Hey everyone, David C. Andersen here coming
at you from the KnifeCenter. Today we're taking a look at the top 10 best
survival machetes that are out there right now. Let's check them out. [KnifeCenter logo] Now there's this common fantasy in so called
quote unquote survival circles, considering the one tool option, which is something that's
going to cover all your needs all wrapped up into one package. Honestly, this whole line of thinking is a
little bit of a fallacy is kind of wishful thinking. Because you know, you and me being knife people,
we're probably gonna have multiple blades on us anyway. But if you had to boil things down, a machete
can be versatile enough to fit that role. Now, I don't remember where this quote originated,
but I heard it from my friend Ethan Becker, who relayed to me that a 12 inch machete is
quite possibly the single greatest survival tool ever conceived. It's going to be compact enough to trek with
easily and it's a great balance between being able to handle both small and large cutting
needs when the chips are down. And the best part is they're useful for so
much more than just camping and survival. A solid machete makes a great tool for yard
work to it's a lot easier to use and more versatile and not to mention economical than
having a bunch of different more specialized tools for every task imaginable. I've got a selection of options here in front
of me, and I'm going to take you through them. Some are a little bit bigger, some are a little
bit smaller than that 12 inch ideal, but they're all going to make great choices. It's going to start with a classic and it's
probably pretty close to what most people imagine a machete to be. This is the Ontario traditional Cutlass Camp
and Trail 12 inch machete made right here in America. Now this is essentially the smaller version
of the 18 inch US military spec machete. It's about as basic as it gets, and it's ready
to get down and dirty. The 12 inch blade is made from 1095 carbon
steel and it's heat treated for optimal toughness as opposed to A little bit harder where it
would get you some more edge retention. Honestly, since most machetes are thrashed
pretty hard toughness is a higher priority than edge holding and it comes to these tools. These are blades that are certainly not going
to be babied, anyone to stand up to the abuse that you're going to throw out. Now carbon steel will rust if you don't take
care of it. And so to that end, we've got a black zinc
phosphate finish here on this blade helps protect it somewhat. But as far as I'm concerned, when a machete
has a little bit of rust on it, I think it looks even better than when it's brand new. Now the blade on this Ontario features a straight
back slightly wider towards the front and it has a prominent belly. This kind of shape gives you a good profile
for slashing moves such as through thicker grasses and vegetation, as well as carrying
a little bit more weight out at the front for chopping. Although most machetes aren't really going
to be heavy choppers in the first place so you're going to keep that in mind. Now this design is available with a saw back
on the spine but I prefer the plain back makes it more useful for using this knife as a draw
knife or for choking up without shredding your hands. The handles are a high impact polymer that
are riveted to the tang. The fit isn't perfect. These are known for being maybe a little bit
rough around the edges, but it's going to be very easy to sand down smooth if it does
happen to bother you while you're using the knife. Now, despite them being straight in nature,
you do get a tab here at the back which is going to help with your retention when your
swing so that you're not going to lose your grip very easily. Now in order to balance this out a little
bit more for the finer work, you can see the sharpened edge doesn't start until about an
inch and a half, maybe a little bit in front of the handle so you can choke up a bit there
balances out a little bit better so you're not fighting the way to the blade so much
as you cut. Even though the fit and finish isn't perfect. It is definitely decent for what you get,
especially when you consider the price it's just 19 bucks right now, that doesn't come
with a sheath though. That would make a great project to make your
own or you can get a nylon sheath for just a few bucks more. Right. This next option is kind of a reimagined and
more premium take on the format established by the Ontario This is the TOPS Machete .170
comes in just under 125 bucks right now. Now the blade is technically shorter it only
about 10 inches long, but the handles also longer too, so you have more grip options. And in fact, when you look at the overall
length, it's pretty much identical to that Ontario. The different proportions on the TOPS and
the inclusion of an actual finger choil there means you can choke up even further on the
blade more easily it's even more balanced out for the smaller work than that, Ontario's
that's definitely very important if this is indeed going to be your one tool option. And then when you need it, you can still get
the same amount of swinging power when you're choke all the way to the back of the handle. Now those handles are linen micarta and they
come with red liners. They're textured in ways so you get a little
bit more grip just by their very nature. And then when things get wet micarta has a
tendency to feel a little bit tacky or in the hand too. And then you've still got that tab at the
back so you have plenty of confidence when you're swinging this machete. Now the blade itself is 1095 carbon steel
again and it's got an ash grip. powder coating, it's got a little bit more
flair at the front for a little more chopping power, but then a little bit of a drop to
the spine here too so even have a little bit of a tip to work with. Now the sheath on this TOPS is quite robust. Got this nylon affair, MOLLE compatible on
the back can see also we've got tops of survival whistle kind of lash there to the bottom on
a little bit of extra paracord. And then on the front slides in there you've
got a tab for retention here at the top as well as two different pockets on the front
that you can use to store sharpeners, fire starting gear any of the other stuff you might
want to have with you in an emergency or outdoor situation. All right, the next spin on the classic machete
shape is the Condor Crocodilian, which is made in El Salvador, which is a $57 option
right now. This was designed by Joe Flowers who if you
don't know him, he's a prolific designer. And he's pretty much obsessed with machetes
he was responsible for a lot of Condor's best machete designs, and he actually also co designed
the TOPS we just looked at as well. Crocodilian has a roughly 12 inch plate uses
1075 carbon steel, which is actually a little bit tougher even than 1095. It's a little bit thicker in this case to
about four and a half millimeters, which is a bit over 5/32 of an inch, and it's got a
nice convex edge. And when you combine that convex profile with
the pretty broad sweep here at the tip, you're actually going to get a fairly good amount
of chopping power out of this knife. In this case, we don't have a separate handle
though. As you can see, it's made from a single piece
of metal that's folded around to form the handle which is definitely going to be very
durable. Now it does flare towards the back so you
have a little bit of retention when swinging, but plain metal can be a little slick sometimes. So they do supply this with a paracord wrap. It's going to add some grip thanks to the
surface area of the ridges there. Of course it does act as some emergency cordage
supply if you need it as well, like most Condors it does come with a nice leather sheath, some
nice thick black leather in this case. So friction fit and you have a nice belt loop
here at the back which does swivel so it's going to make it easier to do things like
crouched down, sit down while you're wearing the machete. It's not going to jab into you or be quite
as uncomfortable as certain other designs can. This next one we're going to look at is the
last one that kind of riff on that classic machete shape. But this design refines it a bit more. I think it's the ESEE knives Darien machete
from their Expat series coming in at the $70 price point. Now this blade uses 1075 carbon steel as well. And the finish they call Condor classic. And they do that because in fact, this blade
is made for ESEE by Condor in El Salvador and that's why it's only cost $70. If this were an American made ESEE like most
of the rest of their lineup, it would certainly be a lot more money. We've still got that straight back blade with
just a little bit of a hump up here at the top. It does have enough belly for that slashing
and that weight forward swell the front, but then it actually tapers pretty dramatically
The closer you get to the handle, that actually makes it very controllable for fine carving,
since you're not fighting the width of the blades so much. Then you've even got a subtle finger guard
there for a little bit of safety. And the handles are micarta and they come
with kind of a rough matte finish, which adds a bit of grip. And it's also curved for retention on the
swing, and also has the benefit of bringing the tip down a little bit when you do choke
back. That should help you get a little bit more
power when you're chopping. The sheath is serviceable. It's made out of nylon for mildew resistance,
you've got a single simple strap loop here at the top. But because of the nature of the handle and
the blade, it's not going to hold it in too much, so keep that in mind. Alright, now let's look at some other blade
shapes. And we're going to start with the Cold Steel
13 inch Kukri Machete, which is a very affordable option at about 19 bucks with a sheath. Of course, we've got this distinct angled
blade shape with a very weight for design, traditional Nepalese Kukris tend to be heavier
choppers as a result, and that carries through to this Cold Steel machete version too, despite
that thinner blade that you get on a typical machete. Now in addition to some extra chopping power,
this is actually going to work pretty well on brush too. Both on the swing and as you draw the blade
back towards yourself, since that recurve allows more of the edge to cut as you're pulling
back. Now it's not just a good shape for swinging,
this actually works really well as a draw knife to because you've got plenty to grab
on to with your offhand thanks to that wide blade right there. And that recurve can actually work really
well, especially on round objects. The steel is 1055 carbon steel with a rust
resistant coating, certainly very tough, but the edge retention is going to be lower too. But thankfully, it's pretty easy to maintain
even out in the field. Now the sheath is nylon, again, mildew resistance,
and we've got a couple of snap straps here on the spine, because that isn't stitch closed
because that allows the blade to actually make it in and out because that wide end is
not going to slip through just this narrow opening at the top otherwise. What's nice about the sheath design is you
can actually get a full grip on the handle to even when it's sheathed. And the shape on this knife has a very traditional
flared cap at the end for secure swinging. The materials are definitely more modern with
a polypropylene overmold. One of the cool things about this and a lot
of the other Cold Steel machetes that they make that are on the more affordable side
is they may not be faithful recreations but they do let you play around with a lot of
historically inspired designs without spending an arm and a leg. I will say though, just a fair word of warning,
sometimes their edges do need a little bit of work out of the box. And that's just the trade off you pay for
such a low low price on these. Alright, we're going to go premium for the
next shape. And this is the Fox Knives jungle Parang Made
in Italy and available for just over 140 bucks. With this Fox, you get a pretty stereotypical
Parang shape but with a modern handle shape, rather than traditional. And as you can see from this blade kind of
like a kukri does. Even though this style isn't the same. This tends to be a little choppier as well. Thanks to the curve profile here rather than
the recurve shape. This Fox makes a pretty good slicer to the
steel is 4116 stainless which is not an edge retention champ but it is fairly cheap. As far as stainless steels go, they make a
lot of heavy duty German chef knives out of this stuff, which should tell you something. The handle here I think has a pretty comfortable
shape. You can see we have a rich texture here, it's
flared out quite nicely, and it's made out of sort of a two tone material, you've got
both hard FRN as well as grippier rubber around it. The choil you see here allows for those choked
up grips and you've got plenty of lanyard holes to choose from as well including the
capability to use my preferred forward lanyard. Forward lanyards are very safe to use. They come out the back here, you move your
hand down through it and hold the knife like so. What's great about that is if you do happen
to lose your grip on a knife, it's kind of just going to stay put, like the kukri. We also have a spine draw style of sheath
but this one is a lot nicer made out of black leather with a good weld here, as well as
a single snap loop there. For our next shape. We have another Condor with the Indonesian
inspired 14 inch Golok machete and $85 proposition and this one is Pretty darn thick, this is
going to be the heaviest version we see here. You may not want to carry this with you every
day. But if you're looking for something heavier
duty, this is going to be a good option. Thanks to that trailing point design as well
as the flare at the front. This is going to chop and slash very well. But the most distinctive feature of this style
is definitely the handle with that distinctive bulb shaped butt end you can kind of think
of this handle as a combination of the curve shape that we saw on the ESEE Darien with
an oversized tab like you see on the Ontario just on steroids. This gives you plenty of security when you're
swinging as well as the ability to angle that blade down a bit for your chopping. And then at the same time, unlike some aggressive
hooks or birds beaks that you can find on some knives out there. This shape is very comfortable. It's gentle enough that it doesn't pinch your
pinky finger very well which can be an issue with some of those other types of features. Now the height here at the heel is narrow
and you can choke up a bit to better execute those finer cuts, but you are going to be
dealing with a little bit more weight forward on this design, so it's not going to be quite
as nimble at the smaller things. Again, it's a Condor. So we've got a nice leather sheath, black
full welds on each side with that swiveling belt loop. Now these next two are what I consider sort
of hybrid designs. They're part machete and part big knife. And the first is another from Condor. This is from primitive living expert, Matt
Graham. This is the Primitive Bush Mondo, which rings
up at about $115. Although this is a little bit shorter overall
than the TOPS we looked at before, we get a similarly sized 10 inch blade and a little
bit of a longer handle to kind of make up for that a little bit. The blade itself is that signature Matt Graham
leaf shape made from 1075 carbon steel, it's got no coating on it, though. So you're gonna want to make sure you take
care of it so that it's not going to rust too badly on you. It's a simple shape, but it seems to work
really well. And I can tell you that from experience because
I've actually been playing around with one of these back at my own homestead as well. Now because you don't have so much belly out
there near the tip to contend with. You can use that too. Tip a little bit more effectively at certain
quote unquote bushcraft tasks, such as drilling or choking up and even doing notches and fine
carving with it. The handle on the Bush Mondo though is I think
what really shines, you've got natural micarta with that matte texture and it's very comfortable. You've got your hollow tubes for lashing as
well as lanyard usage, including that forward lanyard that I prefer. choking up behind the edge fills my hand very
nicely, and lets you get right behind the edge while still being protected thanks to
that flare, and it's very balanced and very nimble at doing carving work back there. Then when you choke back, the end is sort
of like a proto Golok bulb, it gets you that little bit of extra leverage. It's very secure and I can tell you from personal
experience that you can really whip this knife through some material especially with that
tip as it just whistles through some stuff. Now choking back also lowers the tip a bit
and puts it in a very intuitive position for pointing with the blade. Now I'm definitely not a trained martial artists
but with that feature, as well as with how lively the Bush Mondo feels in the hand, I
have to think that would have some advantages in that arena as well. The sheath here is pretty neat and it's a
bit different from most of the Condor stuff, as well as pretty much anyone else you're
going to see these days. It is still leather, but we don't have a belt
loop. Instead, you get a small tab of stiffened
leather right here. Now this allows you to slip the sheath inside
of your belt, the tab hooking over the top to keep it pretty stationary. Now this was initially designed this way because
Matt Graham does like to dress in a pretty primitive fashion. He's known for appearing on TV and nothing
but a loincloth after all, but for you and me, it allows you to quickly throw this on
or off your belt as needed and it's not restrictive at all. Now this next is the shortest knife by far
it's the Gerber Versafix, which is an important blade, it's going to set you back about 30
bucks right now. The blade is a simple stainless steel with
a nice stonewashed finish. That should help those inevitable scratches
that you'll put on the blade to blend in a little bit. We get about nine inches of reach with a standard
size handle making this the most compact design we've looked at today. I think this would make it Good choice for
backpackers not a bad choice if you want to carry just one edge tool as you track because
it's not terribly heavy either, but you can still get some pretty decent swings in with. It makes up for a shorter length by having
a weight forward shape to help it hit a little harder with a recurve at the back of the handle
to keep it narrow enough to carve easily when you're back there. Similar to the kukri shape this would also
work well as a draw knife thanks to that wide handhold up top and that very same recurve
that I just mentioned, the construction is full tang with a molded synthetic handle on
the top. It's got a good finger guard integrated here
at the front and a V shaped cutout that makes room for your thumbs do a nice pinch grip
when that's called for. Now like a lot of survival knives out there
the Versa fix does have a protruding Tang at the back can actually use this quite effectively
as a tool for pounding on things or even as a scraper in certain instances although it's
not as crisp enough as you need to do certain things like striking a fire steel. There is an upgraded version of this design
which is called the Versafix Pro and it does have a more versatile sheath system and it
also comes with some relief holes in the blade and some texturing on the sides. Personally, I think the standard version is
definitely the one to get because I don't like the strength compromises that you're
going to get from those holes in the blade and the sheath that this one comes with is
just fine. It's made of heavy duty nylon with a spine
draw in a Velcro flap, as well as retention here at the top and it should serve you quite
well. If you really are looking for your machete
to be your one tool option. I think this final design has pretty much
the most versatility of everything else out here on the table. It's the Overland machete by L.T. Wright knives. Now as the Overland name would suggest this
knife is built to take you anywhere. I've got one of my own that I've put through
the paces back home and I wouldn't hesitate to grab it for just about anything. These machete start at about 155 and for that
you're getting an American made handcrafted quality piece. The broad pointed blade is about 12 and a
quarter inches long and it's definitely got enough heft to hit like a hatchet on some
harder materials. The steel is 1075 great compromise between
your edge retention and your toughness. Even though 1075 will rust if you don't care
for it very well and we don't have a coating on this. Each one of these comes with a custom patina
that's applied by hand at the shop and that layer of oxidation is going to help a little
bit with rust. Now because the overland is essentially an
upsize member of the L.T. Wright Genesis bushcraft knife, this machete does have a spear point
shape. It's still got enough belly to slash through
vegetation, but it also works great at the kinds of tip work we were talking about earlier
such as the drilling and the like. Now it does lack a recurve but still with
how broad the tip is. This is still a very conducive design to using
it as a draw knife and it is a little bit wider at the heel than some of these designs
but carving is still going to be accomplished pretty easily. The handles are a generous length so you can
choke up or choke back depending on the task at hand. It flares at the back for attention. You got to finger guard at the front for protection. Thumb scalps for a nice pinch grip as well. You've also got both forward and rear lanyard
tubes so you can use whatever style lanyard you wish and it does come with some elastic
shock cord installed at the back. There's a few different handle options that
we carry. This one's the green micarta and it's bolted
and epoxy to the Tang and then shaped by hand to make sure there's no seams or hotspots
that are going to raise a blister. Finally, we get a nice JRE Industries leather
sheath. It's got a swiveling dual danglers style of
belt loop here at the back and a nice hook here at the front. You can use that hook in conjunction with
the shock cord on the knife itself. That's going to give you some extra retention
beyond just the friction fit. We've also got plenty of rivets for lashings,
he really can take this machete with you anywhere you need to. So that's it for our top 10 list of the best
survival machetes you can get your hands on right now. And any one of them is going to make a good
option for you. They're useful around the home while hiking
or hunting or at camp. pick one up now so that you're going to have
one when you really need it. Make sure to let us know in the comments. which one was your favorite? If you have any other machete or one two option
that you prefer, make sure to let us know that as well. In the meantime, if you want to get your hands
on any of these really cool machetes, we're going to leave links in the description that'll
take you over to knifecenter.com. And as always, make sure you sign up for a
knife rewards program while you're there. Because if you're going to buy a machete one
of these or any of the other ones we carry, might as well earn some free money to spend
on your next one. I'm David C. Andersen from the KnifeCenter
hope you're all staying safe, sane and sanitary out there. I'll see you next time. [KnifeCenter.com]
