I picked up the smaller cheaper Cold Steel kukri last winter and finally last week I had the chance to use it on the trail I bought it for. I bought it on recommendations on this forum. I'm not very experienced with machetes so I need to learn more but here are my first real serious use observations - much like the previous post. I have a trail to brush out that has willow and alder overgrowth of 1/8 inch to a little over 1 inch diameter branches. Also quite a bit of soft vegetation like wild celery, ferns, berry bushes etc. I need to learn to sharpen this thing better and swing it more efficiently. I was fast wishing I had a file or hone of some sort along. When it was sharp I could swing thru 1/2 in stuff pretty easy as long as I got the angle right, about 45 degrees, and if the bush wasn't too springy. Bigger than that required considerable hacking or I took out my Sierra saw and quickly cut it. At the end of about 3 hours of hacking, the heel of my palm was getting sore. My hands aren't very hard but I split a lot of wood by hand. I wish the flare at the end of the handle was smooth as my palm is still a bit tender. Was glad I didn't make a blister. I think I see why some folks prefer a smooth wood handle. I have already started to smooth out that part of the handle with a fine file and a touch on a wire wheel. I wish the steel was harder as it easily dings if I hit a hard spot or small rock. I also realized in the thick stuff I had to really watch where the dog was (she needs to learn to stay clear) or I could have nailed her badly (my legs too)- hazard of the short blade maybe. For clearing long soft vegetation like ferns and stuff, the knife is a bit short forcing me to bend over much of the time - for that stuff a longer african or south american style machete might be better. I'll work on smoothing and sharpening the edge but I'm already suspecting that there are better machetes out there. A little more back bone might be nice too - I had a need to cut some tire walls and this did the job but I was careful to not twist and snap the thing. The sheath is comfortable and the knife carried well until the handle tangled in some brush. Quickly the upper part of the sheath tore and the whole thing now is very marginal. If I use this much more I'll probably cobble together a sheath from an old plastic sled I have laying around.
Overall, I think it cuts MUCH better than a straight blade cheapo garage sale conventional machete I have. but I think a little harder steel, better sheath and smooth rear pommel [?] would make it a better knife. I've been looking at kukris from India / Nepal / Pakistan and I notice their blades are shaped slightly different and I wonder if one of them of similar size might perform better.
I'm open to advice.
