Hansa 24" Aguila Lampon in the woods!

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

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Dealer / Materials Provider
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I got out yesterday with my new orange-handled Hansa and decided to give it a beating. This thing has a 24" blade (tapered only along the last third) and a riveted polypropylene handle. As you may imagine, a machete with a weighted nose and a blade this long is one heavy hitter! I went to my usual stomping grounds to give it a spin.

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The overall balance and feel of the piece is very dynamic. It suffered from the same "problems" as most machetes--that is to say it came with some very slight handle/fit issues and only a quickly ground region to take some of the work out of putting an edge on it yourself. Both of these "problems" were quickly and easily corrected.

But enough about that--a picture is worth a thousand words, and I have a thousand pictures. ;)

Right side:
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From behind:
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Right handle scale:
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Left handle scale--you can see the difference in the shape of the rivets here:
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Front of grip--I fixed a slight fit issue here, as the tang projected above the scales slightly:
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Continued...
 
The sticker--an insignificant detail, but it's quite high quality, with raised lettering and borders:
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The side opposite the sticker (edge facing left) There is a single long groove along this side only, broken in the middle by this logo:
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Funny it says "Blue Eagle" when orange is the opposite of blue on the color wheel. :D

As is often the case, the region that was ground ended before the base of the blade. The worker that did mine lingered a little when he finished this side, hence the visibly different appearance at this spot on the edge. Purely cosmetic, and not an issue to me, but it deserves mentioning:
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The Lampon style of machete has an almost spatulate tip, lending a certain extra mass to the point. There is little point to speak of; the edge terminates perpendicular to the vertical axis of the machete. Golok fans will find this sort of tip very familiar.
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The blade (much like Imacasas) features a distal taper, the stock thinning towards the tip. In this instance, as previously mentioned, the blade only tapers significantly along the third closest to the tip. The first picture shows you the spine nearest the handle, the second shows you the spine at the tip:
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The right scale features what I take to be a molding mark at the top of it. Again, this is purely cosmetic, and does not detract from the feel or function of the handle.
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Additionally, there is a small molding mark at the base of each scale. I trimmed these down flush, though you can still see where they were:
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Continued...
 
To put it in perspective just how large this beast is, here it is next to my Guyot:
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The broad blade was well suited to clearing snow. Here I'm using the spine to break up some crusty snow to clear a log:
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After breaking the crust free it was simple to lift the entire section off in one piece:
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The broad tip later proved useful for excavating pine stumps.

Given that I was in a gargantuan White Pine forest, I figured I'd bust up some stumps to look for fatwood:

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This provided me a good opportunity to photograph the admirable flexibility of the Hansa:
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During the extraction process (during which I cleared rotten sections and broke up the remainder by digging and lightly prying with my Condor Rodan) I managed to bang my knuckles. No biggie, but it needed to be covered to keep it clean:D:

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I met with only marginal success (it's hard to see the typical forms under the ice and snow!) but I still met with enough success to justify the total destruction of the stump. Victory!:
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In short, I found the Hansa Aguila Lampon to be nothing short of a machete-shaped axe! I'll need to fashion some improved way of carrying it (cardboard doesn't cut it) but it was nice and light, while giving me ample chopping power. I suffered some bad glancing blows at some points, but I found that was due to me not bringing the edge angle back far enough in some spots, so I'll be fixing that soon. The handle was consistently very comfortable gloved or bare-handed, and the tapered blade made handling the large and weighty thing a breeze. The edge remained perfect through the entire encounter, and did not require touch-ups in spite of repeatedly striking frozen knots.

I would whole-heartedly recommend Hansa to anyone looking for a tough and hard-hitting machete. In fact, I think I see an Arrocero model in my future.
 
Thanks guys. It came from Machete Specialist if anyone wants to snag one. I'm pretty sure they're the only place that carries Hansa. :)
 
Very cool! Thanks for the review, sir! That does look like a pretty cool machete- long & whippy! I'm digging the handle on that one- I like that sort of "rounded" style- I have similar handles on a bunch of my machetes- I find them very comfortable. The color is nice on that one too! I've been wondering how those Hansas stack up- I'll have to get on a couple of those.

And kudos for taking the time to go out and do such a comprehensive review in the bitter, bitter cold! :thumbup:
 
moonwilson said:
Very cool! Thanks for the review, sir! That does look like a pretty cool machete- long & whippy! I'm digging the handle on that one- I like that sort of "rounded" style- I have similar handles on a bunch of my machetes- I find them very comfortable. The color is nice on that one too! I've been wondering how those Hansas stack up- I'll have to get on a couple of those.

And kudos for taking the time to go out and do such a comprehensive review in the bitter, bitter cold! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

It wasn't so cold yesterday...but today is just awful! I recently checked out a copy of the Collins Machetes and Bowies book from a local library (lucky me! the next closest place that has a copy is in Mass.) and one of the handle styles ascribed to them matches the Hansa to a T. :cool:

The interesting thing is that even though the blade is very flexible, it doesn't "sag" under its own weight or wobble when you wave it in the air or swing it. This is important, because a sagging blade can cause accelerated fatigue and make your swings go off track. The blade flexes easily, but only when outside forces are applied. :thumbup:
 
NICE review man! Thanks!

you digging that Rodan??? i was very close to getting one but then found out it is about the same size as the BK2...true? I couldnt justify the (small) spend...cuz i have a BK2...i could be swayed tho :D
 
It's a FANTASTIC li'l devil. I can't find a fault with it, other than cosmetically (only slightly) uneven grinds.Great handle, great blade, great steel, great sheath (though you need to let it shape to the knife)

It cuts like a Mora, but it's easily ten times as durable. For $20 it's kind of one of those "why the hell not?" purchases. It's hard to even find a leather sheath by itself for that little! :eek::thumbup:
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
It's a FANTASTIC li'l devil. I can't find a fault with it, other than cosmetically (only slightly) uneven grinds.Great handle, great blade, great steel, great sheath (though you need to let it shape to the knife)

It cuts like a Mora, but it's easily ten times as durable. For $20 it's kind of one of those "why the hell not?" purchases. It's hard to even find a leather sheath by itself for that little! :eek::thumbup:
Click to expand...

Damn sales man :D ... would you pm me where you got it? or email me

anubis1335 at yahoo dot com

dont want you to get deal spotting flagged

Thanks!
:thumbup:
 
I got it through the shop I work at in the summers. :p

Try the "shopping" tab HERE though. You'll find what you're looking for no problem. ;):thumbup:
 
Dear FortyTwoBlades,
I am the CEO of HANSA and want to thank you for your review and the awesome photos.
A couple of details about our machetes:
The edge is not finished, as field workers here in Ecuador will grind the edge and cut the tip to their custom specs. This is the case with most latin american machetes so for optimal use you should grind the edge to your desired sharpness. Remember to do it always under water cooling if you use a powered grinder as the heat of the grinding can ruin the temper of the blade. You can do it dry, but it is quite a skill. From the photos I see that your edge has already been sharpened outside of the factory.
A similar thing happens with the handle: The user will grind the handle slightly to accommodate his (or her) hand.

You will laugh but here in Ecuador the Aguila Azul is known to be a very light machete. Our Yegua knive is a good deal heavier and is the top of the line.

If you are ever in Ecuador you are welcome to visit our plant and see how it is all done.
Happy chopping!
 
No problem, and thanks for the offer! Not sure when I'd ever make it down to Ecuador, though. :) I plan on picking up a good number more of your excellent machetes for review, personal use, and also for modification. I'm modifying some Imacasas for resale right now, but I've got plans for a Yegua and an Arrocero that ought to be excellent.

Keep up the great work! You guys make an awesome machete. :cool:
 
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