Even Suburbanites Need a Machete

Although popularly thought of as jungle hacking tools, machetes come in very handy around the house. I use mine to chop my kitchen and garden waste into little pieces so it composts rapidly. My evergreen bushes out front grow new shoots in the summer, and to keep the bushes looking I good I get rid of the uneven shoots with my machete. A vine is growing through some of my bushes, and the machete took care of that too. I make stakes out of branches and saplings from the backyard for tomato trellis stakes and bean poles.

The Infamous Machete

In most of the world, a machete-wielding man would not even raise an eyebrow. Unfortunately, machetes have a more sinister reputation in the US. Most people think of violence when you mention a machete, and although classified as an agricultural tool by most governments, it always pays to be circumspect in shipping or carrying a machete. Whenever called upon to identify the contents of our packages, we try to use the harmless sounding "Edge Tools" as opposed to "Machetes."

MacheteSpecialists.com Hot Pick in Tactical Knives Magazine

Hey, we haven't been updating our blog as much as we'd like, we spend all our time packing.

We are excited and honored to announce that Tactical Knives Magazine has us featured as one of Randall's Hot Picks at the end of an article about machetes in their most recent issue. In it the author argues the relative merits of a machete as compared to a knife or ax in survival situations.

We know where we stand.

We continue to gather new styles of machetes, as well as useful information regarding their use and care.

Machetes and Survival

I was reading the Army Survival Manual FM 21-76 today, and came upon several interesting machete-related excerpts.

"Knives" are mentioned more often than "machetes", but if we look at what the field manual says about knives, one of the three outlined uses are best accomplished with a long knife or machete, as it is difficult to slash and chop with a pocket knife.

"A knife has three basic functions. It can puncture, slash or chop, and cut"

"If you are the victim of an aircraft crash, the most important items to take with you from the crash site are a machete, a compass, a first aid kit, and a parachute or other material for use as mosquito netting and shelter."

"Chop Fishing
At night, in an area with a good fish density, you can use a light to attract fish. Then, armed with a machete or similar weapon, you can gather fish using the back side of the blade to strike them. Do not use the sharp side as you will cut them in two pieces and end up losing some of the fish."

Hansa Arrocero 19.99

The forces involved in using a machete require that the steel used be both hard and flexible. The edge must be hard enough to retain its sharpness, but flexible enough through proper tempering to allow the blade to bend without breaking. Hansa prides itself on the ability to bend the blade at room temperature, showing just how ductile the blade is.

ESEE Lite Machete with Condor Blade 59.95 w/o Sheath

We are now offering the ultra-lite ESEE (Formerly Rat Cutlery) Lite Machete with Micarta handle. This is a great price point for someone looking for the quality and comfort of a micarta handle without the high-price.

Bellotto Sickles and Machetes

We just added a line of Brazilian agricultural edge tools. There are sickles of various shapes that can be used to cut grains or harvest fruits, as well as corn knives for harvesting cane and other machetes. With the increase in popularity of small-scale agricultural, hand tools are once again a worthwhile investment for many farmers.