Hatchet or machete

[Scott Tschirhart]

Which is your most used tool in the woods?

I use Cold Steel Heavy Machetes a great deal, but they don't hold and won't really take an edge. They are pretty good for brush clearing but would be much better if they were not so soft.

I have used variouus cheap hatchets for clearing and they work, having more power for cutting small limbs.

I suppose my most used tool is a pair of good loppers but they are difficult to carry around.

What has been your experience?

[FWiedner]

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I find a good machete to have much more utility for clearing brush and trails and for bringing down saplings and small trees.

My next most useful tool is a curved pruning saw, and If I have to make a second trip I usually carry a lopper.

My hatchets and small axes get their work when actual chopping or splitting is required.

For keeping an edge on the soft machete, I bought an inexpensive yet effective carbide sharpener. It removes metal to cut an edge, so I don't use it on my better blades.

[wecsoger]

Hatchets are nice for general light work, knocking up kindling, etc.

Moving on up...

Ontario Knife Company 18" machete for general brush. This is a *great* machete, the military issue one.

Anything heavier, look for Condor Knife and Tool parang. They make a couple, all excellent.

[Blaine]

As someone who brushed line for a surveyor, I'm comfortable with the machete. The secret is in the wrist action. You can pound on that stuff as hard as you want, but if you don't cock and snap your wrist with it held loosely enough, you're working way too hard at it.
Processing firewood is an entirely different matter, and needs small ax/hatchet.

[gamekeeper]

I use a machete in the woods a hatchet in the woodshed, I bought a Marbles Bowie machete to try, it's very cheap but very sharp, unfortunately it's useless in the woods, way too light, so I keep it under the bed for other uses..

MR310410__40226.1610642580.jpg

[piller]

A sharp machete seems to do most things for me. Not much actual wood around.

[octagon]

I carry two of each, a neat question mark shaped machete from Mexico, a regular machete, and two plumb hatchets and a chainsaw. The ? Machete gets used alot as I have sharpened both inner and outer curves, the style is from the Mexican Peones. Always carry a small sledge as well. This gear does not fit under the back seat of the new GMC as well as the old one.

[piller]

Having something to sharpen them with is always a help.

[Buck Elliott]

I've found machetes to be too unwieldy in brush, and too light for most tasks. They are good for clearing tall grass and weeds.
My favorite of many years has been an Estwing 18" camp axe. My first one was a faithful companion for 30+ years, until it went home one day, with someone it didn't belong to. I hope I've trained it's replacement to be more loyal..
I carry one of two knives when I'm out and about: a Cold Steel Recon Scout or a Trail master Bowie, depending. Either serves well for alders and other brush, or even small trees.
If I'm hunting, I'll have 2 or 3 Cold Steel Master Hunters in my pack..
There's also a small folder in my pocket - always - unless I'm using it.

[AJMD429]

THIS is the best knife I've found for all-around duty when camping, presuming I've got a small knife useable for skinning and/or a multi-tool for the smaller stuff.

usmc heavy bolo.jpg

I heard a rumor they were 'U.S. Medical Corps' and for amputations....but I believe that is not at all true.

(Although they WOULD do that task I'm sure).

Here's a video showing more about them - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHbD8YYfHpk

They are a quarter inch thick so are heavy enough to use as a hatchet, yet the knife-like form is easier to use.

[Grizz]

I made a pretty good machete by cutting down a box store swedish, i think, machete.

shortened it and rehafted it, better steel than the domestic ones i've tried, and better balance than the too long model.

for cutting down and limbing small trees, up to a foot, i'll use my double bit. after that it's the chainsaw for both tasks

[jeepnik]

I like these.
https://www.woodmanspal.com/

[Jay Bird]

Machetes really don't have the weight for anything more than small vines and such. I guess if your in a jungle they would be more handy than a hatchet. I must have 15 hatchets (Plumbs) I keep all over the place but when I have work to do with small stuff...like an inch or two in diameter or wild roses and such, I find a battery powered chain saw is the way to go. Better than that is using the loader on the Kubota. I can make a path through the woods as fast as you can walk.

A phone call and I'll get my BIL from two doors down and get him to bring the D-7 Cat over here.

Birdman of Leverguns

[GunnyMack]

I keep a machete on the quad and on the Ranger a short ax. Then the Husky chainsaw is in its box on either machine. I also have a Husky weed whacker/ brush cutter, with blade installed itll cut 4 inch stuff with much less effort than swinging steel. If I gotta get high up then the Dewalt cordless pole saw gets the nod.

[mickbr]

Machete where I am. The two brands I like are Condor and OKC, these are hard quality steel in 1/8 inch thickness. In18 "+ length they are decent choppers on saplings and branches. Cold Steel I agree with the OP are a bit soft. Ok for occasional thwacking but putting to hard use they have to be sharpened continually and too much time lost.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Cordless pole saw. Now that got my attention. That might be just what I need. Everything in this part of Texas has thorns or claws. A little reach might be just what I need. I could use it here around the house as well. I have several large oak trees.

I appreciate everyone's input.

[AmBraCol]

I find the number who mention the machete in a positive light to be surprising as in other discussions I've noticed a preference in N. America for the hatchet/tomahawk/belt axe genre of tools. A GOOD machete is very useful for trail clearing if one knows how to use it. It is the most used tool in great sections of S. America due to its adaptability to use. A good machete man can clear a trail quickly and with relatively low energy output by using the tool's characteristics to do the work. As Blaine mentions above, you've got to use your wrist to flick it and allow the weight and sharpness to do the work. A poor machete on the other hand is a great frustration. Collins used to export great quantities of machetes to Brasil and they are still talked about in remote areas as the epitome of the tool. I have one, at least I'm pretty sure it's a Collins, or what remains of it, in my collection. But it's been sharpened down to a thin fighting knife profile by a former owner. Someone left it with our neighbor to have a sheath made for it and never went back. I picked it up for the cost of the sheath. It has horn grip panels riveted to the tang with aluminum spacers underneath. But I digress. It's telling that few people here have ever seen a hatchet, much less used one. An axe for the heavy stuff, a machete for the light stuff. In Brasil they use another tool called a "foice" (FOY see) for the light to medium range. It's a short, hooked blade on a medium to long wooden handle. It's great for reaching out further than a machete allows and the hooked blade allows it to be used to cut overhanging vines by hooking and pulling the blade through them.

[gamekeeper]

Over here we call this long handled tool a "slasher" gamekeepers used to use them for clearing rides etc before power tools took over.
My Hatchet is for scale.

IMG_20210306_174233.jpg

[piller]

That slasher looks like the evolution of an old foot soldier's weapon from Medieval wars.
Most of the slashing tools I find are soft steel. Fiskars is probably the best I can find around here in stock at a store. Being somewhat of a knife nut, I am looking at setting up my forge again and making some more knives. Some decent 1075 or 1085 steel hardened to a spring steel, or 5160, would hold an edge well without chipping or shattering. Leaf springs from cars of the 1980s or older would be good starting stock.

I haven't had my forge put together for several years due to health issues caused by working for Walgreens. Now that I am not working for them anymore and my health is returning, I am feeling like I can get back into it.

[Sixgun]

Over here we call this long handled tool a "slasher" gamekeepers used to use them for clearing rides etc before power tools took over.

It comes down to where you live and the environment. I don't think I've seen 6 machetes in this area for over a half century. The "area to be cleared" is either too tough for a machete or too light where you can simply stop it down or run a lawn mower over it.

We have lots of "slashers" but these are not seen in the rural areas. -------006

[Blaine]

Sorry....the professional brushers, Surveyors, use machetes. Period. Spend all day clearing an ankle-high path for line, and then you can comment on this subject.
Small trees that you can bend over fall with one whack.

[Ray]

Deleted.

[AmBraCol]

Over here we call this long handled tool a "slasher" gamekeepers used to use them for clearing rides etc before power tools took over.
My Hatchet is for scale.
IMG_20210306_174233.jpg

That "slasher" is very similar to what we call a foice in Brasil. Main differences are, your version has a less pronounced hook and the "eye" for the haft on yours is a pronounced funnel, designed for a factory tapered shaft I'd guess. The Brazilian ones I'm familiar with will have the hook portion about a third as long as the straight portion of the blade. They'll either have a point like yours or will have an unsharpened flat edge. They'll range from fairly light (for cutting more grass like growth) to fairly heavy (3/16" to 1/4" perhaps? for hacking heavy vines and small trees/bushes). I chat some on another forum with one of your fellow citizens who has roots in Hong Kong and he showed me something similar that his grandmother used for harvesting rice. It had a short wooden handle on it and was obviously not designed for the same type of work your slasher or the foice are. The foice are tough and hold an edge well. I've seen them forged from an old truck leaf spring.

[Blaine]

Re. surveying.....

The target man....that is to say, the one with the levelling rod often carries a machete but the brush ape who actually does the bulk of clearing always uses a bush axe, ditch blade, or kaiser blade similar to the tool in gamekeepers foto.

As for the original post, a bush axe with an abbreviated handle might prove handy but a scabbard or frog or blade cover of sorts might be necessary for safety sake.

B.T.W. bush axes are illegal to possess in several states.....

Running levels and marking line are two very different jobs. Those tiny, short little blades are useless. A decent temper, 24" blade is superior.
If a machete isn't working for you, you're not doing it correctly.

[6pt-sika]

In the woods on my property I have two tools that get used most often . A John Deere 4x4 tractor with a bucket and a Stihl chain saw . Granted I’ve got more than one Stihl . Even when I pick a different tree for one of my climbers if it’s got a bunch of semi thick limbs I wanna cut off to climb higher I’ve got a small Stihl I bring up the tree and cut as I go up .

[AmBraCol]

Over here we call this long handled tool a "slasher" gamekeepers used to use them for clearing rides etc before power tools took over.

It comes down to where you live and the environment. I don't think I've seen 6 machetes in this area for over a half century. The "area to be cleared" is either too tough for a machete or too light where you can simply stop it down or run a lawn mower over it.

We have lots of "slashers" but these are not seen in the rural areas. -------006

A lot of it comes down to culture. Up where you live folks have long gravitated more to the axe/hatchet, probably going back to before the settlers arrived even. Down here the small axe/hatchet is seen as an encumbrance as it's too small for serious felling duty and a machete works better for the lighter work.

Another area of cultural difference is in the implements used for making holes. My family always used a good spade for digging, that's what every farmer carried in their pickup for irrigating and other work. Down here the hoe is used much more for digging, and they aren't the light weeding type hoes one sees up north but much heavier, forged implements. Some have a fairly long blade for trenching, others a wider blade for chopping serious weeds.

[JimT]

Another area of cultural difference is in the implements used for making holes. My family always used a good spade for digging, that's what every farmer carried in their pickup for irrigating and other work. Down here the hoe is used much more for digging, and they aren't the light weeding type hoes one sees up north but much heavier, forged implements. Some have a fairly long blade for trenching, others a wider blade for chopping serious weeds.

They are probably like the hoes in Africa ... I've seen men and women working together, clear a 10 acre field of brush, rocks and small trees with these.

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[AJMD429]

Interesting when it comes to garden hoes, because the ones you buy at most hardware stores or farm supply stores have really wimpy handles and blades that aren’t sharp, which for the way I grew up using a hoe is totally inadequate.

I wind up replacing the handles with a piece of half-inch steel pipe, and grinding and hardening the blades. A few years ago I found a ‘hoop’ hoe that is designed to push forward and backwards under the soil to cut weeds off below grade. It sort of looks like a stirrup but it is hardened steel and sharpened on the forward and rearward edges.

Definitely a lot of terminology changes with implements like this around the world. When I think of a ‘machete’ I think of something that is lightweight (1/8” thick maybe) and almost like a sword that you would use for briars, or even for fighting

The USMC knife that I use (pics above) is 1/4” thick, and I guess you could call it a ‘heavy machete,’ because you can cut 2 inch softwood with one whack; it certainly functions more like a hatchet than a knife or what I think of as a ‘machete’.

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Buck Elliott]

As some of you may know, I spent summer months in the Wilderness areas of NW Wyoming, where federal regulations put the kybosh on some of civilization's favorite toys, such as motorized vehucles, chainsaws, or power tools of any sort. One is somewhat limited, by space and weight considerations, in the type and number of hand-tools we could tote around.
Knives were our primary cutting tools, along with a good, serviceable hatchet or two, double-butted axe, Swede saw, and 6' 2-man misery-whip, loaded of sturdy horses or mules. A D-handle shovel and entrenching tool topped things off.. No electric/battery-powered tools or impliments.
Not that different from the way I grew up.
You learn to rely on sharp steel - how to take care of it, and how to make it work for you, when you're miles/days from the nearest road or power line.

[piller]

Never used one, but I have heard about the saw called a misery whip. If you try to push, it doesn't work is what I have heard. One pulls then guides it back.

[JimT]

Never used one, but I have heard about the saw called a misery whip. If you try to push, it doesn't work is what I have heard. One pulls then guides it back.

I cut quite a bit of wood with one in my younger years.

[Scott Tschirhart]

My brother and I cut a lot of mequite logs into firewood with a two handed whip saw. Works like a charm on wood that has been allowed to dry a bit.

What I have is 136 acres of mesquite, whitebrush, and prickly pear cactus. I use the machete a lot for cutting prickly pear out of a fence line. Pear will put a lot of weight and stress on a barbed wire fence.

I have a good chain saw for the trees, but I think I need to find a better machete with a bit harder steel in the blade so that it will take and hold an edge. Thank you to everyone who offered advice.

[TWHBC]

Have a Case XX machete that was in aircrew survival kits during WWII. There were two versions one a fixed blade and the other a folding blade. Mine is a fixed blade.
Blade is about 1/4" thick and 16" long, Has a wider rounded blade at the end, which gives a nice balance, and the steel definitely holds an edge! Stays in my PU.
Also have a Cold Steel that is a Kukuri style with a rubber handle. Blade is thinner and softer than the Case, but it works almost as well.

[Blaine]

My brother and I cut a lot of mequite logs into firewood with a two handed whip saw. Works like a charm on wood that has been allowed to dry a bit.

What I have is 136 acres of mesquite, whitebrush, and prickly pear cactus. I use the machete a lot for cutting prickly pear out of a fence line. Pear will put a lot of weight and stress on a barbed wire fence.

I have a good chain saw for the trees, but I think I need to find a better machete with a bit harder steel in the blade so that it will take and hold an edge. Thank you to everyone who offered advice.

Ontario Knife Company has several....Made with 1075 steel. I liked the one with the orange handle because tools disappear when you lay them down.

[3leggedturtle]

A 270mm Silky Saw.

[rock-steady]

https://www.machetespecialists.com/

I use a machete several times a week. I have nine or ten different ones, from a 12" to a 24".

The best is an Ontario 18" traditional style with 1095 steel. The most useful is a 14" Tramontina Bolo style with 1070 steel. The most often used is a Marble's 18" Latin style with 1075 steel.

I have a Condor Parang 17", it's very sharp but the blade is nearly 1/4" thick making it more of a weapon than a tool.

I have spent many hours over many years swinging a "Bush Knife" aka Bush Axe, Ditch Bank Blade or Kaiser Blade.

I have a few hatchets, but they see little use beyond splitting kindling or hammering in a tent stake.