TOPS - and good luck choosing which one you want! I’ve been eyeing quite a few of these and I’m having a hard time choosing…
I like the TOPS offerings too, the only thing I dont like is how skinny the handles are. Good quality material, just pretty darn skinny.
I went with the classic Ontario machete myself. I have it in my field bag and I like it. My dad has had one for 20 years and it has only gotten better with age.
I use an Ontario as well and it is very durable when hacking through thick stuff. I also mark trees along my path with it and it does well with that also.
I have had an Ontario Knife Company RTAK for the last 20 years. It is great and has seen a lot of use.
http://www.machetespecialists.com/trmabr.html
I have a short Tramontina I like very much.
whoa. There are different types of machetes. Are you looking for a light grass and jungle type. Or do you plan on using it for chopping. The Jungle machetes tend to be thin and made to work your way through grass or jungle. They are easy to swing for long periods.
The chopper type blades are made to act as wood choppers and usually have a thicker blade that can be used for batoning while splitting wood. I don’t find straight up machetes to be super useful. I like the heavier blades that can be used for chopping wood.
Swamp Rat (Busse Knife Company) makes some great knives. They use high quality SR101 steel and are highly regarded. They are pricey too. Here is a 9 inch blade that can be used for chopping or heavy machete.
http://www.swampratknifeworks.com/available-now-rodent-9/
Or this…With as 15.5 inch blade. OK, so this is more of a fighting blade. But its cool right?
http://www.swampratknifeworks.com/available-now-rodent-rucki-cg/
If you just want a Machete Benchmade sells them too.
Yeah, TOPS makes nice stuff too. I think SWAP RAT and SCRAP YARD Knives are a little better, but its all a matter of what works best for you.
Benchmade $125
The last bushwacking tool you will ever need:
Gerber Brush Thinner
The older version with the plastic handle was better, but the new school ones still get the job done.
I’ve spent probably a grand on hot-shit Ontarios, ESSEs, RATs, Kukris, etc. They all suck.
Short of a full-bore bush-hook/bush-axe that cheap Gerber served me far better than anything I ever tried.
I’d take a Martindale in a pinch, but the fat-assed blades on most machetes is a massive detriment to performance.
Not the same site, but I ordered one from here: http://www.nepalesekhukuri.com/?106a6c241b8797f52e1e77317b96a201. The blades are made from truck spring steel and I’ve found they hold a decent edge and sharpen really nicely. The one complaint I have is that the buffalo horn handle has about an inch long crack in it from chopping wood.
The best place to buy is from Himalayan Imports. Hands down. I have bought from them all.
My Ontario Beaver Tail is the best of what I’ve used… Strong steel and decent edge holding for its intended use.
Ill stick with my filipino specials, great for brush and medium to large game. Some guy in Ilocos Norte made them and he doesn’t have a website, but if you ever visit they arent expensive at all.
I used to land survey for a few years. For those that don’t know there is a lot of cutting brush to clear sight lines and for traverse. We used Tramontinas. http://www.machetespecialists.com/tramontina-24-bush-with-canvas-sheath.html We used the 22 or 24 inch blades with aftermarket leather sheaths. The handles can be slick put that is easily fixed with a qrip or two of duct tape. The link has the blade profile of the ones we used.
I don’t know about batoning but I did cut down quite a few trees with some being about a foot in diameter. Even in heavy brush we would only have to sharpen the blade once or twice a day. I would get it so sharp that the blade would “sing” when cutting through a thin vine. The metal on the blade would last about a year and a half or so. Bear in mind that this was used every day to some extent and at times weeks cutting all the time everyday. No special care was used in sharpening. We just used mill bastard files so a lot of metal was taken off at once. Despite this the blades still lasted that long.
On mine the tips would get smaller first since I tended to sharpen it the most. This is because it wasn’t practical to carry a shovel in the woods to dig for property corners. As a result the first 4 inches took a lot of punishment. I wouldn’t hesitate to by one with my own money. Based on my experience I prefer the longer blades for brush work. The short blades mean your hands are closer to your work meaning they’ll get cut and scratched more often and I just pictures the short blades taking knee caps off.
Ive got one of the older Gerbers with the plastic handle. Great brush tool.
I have owned my Ontario 18’’ since the 80s and it has never gave me a reason to try or buy another brand.
Nice blades
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Because of what I do and what I needed, many years ago I commenced making knives, specifically bolo and parang types looking for the perfect trail companion. I cut lots of trail and maintain it on my ranch and beyond in remote areas here. It is an interesting study. Little by little I came up with designs that were the most practical and efficient and interestingly enough, they were not too much different from many designs common to the SE Asian knife culture areas.
Man, I like the looks of that. I don’t like a straight handle large knife for any kind of chopping. Something like a Katana is one thing for a purpose but if you are running around chopping random stuff I like that arc of blade and grip.
Second vote for Himalayan imports. Hard to beat for the money. I do have a extrema ratio kukri that beats it but it is 3x the price.k