Machete research

[sumpnz]

I need a machete for blackberries and similar brush for areas where my power tools aren't appropriate.  What do you all like?  Lower cost is better, but good and higher cost is better than crappy but cheap.  It needs to be something I can sharpen myself without special equipment.  I have Japanese wetstones I use for knives, but I probably (I think) want something else for a machete.  That's OK, as long as it doesn't cost much.

[RoadKingLarry]

Mine is marked; U.S. 1944 Seems to get the job done well enough.
I've got an old carborundum stone on a wooden handle that does a good job of putting an edge on it. I use that or a fairly fine file so as not to take off too much metal.
Next time I need to sharpen it I think I'll try my Ken Onion Work Sharp tool.

[Hawkmoon]

No contest: http://www.woodmanspaltool.com/

I have the Premium -- because that's what my grandfather had, and I valued his choices highly.



The inside edge of the hook is also sharpened, and it works very well for making pull cuts on things like roots and brambles.

[Regolith]

No contest: http://www.woodmanspaltool.com/

I have the Premium -- because that's what my grandfather had, and I valued his choices highly.



The inside edge of the hook is also sharpened, and it works very well for making pull cuts on things like roots and brambles.

Bit on the short side for blackberries. You definitely want reach for dealing with those. Personally, I prefer something in the 24" range.

The long reach version looks like it might work, though.

[Kingcreek]

Tramontina. Good quality and comfortable handle, cheap and readily available.
I sharpen it with whatever old belt is on the belt sander.

[230RN]

Heh. "U.S. 1944"

Pop bought a whole bunch of surplus stuff after the War*, including half a dozen machetes and scabbards to clear the scrub brush off our ground out on Long Island. We were going to build a summer house out there.

I recall they were not real hard steel, but more like hatchet steel.  Would not hold an edge like, you know, real cutlery steel (especially since half the time you struck dirt with it) but they were easy to dress with a file.

Terry

* WW II

[MillCreek]

I bought this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiskars-24-in-Steel-Blade-Clearing-Machete-385091-1001/206398488

I got it last year when I decided to get serious about the devils' club and blackberries in the back 40 of my acre.  I cannot recall though, if I got it while wandering through the aisles at Home Depot or at Wal-Mart since they are both side by side at the Tulalip location.  It was one of the two.  It works very very well, and I bought one of the pull-through sharpeners that were conveniently hung right next to the machetes/hatchets/axes. I have a Fiskars 18 inch machete that I keep in the truck.

The downside is that I am prone to say 'Argh!  Repel boarders, matey!' while using it.

[dogmush]

I have very successfully used my Khukuri for clearing bushes like you describe. 

Plus you would then have a Khukuri.

http://www.himalayan-imports.com/

[French G.]

I have very successfully used my Khukuri for clearing bushes like you describe. 

Plus you would then have a Khukuri.

http://www.himalayan-imports.com/

Agreed, though when I was clearing thistles the khuk took my knuckles through the thistles too because it is short. So I switched to the HI katana which has proven, after chopping down many thistles and several trees, that it is a fine sword.

[Jim147]

I have several around here but unless I'm just grabbing one while I go for a walk I prefer my 5' ditch bank blade. Reach out and whack them off without bending over..

[Blakenzy]

[230RN]

I'm just not 100% sure why it's necessary to spend more than ten bucks on a machete for limited one time use.

If you were going to be hacking your way through Brazilian Jungle to find a long-lost Temple, or harvesting cane eight hours a day for ever and ever, yeah.

But.

Harbor Freight sells them  for less than ten bucks, and at that price you can buy several and not worry about edgeworthiness.  Just get another one out of the truck after you hit a couple of rocks.  Or, you can enlist the help of your or a neighborhood boy to help if you had several.

It seems to me as a practical matter, that's all the "research" you need.

Terry

https://www.harborfreight.com/18-in-machete-with-serrated-blade-62682.html

[zxcvbob]

Are you sure you want a machete?  What about a swing blade?  a.k.a weedcutter or yoyo

[Hawkmoon]

Are you sure you want a machete?  What about a swing blade?  a.k.a weedcutter or yoyo

Do they still make those?

[sumpnz]

Went ahead and ordered the Tramontina 5 pack.  Covers about everything I might want a machete for, and if I decide I don't like one or two I've got a blank for another knife or something.

https://www.machetespecialists.com/product/tramontina-machete-5-pack/

[Perd Hapley]

Do they still make those?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ames-Double-Blade-Weed-Cutter-2915300/204476217?keyword=sling+blade&searchtype=text

[230RN]

Went ahead and ordered the Tramontina 5 pack.  Covers about everything I might want a machete for, and if I decide I don't like one or two I've got a blank for another knife or something.

https://www.machetespecialists.com/product/tramontina-machete-5-pack/

Wow.  Didn't know about those.  Forty bucks?  Now that's a deal. 

Like.

Not that I'm about to take my cane in one hand and my machete in the other and go clear a couple of acres, but Son2 is about to embark on some clearing this spring.

Thanks

Terry

[sumpnz]

$47 with shipping.  For 5 different machetes I figured I couldn't beat that.  This will let me figure out what works best for various needs around the property.  Thinking the 12" blade might get re-purposed into a butchering knife as I doubt it'll wind up being all that useful otherwise.  The 14" blade will probably become a camping/hunting/fishing utility knife.  The 24" is the one I think I want for the work that needs doing, and the 20" will be good for SWMBO to use too, or me in tighter areas.  I'll have to play around a bit with the "cane" machete to see if I want to use it as intended or consider it material for a knife project.

[French G.]

In a few years we can just order a ton of those five packs and have the Amazon drone drop them right in the middle of the riot. Hilarity ensues.

Also, long thread, no Danny Trejo reference, am disappoint.

[sumpnz]

In a few years we can just order a ton of those five packs and have the Amazon drone drop them right in the middle of the riot. Hilarity ensues.

Also, long thread, no Danny Trejo reference, am disappoint.

I think he got a bit more than just the 5-pack.

[K Frame]

For blackberries and similar I always found a brush hook to be a better option. It gives you standoff room, but they are heavier and harder to handle.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=brush+hook

[Regolith]

For blackberries and similar I always found a brush hook to be a better option. It gives you standoff room, but they are heavier and harder to handle.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=brush+hook

I've done that with particularly big blackberry stands. The brush axe I have is a beast, though. The head by itself probably weighs more than 5 lbs, so it can get a bit tiring to use. One of the cases where lighter is better, I think.

[Jim147]

I have a brush hook around here but only used it once. I still like the bank blade better.

[just Warren]

Because of my history you may think I'm joking but I'm not...is this the kind of thing you could rent goats for?

I get that that's spending money and more than paying for a machete but at least you're not hacking the plants down yourself.

[sumpnz]

We need to put up fencing so we can get goats.  The machetes are to hack out a fence line.

Figuring next spring we'll get the goats.  Then next fall we'll eat the goats.