Are Machetes classified as swords?

[bdcochran]

all of the comments herein have been spot on.

People adapt - or they adapt the tools to the function.
The people who have been trained on usage of a machete, a sword or a kukri knife understand this very well.

Ok. So I have machetes/swords and have dealt with machete specialists for years. I wanted a machete like tool and NOT for the purpose of cutting sugar cane. It was for cutting small branches. Today, I found the "machete"/"sword". It is called a Nata. Developed in Japan. Japan has a climate ranging from cold to tropical with most areas having four seasons - so cutting sugar cane is out. A Japanese peon could not own a sword, so how could he get around the ban? There were digging knives, sticks, and sickles, but you wanted to get around the ban. The answer was a machete that resembled a sword in many ways.

So as I ordered a unit today, who was ordering? Not guys in Florida. Guys in Michigan/Alaska

I paid under $55 delivered with discounts. There are always beginners who want a Japanese sword to play Ninja. This is the functional tool designed to cut. It is not something hang on the wall, costing a few hundred dollars and serving as a pale imitation of a real Japanese sword.

 

[Charlie_K]

I typed in nata to see what that is.

I like the aesthetics of the design. Very simple looking, very functional looking. The only downside, it's made of 3CR13 stainless steel, just like the Schrade machetes. Very low carbon content.

Also while looking, I found this.

Certainly not the same thing, but damn that's functionally gorgeous to me.

Is Garrett Wade a good company? Do they produce a good product?

 

[Triton]

I typed in nata to see what that is.

I like the aesthetics of the design. Very simple looking, very functional looking. The only downside, it's made of 3CR13 stainless steel, just like the Schrade machetes. Very low carbon content.

Also while looking, I found this.

Certainly not the same thing, but damn that's functionally gorgeous to me.

Is Garrett Wade a good company? Do they produce a good product?

I believe they are a retailer not a producer of anything.

 

[Easy_rider]

I recently got a Czech machete that feels very "sword-like"; I love it. Also Condor makes some machetes that could almost be considered hybrids.

Machete can easily cut apart a plastic bottle filled with water
Have anyone tried to cut a glass bottle filled with water? The same effect or just pieces of glass around?

 

[not2sharp]

I typed in nata to see what that is.

I like the aesthetics of the design. Very simple looking, very functional looking. The only downside, it's made of 3CR13 stainless steel, just like the Schrade machetes. Very low carbon content.

Also while looking, I found this.

Certainly not the same thing, but damn that's functionally gorgeous to me.

Is Garrett Wade a good company? Do they produce a good product?

Check out the Buck 808 Talon.

n2s

 

[ChattanoogaChop]

Machete can easily cut apart a plastic bottle filled with water
Have anyone tried to cut a glass bottle filled with water? The same effect or just pieces of glass around?

"Try and chop glass bottle" is on my to do list.

 

[Charlie_K]

Machete can easily cut apart a plastic bottle filled with water
Have anyone tried to cut a glass bottle filled with water? The same effect or just pieces of glass around?

What kind of crap is this?

You can't cut a glass bottle, you can only break it.

 

[horseclover]

See after the 22 minute mark

https://www.fite.tv/video/budo-the-art-of-killing/3fca60157ebfb9b4f69930d6d5dcf2/

 

[horseclover]

 

[jaytee80]

View attachment 1532447 View attachment 1532448

Is that really what it looks like? Are there any videos of this?

 

[horseclover]

The photos are not a product of photoshop.

 

[jaytee80]

The photos are not a product of photoshop.

There are other ways... but is that a real katana and real brick? That's just mind blowing if so.

 

[horseclover]

The sword is a Hanwei Golden Oriole and a real brick.

Staged but pretty convincing

Look closely at the the piece on the stand being propped up at an angle. The flying piece was tossed into the frame.

The photographer was Tom Carr and while having a Texas gathering long ago.

Cheers
GC

 

[Mecha]

View attachment 1532447 View attachment 1532448

If it was a machine gun barrel then I'd be convinced.

 

[jaytee80]

The sword is a Hanwei Golden Oriole and a real brick.

Staged but pretty convincing

Look closely at the the piece on the stand being propped up at an angle. The flying piece was tossed into the frame.

The photographer was Tom Carr and while having a Texas gathering long ago.

Cheers
GC

SHENANIGANS!

 

[bdcochran]

Garrett Wade is a reputable retailer.

The Nata came in. It is as someone depicted. 12 inch cutting edge. Appropriate for cutting small tree limbs. Not for cutting sugar cane. Sheath could be worn in a number of different ways.

It is a tool. It can be used against small diameter tree branches. It is not for sugar cane. Conversely, I would not use any of my machetes against small diameter tree branches.

My evaluation as to sturdiness without field testing? It is not going to break. The handle is not going to fall off or break. In kukri class, we used the knife against 4x4 lumber. You can use this tool against 4x4s, but it will take some time to cut through. So, line up your watermelons/water jugs/slabs of raw meat, grunt like the guys in the Cold Steel videos and have at it!

 

[Londinium Armoury]

In Germany a machete is classed as a small butter knife.

 

[Kailash Blades]

It's worth noting that there is a bladed martial art revolving around fencing with machetes that's gone on in Haiti for a very long time.
It's called Tire Machet.

While machetes are typically used as tools, in an instance like this the distinction becomes academic. They may not be a "good sword" in terms of design principles, but in this application they are swords.

 

[Mecha]

It's worth noting that there is a bladed martial art revolving around fencing with machetes that's gone on in Haiti for a very long time.
It's called Tire Machet.

While machetes are typically used as tools, in an instance like this the distinction becomes academic. They may not be a "good sword" in terms of design principles, but in this application they are swords.

I say it's still a machete, just used as if it was a sword. Alternative use doesn't change what an object is - that's defined by form-for-function, imo. What something is and what it may get used for are two different categories, with the latter not determining what that thing is.

 

[ChattanoogaChop]

I say it's still a machete, just used as if it was a sword. Alternative use doesn't change what an object is - that's defined by form-for-function, imo. What something is and what it may get used for are two different categories, with the latter not determining what that thing is.

I kind of see both points here. On one hand, if someone was using a carpenter's hammer to bludgeon somebody; it's still a carpenter's hammer that was designed to drive nails and not to bludgeon people. Of course there are war hammers made to bludgeon people and not build houses, reinforcing the idea of purpose made tools are what they were designed to be used for. On the other hand, I think if there were a gang that used carpenter hammers (dual wield of course, for maximum awesomeness) exclusively to kick other people's asses, modified the hammers slightly and built a fighting style around them, they have redefined the purpose as to what it's to be used for. Historically an example of this might be the "war golok", which I think is an example of a tool that became repurposed to be primarily a weapon even though it's essentially the same thing it was. Man...I just had a great idea.....(It's not starting a gang that builds a fighting style around dual wield
hammers, as cool that would be, I don't think my wife would let me)