Best of the Budget Machetes?
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- Опубліковано 9 вер 2024
- Machetes are just fun. They're like cheap swords that actually have a use, and when my trails need some light maintenance, I enjoy using a machete to clear small limbs and brush. These represent 3 of the cheapest machetes you can buy, let's see which is the best bargain.
Columbian Surplus Machete Pack amzn.to/3qVvxXp
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My harbor freight machete is from like 2010 2011 and doesnt have the dumb serrations. Nice beefy handle with some blue color on it. my dad gave it an edge for me and i spent days honing it, made it razor sharp building off the work he did and i have maintained that edge for years now through punishing use. I think its some kind of spring steel, idk, i have to clean and oil it or it wants to rust. Strange how some cheap piece of steel meant to be some one off tool for people who need it so they can do a single specific task and likely toss it or forget about it can end up being something of a sacred item with plenty of hidden meaning which provides some small ritual and dicipline to the owner who continues to employ its use at every time it is called for.
I appreciate the handle comparison, too.
Yo! I use the Walmart machete with some personalization on it. Some paracord, change the grind a little. But seriously out of the package? Pretty amazing piece of steel for $6. Sometimes cheaper is actually great. I live off of stealth camping and bushcrafting. This thing has seen some abuse. Somehow holds up. Never thought I'd champion some cheap Walmart stuff, but it's a ridiculous bargain. Just my two cents.
Columbia surplus or Tramontina have worked for me.
Nice comparison! I used to assume the walmart machete was junk like the harbor freight machete, which I've had 4 and they all broke. I thought it was also stainless as it says in the online description, but it also says high carbon steel? But why would it have a clear coating if it was stainless? For 5 bucks I grabbed one at walmart and surprised how tough it really is so far. The handle does have a tiny bit of play but can be fixed. It actually looks identical to my 18" tramontina besides the handle. And I trimmed out the clear plastic part of the packaging to use as a liner in the flimsy sheath. Not a bad deal at all!
Yeah the sheath is crap. Using the plastic from the packaging is damn smart. I got some elsewhere because otherwise you WILL cut through that sheath just by using it. Blade=good. Sheath= crap. I'm a hard user, so trust me on this. Surprisingly good blade. It's my go to and I live on the road bushcrafting and stealth camping.
I own both the HF and Ozark ones myself. I prefer the older shorter HF ones they had in the past with wooden handle and rivets because it was easy to drill out the rivets and put on a better handle. I like the modern HF when cutting green plants due to the light weight but hate the saw back. I like the Ozark when chopping through more dead brush due to it's weight and not having to worry about edge being so fragile. I think they both are worth the money, but if I only had to buy one of the two, the Ozark is a better machete in my opinion.
Agreed. The HF would be great for cutting lighter weight brush such as blackberries. Unfortunately, we don't have anything like that where I live.
@@ironridgeoutdoors FYI the JMK and Speer & Jackson from your previous video were probably made by INCOLMA in Columbia and then just branded with those other names. :-) See my comments on your other video about the machetes. Of course, the HF machetes worked just fine for chopping down tree tobacco in our yard a few years ago. :-)
Jungle master 28" or Tramontina 30"
Bought the wally machete for shitsngiggles, ended up liking it. Sharpened it, squared the spine and the section just before the blade, and put a katana wrap on the handle.
Watch your video. It looked to me like you struggle slightly with the extra weight of the Columbian machete. In watching the Ozark trails machete just seemed easier and more effective.
I think where the harbor freight machete would work would be on live foliage in someone's garden. Where what they are cutting is soft.
gotta love how it just bounced off the shrub
Machetes are for green, wet stuff. If you cut it and it sprays and stains you, use the machete. You can trim thick green grass on your lawn, chop down banana plants or cut vines. It's not for cutting trees or dry, springy shrubs.
From my experience the Collins and Colima okc brands are the best machetes for your money all you need to sharpen is a good fine cut flat file or triangle fine cut file the light blades are useless in jungle a little weight in the blade makes a big difference the sawback is prone to break in heavy use
When you used the saw blade portion of the Harbor Freight, I got a bit of anxiety because you weren't using gloves lol
The wobbliness specifically is what made me feel that.
THE COLOMBIAN ONES GOT THAT TRAMONTINA TING SOUND TO IT I SAY THATS THE BETTER CUTTER
Wow that's the Ozark Trails machete right now? I remember how terribly built it was 10 years ago but it's about time they up their game. As for Harbor Freight's machete it's still terrible as usual.
I was pleasantly surprised by the Walmart brand as well.
Good video, but Tramontinas and Imacasas are inexpensive and so good I dont bother with others. That sawback one I'd probably shorten and use it for camp sites.
The 18" HF one I just got yesterday, bent the same day with very light use. In 40 years of using machetes I can't say I've ever seen a bent machete. Buy Colombian or Brazil made rela machetes.
Oh, BTW, you always have to sharpen real machetes, they are farm tools, they don't come sharp from factory.
Have you tried the Friskars Black Blade one
I have not. My Walmart machete is still going strong.
Op you mispelled Colombia in your presentation.
Harbor Freights chopper is Mediocre in my opinion did you try the Walmart one
Yes, the Ozark trails machete tested in this video was from Walmart. It was my favorite of these three.
I got a harbor freight and that thing is as flimsy as tissue paper with the wobble it has when shaking it. Not even worth the $6.
It's worthless
Mechetes are more useful in jungles with thick green brush. Never cut brown wood with a mechete.
Never? I do it all the time. Soft pine and juniper; works great.
@@ironridgeoutdoors i suppose i could spread butter on my toast with a rock
You ever made a machete ?
No, not yet. I'm currently limited by my gear to 10-11 inch blades.
@@ironridgeoutdoors I hear ya. You make some great blades!. Keep up the good work. 😀 love your hunter knives and bowies.
@@mr.bullionnaire9748 thanks man, I appreciate it!
Great video and information... one of my machetes is from Harbor Freight and it’s the most used machete out of the 5 I use..it’s light and I bar it extremely sharp to the point I trim hedges with it...I also got a machete from northern tools.. it’s great also after I took the handle off and made another one for it... I like using these because if damaged from rocks or fence poles I don’t get to bent out of shape... my fiskars, yardscrapers and hooyman machetes are used for heavier brush... the Harbor Freight Machete teeth will tear the sheath... great video
I bought the 18 in Ozark Trail blade*, I must say that it is unopened, and I haven't tried it yet. However, from the live reviews that I've seen, it seems that I have something very special for the $7 I paid for it. I only needed it for starting holes for digging(unfortified dirt--no matter how hard--is nowhere near as hard as semi-thick brush).
*Before this, I had a Fiskar very long saw knife blade that I lost(collasping blade). Near the Crocodile Dundee blade in size. And, it has to be better than any of the ones here. There is no limit to what it could cut, because it was a saw blade. And, it also cut quickly and almost effortlessly due to being almost needle-sharp prickly. THIS IS CERTAINLY A BLADE TO PROFILE IN A FUTURE REVIEW! I went to Wal-mart where I had originally purchased this blade to replace it. However, they did not have it nor anything like it. So, after seeing a live review using Android inside WM, I bought this instead(as I didn't need the Fiskar--but a blade to help with digging a giant hole).
I bought yesterday a Cold Steel Slang 21 for 60 euros. its pretty bad too. it was sharpened on a grinder, left it with alot of burr and unrefined edge. i managed to sharpen (finish) it very good on 3000 grit wetstone. the handle was PP, awfully slippery. i PlastiDip it, its way better now. before it required alor of force to keep it in hand, the end of the handle slipping on my hand. now its really good. i can only hope the carbon steel is good, but the idiots from Cold Steel ruined it sharpening it on a grinder, leaving blue high temperature marks!
Man, that's unfortunate. I'm still thinking theat the ozark trails brand is a great bargain for what you get.
@@ironridgeoutdoors most of the budget friendly items from USA are not available here in Europe. and the prices for known brands are sometimes double. the budget friendly machete are Smith&Wesson and Walther.
WHY DONT YOU BUNDLE THE SAGE AND SELL IT THATS MONEY YOUR CUTTING
It's not the edible type of sage. Not really worth anything.
It doesn't have an edge because Colombians don't sell blades already sharp saves on cost and makes less problems explaining to the cops why you are walking around with sharp machete they tend to ignore people from the Fincas (farms) as they know they have a legit reason to have it
I disagree, they sell them blunt because the user is supposed to have the skill to put the final edge on the machete with a file.
Farmers, depending on what type of work they will do, will either put a very large bevel creating a wafer thin edge for cutting grass and light brush; and and a smaller bevel creating a slightly thicker edge, if the machete will be used for cutting harder materials such as wood etc.
Most farmers would perfer to have sharp machetes regardless of what material they are working with. Less effort in the physical labor they must perform if the machete is sharp.
Edit: added common tool used for sharpening machetes in Colombia/Peru