Machete - Is it a knife, sword, or something else?

A machete is essentially a large knife that falls into the 'garden tools category'.
 
All machetes are knives but not all knives are machetes.............

Peace-
Cam
 
Swords are not tools. They are dedicated weapons.

Sword-length utility or mixed-use blades of various patterns are referred to as machetes.
 
Sorry a machete is not a knife.
It is a chopping instrument, a chopper like an axe.

A knife you draw the blade across the object to be cut.
Yes you have knives that you chop with, but they start off as a sliceing tool.

A machete is designed to chop the object, where the blade is not drawn across the object.
Yes you can slice cut with a machete, but that does not turn it into a knife.

I spent a year on a database search engine defining taxonomy for tools.
And this is how we defined knives and choppers.
A machete went into the chopper camp!

We talk about the push or pull cut of a knife.
But that is not the main action of a machete, it relies on an across swing.
 
neeman said:
I spent a year on a database search engine defining taxonomy for tools.
And this is how we defined knives and choppers.
Click to expand...

You obviously weren't working for Webster's dictionary... :D

Main Entry: ma·chete
Pronunciation: m&-'she-tE, -'che-; -'shet
Function: noun
Etymology: Spanish
: a large heavy knife used for cutting sugarcane and underbrush and as a weapon

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/machete
 
great discussion...


The Machette has an interesting niche in the knife world. Available in nearly every country (in some format/variation) for cheap....easy to sharpen...considered a tool first, weapon last...replaceable...practially disposable...who cares if it gets "ugly"...

Gotta love it.


I'm making a custom-one now....(for me!)....even though I firmly believe it is a complete waste of time/energy/materials to get a custom-made machete....but I just had to try it out.....because I CAN. :D :p
 
Guyon said:
You obviously weren't working for Webster's dictionary... :D

Main Entry: ma·chete
Pronunciation: m&-'she-tE, -'che-; -'shet
Function: noun
Etymology: Spanish
: a large heavy knife used for cutting sugarcane and underbrush and as a weapon

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/machete
Click to expand...
No, Webster do not need to have a search engine for online distributors who are selling 10 of thousands of tools, where the customer needs a logical search.

Axes, (kukries were not in a commercial search engine for industry!), and machetes are used with a swing action that results in a chopping action of the target, therefore we cataloged then as choppers.

Just a way of looking.
 
Nevertheless.... a machete IS a knife. A throwing knife does not slice or chop, yet it is still a knife. A whittler does primarily push cuts, yet is still a knife. A draw knife, by definition, does not slice or chop, yet is still a knife... even swords are knives.

Peace-
Cam
 
Yeah, it's a knife....


FbR382.5.jpg
 
It's a tool, that happens to be a knife as well. It can be a sword depending on the user's intent. Sort of like how a precision rifle becomes a "Sniper Rifle" only when used in that role. I LOVE semantics!

Oh, what they REALLY are is Cool. You can survive almost anywhere with a good set of skills and a decent machete. Heck, given a little time, and some work, you can build a nice little hootch, put a porch out front, and be roasting critters on a grill.
 
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