete #2

I don't think that specific tools or kit are just developed for Special Forces team. They usually just go shopping at the local outdoor sports shop, fishing tackle shop or gardening centre hoping to find what they are looking for in green or olive drab.

Too often folks get taken in by the 'Special Forces' marketing hype.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhAVfneM_jI

It some times gets to the point of being embarrasing..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5prM5fHNYk

There are exceptions though such as the SAS counter terrorist underpants, as they aren't no ordinary Y-fronts.

You guys could be right ... and maybe I've been the victim of marketing hype. Why should hype just be limited to the USA or the western world?? It probably isn't. It's possible that the Spetsnaz tool is not associated with the Spetsnaz at all, and maybe it's just a clever gimmick from a salesman in Russia.

However, if the tool is actually genuinely used by those special forces, and it's dimensions/weight/alloy have been selected for the purpose for which it as designed ... that's a different story. If it's authentic, then it's design has probably been perfected over time. I have no idea how to establish this.

In any case ... NightHiker has at least demonstrated that it's a very robust survival tool. That's not a bad first step.

Pete #2

One of the features I like about machetes is their lower cost. On the website I posted, they offer an assortment of 5 Tramontina machetes for $29...for all 5! I have two of the machetes in that assortment, one with a wood handle and one with a polymer handle. They are made in Brazil where machetes are as common as mosquitos, and of good quality for the money. I bought a Wetterlings axe, but now they're so expensive that I'm afraid to use it. My Ontario CT-1 takes it's place on my pack. My brother carries the fossil remains of an old Woodsmans Pal in his truck. It comes out in the fall for clearing a shooting lane on his farm where we sight in our guns.

Exactly. A machete combines a lot of differing requirements. The steel has to be hard enough to cut well and hold an edge for a acceptable amount of time, soft enough to sharpen easily, malleable enough to never shatter no matter how hard you swing it into a rock. If you work around cane cutters you find out that these guys are constantly sharpening their machete. Often with a file. They chop hard for fifteen minutes and then throw on a few strokes of the file on. Under such heavy use machetes are expendable and may only last a year or two.

As machetes they only last a year or two. They get sharpened down and become large knives, butcher knives, kitchen knives, paring and pen knives. Wood handles are a plus because they can be filed down with the steel.

This coming weekend (rain predicted again) I'm going to the big box builder store to buy a small mill file for my pack. I have a mammoth one in my garage, but I don't want to lug it around.

For field use a lot of people find the classic 'handy file', a file with a simple punched steel handle form stamped into the blank on one end instead of the normal tang. These have a suitable single and double bastard-cut sides. The double cut takes steel off quickly while the single cut is good for sharpening. If you want a really smooth and sharp edge draw-filing with the single-cut side can put a mirror finish on it.

Some cane cutters wear their handy-file in a simple leather belt sheath so it is always close and their machete stays very sharp.

I looked up handy file and found this. Its a lot smaller than my big garage model. Says it weighs 4 oz. and is 8" long without handle. I might just get one and grind off the handle to shorten and lighten it. It would only be used occasionally anyway, the way I use the knife.

The file is a tiny bit heavy for a lightweight hiker but if you are doing trail maintenance, and need to carry tools anyway, it isn't too bad. It is even more doable if you have a small crew as you can get by with one file for every four or six machetes. The file can also be part of a 'crew kit' to keep shovels, axes, McLeods, mattocks and grub hoes sharp and productive. A good file, a small can of oil (I like transmission fluid), and a couple of rags make a nice little field kit.

I have what I believe to be a WW2 US machette. I traded an Alice pack for it while stationed in Hawaii. As I recall it was some Royal Aussie Regiment "Blah blah blah" guy, been too many years now to remember, they were on TDY and staying on our HHC barracks at Ft Shafter. Wood handle, rivetted, stamped "US 1943". I used it while boar hunting on Oahu. It was in it's original oiled scabbard w/ a brass snap over a pocket with a sharpening stone. It has been with me 23 years. under the seat of every truck I have owned along with my Grandad's Norwegian axe. I dunno how o post pics here but suppose should try. Never seen anothe machette like it, kinda standard shape but man does it hold and edge.

Ironwood

@Ironwood:

Pictures! We must have pictures!

I will try to get a picture of it up. As a matter of fact I just used it today to chop thru a 4x4 cribbing timber on my truck. I had a load of reclaimed lumber that I bought off a demo site and the guy didnt have a chainsaw there, and the other wood sticking out we broke off with the forks of his skidsteer, but this one was too stout. looked like a beave r had come by.

Ironwood

I once used a machete to gnaw through a fallen tree that was blocking the road to our campsite. It took a lot longer than it should have, and I was amazed that the owner of our truck carried neither axe nor saw, either of which would have done the job quicker, but the machete did get the job done. Definitely looked like a beaver had been at work...

Come to think of it, I have a couple of machetes with the same markings. No original sheaths, though, and the handles are a hard bakelite-type material. It took some digging, but I found out these were made by the Ontario Knife Company. The "1943" refers to the pattern, not necessarily the year of manufacture. And you're right, when it comes to holding an edge I have yet to see their equal.

That sounds like the machete I had as a kid back in the '60's. One of my fav machete's now is the Ontario Field Machete -- 18" Blade and 1/8" 1095 Carbon Steel Blade.

How do you like the D-style handle? Is it comfortable to use? I've been looking at the short version (Camper, 12 in.) and a knuckle guard seems like a good idea.

The D handle has never really been in the way and serves to protect. imo 12" machete's are under-appreciated, compact and very useful.