So I was out tonight going from one of my hunting spots to the other to put up a feeder and checking cams (didn't get the stand put up yet and I grabbed a crusty old cheaply made machete that my dad had someone bring down to his saw-sharpening shop and left with him. He gave it to me after spending some time putting a ridiculous edge on it.
It was razor-sharp because he (being a sharpener) couldn't leave it alone. I've never taken a saw or machete along with me when hiking around to hunt, but just the other day, we were out and the briar thorns were tearing me and my daughter up (and the time before, my son and I felt their wrath).
I normally just wear tough pants and deal with them, but with dragging my kids around to hunt, I thought about maybe doing something to clear them out of the way where our normal path is.
That thing worked pretty well, but by the end of the night, it was obvious that it was a Chinese-made very cheap-steel bent/chipped up junky machete.
But it did the job and worked pretty well other than the fact that its a bit on the small side (12 1/2" blade) and my knuckles got a bit close to some of the briars when chopping. I'd like something with a 15" or better blade that can hold up to some of the dead wood and knots that dented this one up.
I'm going to beat the crap out of this thing, so I don't want to spend too much but a carbon-steel or at least something harder than junk would be nice (and it's going to be in my hunting pack, so weight is somewhat of a concern - I don't want something the size/weight of a Busse Combat Battle Mistress that weighs like 5Lbs either).
ESEE's lightweight machete looks almost flimsy and its RC scale rating looks really soft - are Machete's just normally softer than fixed-blade knives or what?
Several of the machetes I've looked at are sort of wimpy looking when I consider the specs. Maybe machetes just aren't supposed to be as hard as knives or or as thick.
It was razor-sharp because he (being a sharpener) couldn't leave it alone. I've never taken a saw or machete along with me when hiking around to hunt, but just the other day, we were out and the briar thorns were tearing me and my daughter up (and the time before, my son and I felt their wrath).
I normally just wear tough pants and deal with them, but with dragging my kids around to hunt, I thought about maybe doing something to clear them out of the way where our normal path is.
That thing worked pretty well, but by the end of the night, it was obvious that it was a Chinese-made very cheap-steel bent/chipped up junky machete.
But it did the job and worked pretty well other than the fact that its a bit on the small side (12 1/2" blade) and my knuckles got a bit close to some of the briars when chopping. I'd like something with a 15" or better blade that can hold up to some of the dead wood and knots that dented this one up.
I'm going to beat the crap out of this thing, so I don't want to spend too much but a carbon-steel or at least something harder than junk would be nice (and it's going to be in my hunting pack, so weight is somewhat of a concern - I don't want something the size/weight of a Busse Combat Battle Mistress that weighs like 5Lbs either).
ESEE's lightweight machete looks almost flimsy and its RC scale rating looks really soft - are Machete's just normally softer than fixed-blade knives or what?
Several of the machetes I've looked at are sort of wimpy looking when I consider the specs. Maybe machetes just aren't supposed to be as hard as knives or or as thick.
