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10-12-2019, 07:39 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,051
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Using a Machete
Have been doing a fair bit of bushwhacking the last few years and looking at buying a machete. Not sure if it would be beneficial or a waste of energy swinging and slashing as trying to navigate through the thick cover.
Anyone using a machete and are they beneficial to have while bushwhacking?
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10-12-2019, 07:49 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,072
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Not for me. I tried it a few times when I was young and didn't get too far before getting tired out. I also had a few close calls from it glancing off of tree's and untargeted branches.
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10-12-2019, 07:54 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: calgary
Posts: 691
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I have one it’s ok for some small stuff but our trees in Alberta are pretty tough if you don’t hit them right at the joint they just swing down and back up and smack your face.
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10-12-2019, 08:49 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,929
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Try a bill hook. It well bite into the wellies better than a machete. I prefer an axe generally our just go around the tree
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10-12-2019, 09:40 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,051
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My thoughts have been confirmed, I will continue to walk around and if possible through. Thanks!
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10-13-2019, 12:07 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 592
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I picked up a machete many years ago and although it sees limited use it still has a place in my hunting truck. There are a variety of uses beyond clearing branches and some decent ones are reasonably priced.
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10-13-2019, 08:19 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 400
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I take a machete on every hunting and camping trip. Like all cutting and chopping tools machetes need to be sharp to be effective. Several uses for a machete.
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10-13-2019, 01:44 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 3,945
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We carry them on the Quads.
Nothing beats filling a hole with willows to cross a soft spot like a Machete to lay down a pile of 6 foot willows.
Just keep the angle right and it will sail through 1 inch willows.
Also very handy for duck hunting for willow blinds.
Drewski
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10-13-2019, 01:55 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Near Edmonton
Posts: 15,043
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I used them in tall grass and areas with lots ofvines, work good there. Like others have said, would not try to take down anything bigger than small willow with one, wood is not what they were really designed for.
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10-13-2019, 02:07 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Fort Saskatchewan
Posts: 235
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I tried it last weekend on a bunch of chokecherry and dogwood and they were too springy! They didn’t cut well at all. Maybe right at the base of the plant. Loppers would have been better!
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10-14-2019, 08:36 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Leslieville
Posts: 2,500
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I have a Gerber and a couple of Condor machetes. They feel equally sharp, but the Condors will easily slice through a willow that the Gerber glances off of.
Buy a good machete, keep it sharp, and you’ll be surprised how useful it is for clearing trails.
__________________
We talk so much about leaving a better planet to our kids, that we forget to leave better kids to our planet.
Gerry Burnie
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10-15-2019, 11:19 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 3,411
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heavy blades vs thin blades
Quote:
Originally Posted by NCC
I have a Gerber and a couple of Condor machetes. They feel equally sharp, but the Condors will easily slice through a willow that the Gerber glances off of.
Buy a good machete, keep it sharp, and you’ll be surprised how useful it is for clearing trails.
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^^QFT^^
The thin bladed machetes are designed for grasses, vines, and thin flexible branches. Light weight and easy to swing all day long.
Heavy bladed machetes like the Condor Golok or Parang are designed for clearing heavier brush and small trees. They have the mass to cut through a 1.5" sapling with ease.
__________________
“One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.” - Thomas Sowell
“We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did.”- Thomas Sowell
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10-15-2019, 01:28 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 3,939
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Athabasca1
I take a machete on every hunting and camping trip. Like all cutting and chopping tools machetes need to be sharp to be effective. Several uses for a machete.
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I find them very useful. But like he says...they must be kept sharp. If they are it is surprising how effective they are...if they aren't you'll just get tired hacking away with little effect.
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10-15-2019, 07:56 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: In the woods, but close enough that I can swing by Cabelas once in a while.
Posts: 14
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I really like my Cold Steel Kukri Machete (not the "plus", wasn't as impressed with it). For about $36 it can't be beat. I'm amazed at how it holds an edge and I use it a lot, even field dressed a deer with it just for the heck of it, used the deep blade like an ulu. I would recomend one as a versatile cutting / chopping tool.
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10-15-2019, 08:28 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Grande Prairie
Posts: 1,361
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Machetes are meant for the jungle, where every tree is built like a nerf football. A 16 year old girl, with a dull and rusty machete can take down a 10” plantain tree like a hot knife through butter. They are also the perfect tool for watermelon, and harvesting mango, avocado, coconuts and bananas, and make short work of bamboo. That said, I’ve tried them out up here in the Canadian bush at various times and found the machete to be utterly useless.
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