Can a long machete feel as solid as a 20" machete?

Fancier

Fancier

Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Messages
1,729
I've got a Imacasa 20" panga and it feels very solid. I've been clearing an established bramble and dealing with a lot of thick and hard canes, so I've been using it pretty hard and I'm happy with how it responds to hard blows. I'd like to get a little further back from my work by using a longer machete, but I'm concerned that with a longer piece of steel I'm going to lose that solid feeling of control. How much more flex do you get with a longer machete? Thanks for your help.
 
About the longest machete I've had that still had that feeling of solidity was a 24" blade.
 
Distal taper has everything to do with that "solid" feeling and dynamic balance with machetes 20"+. The 20" Imacasa pangas have a stunning taper to them. I've not yet tried their longer models but will probably get some in relatively soon. I'll try to remember to post my impressions.
 
fancier; by 'flex' do you mean the blade will flex from side to side while you are using it? im going to assume thats what you mean lol
ive never tried a panga style machete.
i use an imacasa with a 24 or 26 inch 'pate de cuche' regular latin pattern blade all the time at work and it feels very solid and not at all 'whippy'. i also have a similarly sized imacasa 'sable' type machete that is somewhat lighter but also not 'whippy'. the ones i have seem to be made of steel similar to the panga so based on these two examples i speculate that if your 20" panga feels solid then the larger ones will also.
i cut a fair bit of wild rose and blackberry briars and it is nice to be able to stand a little farther back from the thorns. it often seems that the cut tops will throw themselves at me no matter what i do. lol
 
wouldestous said:
fancier; by 'flex' do you mean the blade will flex from side to side while you are using it? im going to assume thats what you mean lol
ive never tried a panga style machete.
i use an imacasa with a 24 or 26 inch 'pate de cuche' regular latin pattern blade all the time at work and it feels very solid and not at all 'whippy'. i also have a similarly sized imacasa 'sable' type machete that is somewhat lighter but also not 'whippy'. the ones i have seem to be made of steel similar to the panga so based on these two examples i speculate that if your 20" panga feels solid then the larger ones will also.
i cut a fair bit of wild rose and blackberry briars and it is nice to be able to stand a little farther back from the thorns. it often seems that the cut tops will throw themselves at me no matter what i do. lol
Click to expand...

Both of those models feature properly executed distal taper, which is why they aren't whippy or "flaccid" at that length. Imacasa is (in my opinion) the second best maker of tapered machetes, right behind Martindale, and I think that Imacasa has them beat in a few other important areas. You've got "good ones." ;) For a cheap lesson in what a bad one is, get the longest Nicholson/Collins/Cooper Tools (sold under all those names--Cooper is the parent, Nicholson is a subsidiary, and they're stamped Nicholson/Collins on the blade) machete that you can. They're floppy as hell. No distal taper, thin stock, soft heat treatment (about that of a Cold Steel machete) with a forward-weighted typical Latin/bush pattern profile. Recipe for disaster. It'll get the job done if you have to, but it's just so unpleasant to use. :p
 
You usually want some flex in a machete, the last thing you want is that blade shattering or permanently warping
 
I love the long blades. And if the options offered by Imacasa are any indication, so do field workers. The preference for 12"-14" models in the US baffles me. They're easier to carry--yes--but the performance of a longer blade more than justifies the extra bulk.
 
This is why heat treat is important. Look closely at the tip. You can see it is quite deflected from the rest of the blade. There was absolutely NO damage done to it. It went back to perfectly straight after i batoned it all the way through. Too hard of a heat treat & it would have shattered. Too soft & it would have bent.

100_1364.jpg
 
Bingo. And in my experience machete manufacturers seem to trend towards producing at the lower end of the suitable range of hardness to help minimize the risk of accidentally running the HT too hard. That's one of the things I like about Imacasa/Condor--they run their blades at the upper end of that range. Their HT tolerances are probably dialed in a bit more so they can assume the risk of running blades too hard and having to replace them. If other manufacturers did the same their incidence of over-hardening would likely be too high to make good business sense. I find a harder machete blade in the proper range (NOT too hard) to be stiffer and have improved edge retention. This results in reduced time lost to field sharpening, and better control due to less whippiness or weightiness of a sagging blade dragging the hand off target.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vab
FortyTwoBlades said:
...You've got "good ones." ;) For a cheap lesson in what a bad one is, get the longest Nicholson/Collins/Cooper Tools ...
Click to expand...

lol ive used plenty of bad machetes. worst was sold under the coleman brand though i dont know who made it. bent the actual filed edge like it was an aluminum can and also bent the entire blade. i reckon its still where i threw it. lol

i have a hansa brand machete (with the yellow handles) thats a little bit 'whippy'. the blade is tapered and it seemed to hold an edge but it wasnt good for chopping heavier brush. did all right with green vegetation and grass. i think one of the guys that works with me tried to cut down some rebar (lol) because it has a piece of metal about the size of a nickel knocked out of the blade. its now a beater. lol
 
The problem with that Hansa (I have the orange one) is that the heat treatment is on the rubbery side and the taper is VERY slight. It's also a very nose-heavy design. It would benefit from a more firm heat treatment and increased thickness towards the base of the blade to provide extra support.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vab
So, does that mean that the Condors max out at 20" because they are intended for export rather than because of technical limitations?
 
Basically. They can make freaking monstrous machetes (check out the new Dynasty Dadao's OAL!) but the North American preference seems to be for 18" and less. I think it's silly and needs to stop. The shorter machetes have their place and I love them dearly, but people need to get more excited about the longer ones--the performance is there, people! :D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The problem with that Hansa (I have the orange one) is that the heat treatment is on the rubbery side and the taper is VERY slight. It's also a very nose-heavy design. It would benefit from a more firm heat treatment and increased thickness towards the base of the blade to provide extra support.
Click to expand...

orange handle hansa? does it say 'aguila azul' on the blade? coz i have one of those also lol.
the yellow hansas (yes, i have a couple lol) say 'gallo'.
 
I don't know what Hansas you have been using, but the 7 that I have, have a great taper.
Distal tapers are a bit technical. If you don't do it right, it gets too floppy. If it isn't tapered, it is also too floppy. The 25 and 27 inch machetes have a taper that starts later in the line. Very important. You must lead with more elbow when you use bigger ones.
All the England made martindales (and yes, there are other countries used to manufacture them in the past) have bad tapers, from the 10 different models over the years or so I've seen. It seems the English love thick stock (not the rule of course, but an observation).
 
Hansa as a general rule does a good taper, but at least the example I have (the 24" "Lampon Cabo Tomate" only has very slight taper and it's only for the last 5 inches or so. It helps out a bit but it's still kind of floppy. I agree that the Martindales tend to go over-thick on their stock, but don't think they have bad tapers. I think they do a fantastic job tapering their machetes, but a not-so-great job of selecting their base stock thickness. Or correcting post-heat treat warping.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top