Show Your Machetes

Picked this up in the mountains of Laos about 25 years ago. Tough as nails.

machette.JPG
 
Just picked this up at an antique store. Seems well made and kept. Whomever owned kept decent care and knew how to sharpen it.

8aa6b2ae6ee1fdf1523c46ed5d65764b.jpg


Sent from my KYOCERA-E6560 using Tapatalk
 
There is a very old thread (2009) about NOS Collins machetes in the ESEE thread, I think it is. Lo and behold, the vendor still had two different styles. I had to get a few. # 1068 and #1077 patterns. Quite thick, nicely tapered, USA made with the original paper stickers. Get 'em while you can.
 
A rehandle on my Tamontina 24".
The stock handle is much to small for my hand. Teak scales with a nice hooked end about 1" longer than stock. 16d nail pins. She is a real workhorse now.
20170519_134515_zpsdlb64mbi.jpg
 
Garvan said:
@USMCPOP,

Nice collection of knives. In my garden I most often use the "coconut knife", called "Etoh" in Thai, like the top three knives on the left. I like the heavy blade for chopping. Mine is bamboo handled and looks a bit bigger than the one in the photo. I weighed it at 650g with a 7mm thick blade. Blade length is 26 cm and the total length is 49 cm. The biggest issue I have is the handle fixing using pith is not great. I am on my second knife now, but at $10 a go, it's not a big deal.

Most farmers here in Lao prefer the blade style on the right, narrow at the base, widening towards the tip, a very simple pattern. This style is also popular in Cambodia , but many farmers carry small hand axes.

You are missing the style with a hook at the end of the blade, for slashing like a bill-hook. I have one in the shed outside, but it is unused, rusting away, because I find it a bit awkward to use. Still it is very popular among the locals.

Do you have a Hmong blade in the collection? I am not sure I see it. Maybe one in the center, left of the beer tin? I bought a smallish Hmong knife recently, and just sharpened it for the first time today.

Garvan
Click to expand...

@Garvan,

Sorry, late to the party. No Hmong knives in the pic, but I have many. I worked in the Hmong refugee camp in Loei, Thailand and helped the blacksmiths procure supplies. I also have a couple Hmien/Yao knives from up around Nan province which are beautiful.

I do have one or two "hooked" knives like a billhook. And I do like the straight edged knives that widen toward the tip. Very useful for all everyday tasks around the house. But my blacksmith excelled at the incurved farmer knives which were used for most tasks in the field.
 
Garvan said:
@USMCPOP,

Nice collection of knives. In my garden I most often use the "coconut knife", called "Etoh" in Thai, like the top three knives on the left. I like the heavy blade for chopping. Mine is bamboo handled and looks a bit bigger than the one in the photo. I weighed it at 650g with a 7mm thick blade. Blade length is 26 cm and the total length is 49 cm. The biggest issue I have is the handle fixing using pith is not great. I am on my second knife now, but at $10 a go, it's not a big deal.

Most farmers here in Lao prefer the blade style on the right, narrow at the base, widening towards the tip, a very simple pattern. This style is also popular in Cambodia , but many farmers carry small hand axes.

You are missing the style with a hook at the end of the blade, for slashing like a bill-hook. I have one in the shed outside, but it is unused, rusting away, because I find it a bit awkward to use. Still it is very popular among the locals.

Do you have a Hmong blade in the collection? I am not sure I see it. Maybe one in the center, left of the beer tin? I bought a smallish Hmong knife recently, and just sharpened it for the first time today.

Garvan
Click to expand...
I have one or two of the Hmong billhook knives with the socket. And I have perhaps a dozen pointy Hmong knives of various sizes and an axe head. Also have 2 Hmien/Yao pointy knives that are beautifully made. I was in Thailand from 1977 to 1980 and for about a year and a half I worked in the refugee camps. Prior to that, 2 years in the Peace Corps. I had a 70-something "client" farmer who was an amazing blade-smith.

favorites.JPG Knife assortment.JPG

And I have a various collection of funky stuff. This one is fairly thick, maybe a coconut chopper or a cleaver. The "65" on the handle was the price in Thai Baht. Depending on the exchange rate back then, it could have been about $2 -$3. 2018-01-22 12-30-14.211.jpg
 
Garvan said:
This is my garden knife, an Etoh machete.



And the Hmong knife I just finished sharpening.

IMG_20160313_173053.jpg
[/URL]

This example of a Hmong knife may be too small to be considered a Machete, but it is a good size to keep in a pick-up truck for emergencies.
Click to expand...
Old thread, I know, but I recently got a 12" or so Hmong (?) "Bowie" knife in northwest Vietnam with the same type of handle with the bulge in the middle.

And I have a little old Thai knife that is almost exactly like your "etoh". Mine's "new old stock" and probably cost me less than $2 but that was probably 15 years ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top