Any Machete owners?
- Thread starter If1HitU
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troy fairweather
Member
they are a very useful tool in the wright places did u test it ?
bikerdoc
Moderator In Memoriam
I got one like that. Great brush buster, and tanglefoot clearer.
I love machetes. They do the work I would never ask another blade to do. I think I have about 6 of them. Trams are great. Not just "for the money", but they are honestly fantastic machetes in and of themselves. I have a 12" blade that I use to clear the weeds growing up in the sidewalk cracks. Works perfectly and I don't care if I bugger the edge. My go-to is a 15" Bola. Just stout enough to handle most mild woody chores. I have a 24" for battling the wild junk-trees that grow up in the drainage ditch behind my office. The county is supposed to maintain it, but they don't. The utility company sends me nasty letters if their readers can't walk around back easily. I break out the long machete every few months to hack a path.
entropy
Member
They are handy tools, and the Tramontina ones are a solid value. I have a Gerber Gator and a Gator Jr. in my truck, and a SOG Kukri I picked up on clearance at work. They are handy for clearing the omnipresent 'volunteer' tree saplings (as SWMBO calls them) that pop up in the yard and gardens. The two in the truck see shooting lane clearing duty about this time of year.
Kingcreek
Member
Yep. I keep one in the truck box and one in the barn. Darn handy when you need one. I have one tramontina and it is good quality. I usually sharpen it with a worn belt on my belt sander.
bannockburn
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- 26,286
I have an older Corneta No. 127 that's great for clearing out overgrowth and for cutting tall vegetation.
I have a Cold Steel Machete, I picked it up from a gun show having a closeout sale for $6 with tax.
It gets used to slay the leaves and vines from the bushes that keep trying to grow back all over our fence. It's one of the ones with a point that's a copy of some Philippine or Indonesian machete, but with a regular handle (not the weird twisty polymer handle that came later).
Edit :
The one on the far left (not my pic). It's called the CS Barong.
It gets used to slay the leaves and vines from the bushes that keep trying to grow back all over our fence. It's one of the ones with a point that's a copy of some Philippine or Indonesian machete, but with a regular handle (not the weird twisty polymer handle that came later).
Edit :
The one on the far left (not my pic). It's called the CS Barong.
CoalTrain49
Member
I've used them for 40 years. Used to have 2 or 3 in my work truck. Great for clearing brush if you absolutely have to get thru it. I used to buy the heavy blade Collins as they were pretty cheap. Mostly the blades were to long and heavy so I would cut 3-4' off and square off the blade to look like a reverse tanto. A point doesn't have much use on a machete unless you are using it as a weapon. They have to have the right balance and weight to be effective.
Deltaboy1984
Member
Love them, I have Tramontina, Galvan , Cold Steel and some other ones!
Shanghai McCoy
Member
I keep an old Barteaux brand in the truck and an Ontario up in the barn that goes with me on the tractor. Got an old no-name corn knife that I re-handled that hangs by the door in the garage.
Handy tools that I like to keep "handy"...
Handy tools that I like to keep "handy"...
We had extensive machete threads a few years ago. They might be worth looking at.
Here's a good site to keep folks from wasting too much money.
https://www.machetespecialists.com/buying-guide/best-machetes/
Here's a good site to keep folks from wasting too much money.
https://www.machetespecialists.com/buying-guide/best-machetes/
kBob
Member
Between the ages of 11 and 16 there was a guy up the street that referred to me as the kid with the machete.
I wore a WWII web belt let out all the way over my head and one shoulder so a machete hung just in front of my left arm pit very frequently for our woods/swamp escapades. the Machete was in a WWII Jay Dee plastic sheath and was made in Belgium and had a dead straight back like the sheath and fit it perfect. I was told it was from the gear of a WWII torpedo bomber crew and got it with some other stuff from a steel sea locker one of my Grandparents' neighbor (who had flown in such aircraft to the detriment of the Japanese) the next used most piece being a radio receiver head set that actually fit the jack of my old Silvertone Sears and Robuck tube AM radio allowing me to listen after lights out with out he folks knowing (Years later my Mom laughed that when she checked on me she knew what I was up to because the tubes glowed on the model airplanes around the radio and the wall behind)
That Machete saw a lot of use and almost as much misuse. There were some small dents on it from where one guy insisted his BB gun could penitrate the blade (well no, but they bounced back with plenty of oompf left) Used the back to hammer on various objects, dug a few holes with it and cut down hardwoods FAR to large to go after with such a thin blade (but down they came) and yes hammered the blade through larger chunks of wood to make better fire starting bits in what is cursed around here as batoning. I did carry a sheath knife and a pocket knife for progressively smaller chores but that machete was my go to steel.
My Scout troop did make fun of me as I carried that old beast on camp outs and hikes. As a kid I never owned an actual BSA hatchet or camp ax. I did own a cheap knock off of a Scout hatchet of the hollow metal tube handle variety(Sears again)....which on its very first camp out got used (without my permission) by another scout that got a dent in the handle tube and it was all down hill from there. I think the machete weighed less and did more anyway.
Eventually the handles on that old jewel of a machete cracked and crumbled apart and I have been "Justgonna" carve and shape some out of wood and apply with cutlery rivets for about the last ten years. The sheath was stolen when someone broke into a rental storage unit, but the machete was unsheathed in the trunk of my (shudder) Yugo in a box o'stuff so still with me.
I also have a GI issue Collins I am not that wild about in its canvas sheath (Yes I punched a hole in it near the tip) just like the one Uncle Sam once loaned me.
My current working Machete is a Chines cheapy I got for half price as a return at Tractor Supply Straight saw back (best saw on a blade I ever personally owned). It has lost one side of one of the two rivets but is still sturdy and used. It does not like black water oak, but then I have to be careful my ax does not skid off that stuff.
I actually used that Cane knife I was working last year on during some storm clean up back in the spring and for the grassy stuff and twigs smaller than my finger it worked great
If one grows up with them machetes are very useful. If folks otherwise survive the learning curve machetes can be useful to folks that came in late.
-kBob
I wore a WWII web belt let out all the way over my head and one shoulder so a machete hung just in front of my left arm pit very frequently for our woods/swamp escapades. the Machete was in a WWII Jay Dee plastic sheath and was made in Belgium and had a dead straight back like the sheath and fit it perfect. I was told it was from the gear of a WWII torpedo bomber crew and got it with some other stuff from a steel sea locker one of my Grandparents' neighbor (who had flown in such aircraft to the detriment of the Japanese) the next used most piece being a radio receiver head set that actually fit the jack of my old Silvertone Sears and Robuck tube AM radio allowing me to listen after lights out with out he folks knowing (Years later my Mom laughed that when she checked on me she knew what I was up to because the tubes glowed on the model airplanes around the radio and the wall behind)
That Machete saw a lot of use and almost as much misuse. There were some small dents on it from where one guy insisted his BB gun could penitrate the blade (well no, but they bounced back with plenty of oompf left) Used the back to hammer on various objects, dug a few holes with it and cut down hardwoods FAR to large to go after with such a thin blade (but down they came) and yes hammered the blade through larger chunks of wood to make better fire starting bits in what is cursed around here as batoning. I did carry a sheath knife and a pocket knife for progressively smaller chores but that machete was my go to steel.
My Scout troop did make fun of me as I carried that old beast on camp outs and hikes. As a kid I never owned an actual BSA hatchet or camp ax. I did own a cheap knock off of a Scout hatchet of the hollow metal tube handle variety(Sears again)....which on its very first camp out got used (without my permission) by another scout that got a dent in the handle tube and it was all down hill from there. I think the machete weighed less and did more anyway.
Eventually the handles on that old jewel of a machete cracked and crumbled apart and I have been "Justgonna" carve and shape some out of wood and apply with cutlery rivets for about the last ten years. The sheath was stolen when someone broke into a rental storage unit, but the machete was unsheathed in the trunk of my (shudder) Yugo in a box o'stuff so still with me.
I also have a GI issue Collins I am not that wild about in its canvas sheath (Yes I punched a hole in it near the tip) just like the one Uncle Sam once loaned me.
My current working Machete is a Chines cheapy I got for half price as a return at Tractor Supply Straight saw back (best saw on a blade I ever personally owned). It has lost one side of one of the two rivets but is still sturdy and used. It does not like black water oak, but then I have to be careful my ax does not skid off that stuff.
I actually used that Cane knife I was working last year on during some storm clean up back in the spring and for the grassy stuff and twigs smaller than my finger it worked great
If one grows up with them machetes are very useful. If folks otherwise survive the learning curve machetes can be useful to folks that came in late.
-kBob
Ironicaintit
Member
I have 5 or 6 of the old USGI type Collins machetes. they're handy as heck. I use them mostly for cutting smaller limbs while doing fire mitigation work around the yard, or on some of the burlier cacti at my moms place.
they hold an edge pretty well and they can take a beating. not the lightest things but, meh
they hold an edge pretty well and they can take a beating. not the lightest things but, meh
Deltaboy1984
Member
I often kill snakes with mine with the aid of a forked stick!
PWC
Member
I have a machete I bought in 1965, because I didn't like the hog leg the govt gave me. It's a 1945 Collins I think. in a leather sheath, probably used in the Pacific. It's a unsnap, lift slightly and pull thru the front. Leather retainer strap broke, replaced with nylon and snaps. First 3" in front of the original handle is knife sharp, the rest is "machate sharp" for hacking. Rivits for the handle gave up the ghost long ago, replaced with 8-32 screws and recessed nuts.
It is fully jump qualified (more than 5) and used extensively in Panama and other jungles
.
It is fully jump qualified (more than 5) and used extensively in Panama and other jungles
.
John Joseph
Member
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- May 5, 2016
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- 1,441
Yep! I've got a Collins. Doesn't everyone?
Shanghai McCoy
Member
Nope, my dipstick little brother in California got the Collins...
PWC
Member
Just a question as one of the uninitiated, please....what is special about a Collins machate?
p35
Member
My favorite is a WW2 USMC Corpsman's Knife. https://olive-drab.com/od_edged_weapons_tools_usmc_hosp.php Not sure whether corpsmen actually needed something like this to cut poles or it was just an excuse to give "unarmed" corpsmen something to defend themselves with in an emergency.
Collins & Co was started in early 1800 in Collinsville, CT. They were "the name" in machetes for over 100 years. The only real competition was Mole & Sons from UK. Most UK controlled territories preferred Mole but for the rest of the world it was Collins. In the mid 20th century many other manufacturers joined in the competition. For many, old-time quality is still either Collins or Mole.
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