Larger blades

[Caster]

So I was at the gunshow the other day, very uncharacteristic of me, but I needed some stuff.

My wife bought a Cold Steel walking cane to give as a gift, and so while we was at the table I looked around. There's some wild looking machetes out there! Got me thinking. Who makes a really good machete? Gerber makes the gator machete but it doesn't have a full tang. THey also make a Bear Grylls Parang which looks good all but the loud color.

Cold Steel makes some wicked looking ones but they seem a bit gimmicky to me.

[MacGyver]

ESEE makes a good no nonsense one. SOG makes a decent one, too.

[Caster]

ESEE? Never heard of it.

Googleing:)

[willis68]

Busse Combat,

If you have the funds, Jerry makes some of the Best large blades on this Planet

[mav]

Busse Battle Mistress or one of the larger CR one-piece knives.

[Caster]

SUEY! There's a Busse made long blade on Ebay right now for over a grand!!! OUCH!

I know you gotta pay to play, but if I'm spending that kind of money it better be forged by Telchar of Nogrod and make me the next king of Gondor!

[mav]

SUEY! There's a Busse made long blade on Ebay right now for over a grand!!! OUCH!

I know you gotta pay to play, but if I'm spending that kind of money it better be forged by Telchar of Nogrod and make me the next king of Gondor!

Yes, they are very expensive. However, you get a knife that will last longer than you. Additionally, if you take care of it (meaning doing nothing dumb), you will have no problem selling it and getting back a lot of your money.

[Oh Shoot]

Far as actual machetes, Cold Steel's stuff ain't bad, just somewhat thin, then again they are designed as machetes, not wood choppers.

Condor in El Salvador makes a bunch of great heavier duty ones.

Tramontina of Brazil probably sells more worldwide than anyone else; among the cheapest, too.

- OS

Edited December 6, 2011 by OhShoot

[Major Kong]

SUEY! There's a Busse made long blade on Ebay right now for over a grand!!! OUCH!

I know you gotta pay to play, but if I'm spending that kind of money it better be forged by Telchar of Nogrod and make me the next king of Gondor!

I'll admit right off the bat that I have a Busse fetish. I love their knives and have about two dozen of them. In my opinion they are the best made heavy duty fixed blades you can buy. You can get into a great Busse chopper for around $400 if that's what you're looking for. I have a Bushwhacker Mistress that I use around my place for chopping, splitting, batonning, etc and it does all I ask of it and still wants more. The one I use the most is the 4th from the left.

[mav]

I have often wondered how good is the INFI steel. Any comments? I wouldn't mind getting a BATAC. It is on my list.

[Major Kong]

I have often wondered how good is the INFI steel. Any comments? I wouldn't mind getting a BATAC. It is on my list.

INFI is a great all around steel. I love the BATAC. It's a great mid-sized blade. I would also look at the SAR-6 and the Basic 6. I have one of each and they're probably my favorite all-around knives for everything except heavy chopping or batonning.

[Guest m14man]

Amazon.com: Ontario 1-18" Military 6145 Machete Carbon Steel Black: Sports & Outdoors

have one of these and it is very tuff will cut down small trees full tang and cheap.

[Guest Scramasax]

I've used Woodsman's Pal, Trantimonia, Villiage made Khukris, and I cann't remember the number a make of many others. I have a custom cable damascus bolo from Kim breed, three or four no name machetes hanging around. Just got in a Condor Golok Haven't had a chance to test it yet. After I thin the handle some I think It will be one on my goto blades. I've determined that all my bowies will be fighters and a large utility knife is not as handy as a good machete.

Cheers,

ts

[Moped]

Deleted due to double post! I hate that!

Edited December 7, 2011 by Moped

[Moped]

Don't go out and spend a small fortune on a machete. A Tramatina (probably the No.1 selling machete in the world), Ontario, or CS will do all you need it to do for under $30. Condor is fine too, except to get the leather sheath with them , you are looking at closer to $50. Machetes are made to be sharpened with a file and then be used hard. I worked on a survey crew for a couple of years and we used Collins, that we paid $10 for. They were used and abused, and lost (a lot). And they were excellent tools. They never broke or bent. If the blade chipped, then out came the bastard file and they were sharp, better than new (machetes usually come dull). Marbles is another brand to checkout. SMKW sells all the ones I've mentioned.

Now here is a video showing how to make a machete into a REAL Bushtool!

Bushcraft USA Forums

[Oh Shoot]

...Tramontina ..

Trantimonia ...

... A Tramatina

I have it right.

Now here is a video showing how to make a machete into a REAL Bushtool!

Bushcraft USA Forums

Got a direct YouTube or whatever link for that? (Would like to see it but don't want to join forum to do it).

- OS

[mav]

I have it right.

Well, which one is it? A Tramontina, Trantimonia, or a Tramatina?

[Oh Shoot]

Well, which one is it? A Tramontina, Trantimonia, or a Tramatina?

As I said, my spelling.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Tramontina+machete&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=Tramontina+machete&hl=en&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=WGp&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=3OfeTqfoFYeUtwf056zIDw&ved=0CFkQrQQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=2c8694c936a4e7a7&biw=1417&bih=716

They have US component now, do cookware and kitchen knives and etc.

- OS

Edited December 7, 2011 by OhShoot

[BigK]

Amazon.com: Ontario 1-18" Military 6145 Machete Carbon Steel Black: Sports & Outdoors

have one of these and it is very tuff will cut down small trees full tang and cheap.

+1 on the Ontario...got the same model then did this (

) to it and contoured the grip with finger grooves. It's a beast now.

[Moped]

Colhane does a great tutorial! He is a missionary down in Brazil and goes to the jungle all the time working with the locals. He has a bunch of Bushcraft videos on Youtube and all are very informative.

Hey OS... And you should have joined up on that site I linked. Bushcraftusa is one of the best sites for Bushcraft on the web.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Moped

[Guest coldblackwind]

Personally we have a few vietnam era surplus ones we use. As far as I know they've been used to clear our trails since my parents bought their house...oh...40 years ago or so.

[Guest FTG-05]

I have it right.

Got a direct YouTube or whatever link for that? (Would like to see it but don't want to join forum to do it).

- OS

[Oh Shoot]

Thanks man, I'll check it out this evening...

- )S

[Guest Broomhead]

I would steer clear of the Bear Gryllis style, reason being, to me the shape goes against the intended usage of a machete. A machete is supposed to be tip heavy, let gravity and the weight do all the work. The heavy part will hit your target in mid to early swing where your arm and wrist are faster and stronger bringing more power with them. The Bear Gryllis one will hit at the end of your swing when your wrist has reached it's max range of motion and your arm will be slowing down and have less energy behind it. Kukris are shaped to capitalize on that early swing power and speed. The basic design and shape of nearly every other machete is made to capitalize on the mid swing where gravity will start to help. Now, I have not tried the Bear Gryllis parang, it may work splendidly, but the design just seems all wrong.

I love Kukris and though I've never used one, I intend to make one eventually. The machete I have now I have never seen another like it. I am in the middle of refinishing it because it had a lot of surface rust, loose and cracked grips, and several big nicks in the edge. I'll try and post a picture of it if anyone is interested. The blade is fairly straight to ~2/3rds from the hilt. There the spine curves gradually upward while the edge stays straight another 6" or so and then curves up and out to meet the spine in an up-swept point. The blade is 2" wide until the spine starts to curve, the widest point, which is the curved "head", is 3". Its nice and tip heavy, though the grip area needs to be thinned out some, its too wide for my comfort.

[hkgonra]

If you like kukri check out this custom knife.

M40 Blades