I have been "testing" above for at least 15 straight years. My dad gave it to me when I was about 14 and now I am nearly 30. I have cut brush, weeds, shrubs, small and medium trees (8-10" in diameter) with it and just about everything else that it came into contact with.
When I first got it, I used it as a throwing knife for some stupid reason. I threw it into a telephone pole until the handle started to get loose. I was going to continue to try and break it but I remembered how well it did when I did use it. I decided not to break it since it worked well when my dad asked me to cut down a pine tree in his front yard. I hammered the rivets back tight on the handle and to my surprise, they have never come loose since.
They only mods I have ever done was recently paint the blade black just to keep it from rusting since there is little to no black finish remaining from years of use. I also wrapped the handle in black fabric tape like what hockey players put on their sticks. It helps keep a better grip when wet from sweat. Other than that, i just sharpen it with a fine file and it is ready to go. It doesnt need a fine edge and seems to cut better with a rough but sharp edge I can get from a file.
I have tested numerous other machetes, Kukris, and axes but nothing has preformed as well as my $15 U.S. machete. It can do just about anything except split large pieces of firewood, hammer things or cut roots out of the earth, for those three things I use a small axe. I have used the expensive Kukris but they dont work as well in clearing brush as the machete and they dont dig roots out as well as an axe, you also cant hammer with them.
Had I paid for this, this would have been the best $15 I ever spent on a cutting tool, since I got it for free, I cant say that.
To put it simply, a $15 dollar machete out performs every other tool of the type that I have ever used. I cant see spending hundreds on anything else. I have tried other machetes and they have not been good. The U.S. issue one is the best because it is the right size, steel and shape. Any larger and it become hard to control, any smaller and you lose performance.
When I first got it, I used it as a throwing knife for some stupid reason. I threw it into a telephone pole until the handle started to get loose. I was going to continue to try and break it but I remembered how well it did when I did use it. I decided not to break it since it worked well when my dad asked me to cut down a pine tree in his front yard. I hammered the rivets back tight on the handle and to my surprise, they have never come loose since.
They only mods I have ever done was recently paint the blade black just to keep it from rusting since there is little to no black finish remaining from years of use. I also wrapped the handle in black fabric tape like what hockey players put on their sticks. It helps keep a better grip when wet from sweat. Other than that, i just sharpen it with a fine file and it is ready to go. It doesnt need a fine edge and seems to cut better with a rough but sharp edge I can get from a file.
I have tested numerous other machetes, Kukris, and axes but nothing has preformed as well as my $15 U.S. machete. It can do just about anything except split large pieces of firewood, hammer things or cut roots out of the earth, for those three things I use a small axe. I have used the expensive Kukris but they dont work as well in clearing brush as the machete and they dont dig roots out as well as an axe, you also cant hammer with them.
Had I paid for this, this would have been the best $15 I ever spent on a cutting tool, since I got it for free, I cant say that.
To put it simply, a $15 dollar machete out performs every other tool of the type that I have ever used. I cant see spending hundreds on anything else. I have tried other machetes and they have not been good. The U.S. issue one is the best because it is the right size, steel and shape. Any larger and it become hard to control, any smaller and you lose performance.
