I've been eyeing one of these for quite some time and finally was able to snag one. I wanted to post a decent review of this item.
To begin with, the sheath seems very adequate. It held the knife very securely. I will admit though, the lower snap is pretty much useless and I could draw the knife without any problems by simply unsnapping the upper strap. In use I have been wrapping the lower strap simply around the front so it is out of the way and haven't noticed any loss of security. The other issue I had with the sheath is pictured below.
This strap definitely needed a way to get the knife off and on without having to undo my belt. With it being a large chopper I do not like to leave it on my belt all the time, especially when around the campsite. Easy enough fix, just have to stain the leather black to match.
Now to the knife. I find it funny that they list this knife as a machete. It's not. I didn't measure the thickness of the blade but it is considerably thicker than my 12" tramontina and my Cold Steel Kukri Machete. This beast is also made out of 1085 Carbon with a stated hardness of 52-54. Even though the hardness may be a bit on the softer side the edge held up very well chopping into some very seasoned cedar from a deadfall across the road from my house.
Here it is along side the Tramontina and the Kukri Machete.
My two major complaints with the knife are as follows:
1. The edge, just forward of the ricasso has a very gradual taper into actually being sharp. This will be fixed when I convex it hopefully this weekend.
2. The handle is not the most usable for me. The Kraton handle is very grippy and is shaped very well. In use I had no issues with feeling I would loose grip of the knife but I did develop a hotspot on my thumb from the grooves in the handle. In addition the forward guard is a bit abrupt and feels like it would create a hotspot or two with extended use. I'm going to take the handle to my belt sander and essentially smooth away the grooves. We'll see how that works out.
Here's some comparison shots of the Ka-bar Cutlass Machete next to my other choppers, a 12" Tramontina, the Cold Steel Kukri Machete and a Cold Steel Trail Hawk. These other knives and the hawk have all proven their abilities and I will happily admit that so far the Cutlass is following suit.
And one final shot of the Cutlass Machete with some of it's handy work. It was chopping through 1 1/2"-2" branches in a couple of blows if I did my part right.
This coming weekend I hope to go chop some more on the Cedar deadfall and do a head to head comparison of the choppers I have. Will post photos then of that adventure. Of course I love the smell of all of the cedar I've been bringing into the house.
Thanks for looking,
Charlie
