Vivi's Others

[Cycletroll]

Wild humidity report Vivi!
Thanks for sharing your camp experience.
FWIW it would be most interesting to have a stainless comparator.

[vivi]

latest addition. best machete I could find locally. Haven't owned a tramontina since around 2010 when I traded my 16" wooden handled one for a goretex marines surplus jacket. Great trade, there was a $100+ difference in their retail prices.

[zhyla]

Nice. I've got a couple Tramontinas I picked up at Home Depot or Lowes. 18" with wooden handles and a similar sheath. Some day I should pick up a Condor just to know what a little bit more money gets you in a Latin machete, but honestly I have no complaints at all about these.

[Donut]

You have some nice stuff, Vivi.

I used to get into some ESEE stuff.
I have an Ontario Rat3 in D2, ESEE-3 stainless, ESEE-6, ESEE-5 in my car and a Junglas.
I got a couple of Gibson Pinches and darn it those things are tiny. About Ladybug size.

[vivi]

You have some nice stuff, Vivi.

I used to get into some ESEE stuff.
I have an Ontario Rat3 in D2, ESEE-3 stainless, ESEE-6, ESEE-5 in my car and a Junglas.
I got a couple of Gibson Pinches and darn it those things are tiny. About Ladybug size.

I was a big fan of ESEE for a while but I don't know the last time I reached for one. I like the SRK handle a lot more than my ESEE 4's, and have come to prefer street beats to izula 2's.

Still on a machete kick. Got an 18" tramontina, a 12" ontario campter machete, and a condor terrachete coming this week.

Next order I'm planning to get the condor mountain pass machete to compliment the camp knife I picked up from the series.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Vivi, I know you are very well experienced in the use of Opinel knives, and have included them in your knife lineup. You have even used them for bush craft. Help me understand this. Almost all the French and Europeans seem to love them and yet I see so much minimization and even downright hate and disgust towards them among knife users.

I just don't get it. I have owned and used them for years with zero problems.

Critics say the Ring Lock is weak and flimsy and the blade is too thin and there is no true guard so hands can slide and get cut.

French outdoors people have told me farmers, fishermen, hunters, housewives, trappers, and even soldiers have used them and they are as versatile as Swiss Army Knives and Buck 110 folders.

[Scandi Grind]

12" ontario campter machete, and a condor terrachete coming this week.

These are both ones that I have been curious about for a while. I love the look of that blade profile on the Terrachete.

[vivi]

12" ontario campter machete, and a condor terrachete coming this week.

These are both ones that I have been curious about for a while. I love the look of that blade profile on the Terrachete.

I'll post some impressions sometime this week.

I'm excited for both.

I figured a D guard on a short machete made sense, as you're more likely to hit briars etc. with your hand. I've been looking for something more compact like my cold steel kukri machete,but with a more conventional shape & thickness. The kuk is kind of a hybrid between a machete and chopper.

The terrachete always looked really practical as a carry machete. Not too big or heavy to actually strap to your belt for a while. Kydex sheath will stand up to dirt, rain, mud, rocks etc. better than leather or nylon. The dual grind makes it more versatile and I'll probably end up copying that idea on other machetes I sharpen.

[vivi]

Vivi, I know you are very well experienced in the use of Opinel knives, and have included them in your knife lineup. You have even used them for bush craft. Help me understand this. Almost all the French and Europeans seem to love them and yet I see so much minimization and even downright hate and disgust towards them among knife users.

I just don't get it. I have owned and used them for years with zero problems.

Critics say the Ring Lock is weak and flimsy and the blade is too thin and there is no true guard so hands can slide and get cut.

French outdoors people have told me farmers, fishermen, hunters, housewives, trappers, and even soldiers have used them and they are as versatile as Swiss Army Knives and Buck 110 folders.

I've never had any issues using Opinels. They lack a clip and one handed opening but work great once they're open. They'll need sharpened more often than more modern offerings but their thin geometry will also outcut just about any knife made in the past half century.

I've even batoned 2-3" diameter branches with them with the lock disengaged, no problems.

When I'm in the mood for a traditional knife, especially for the outdoors, Opinel #8 and #10's are go to knives for me. Their handle is way more comfortable than most traditionals.

[vivi]

trying to teach myself some wood carving beyond tent stakes and basic traps.



comfy handle,and the knife came quite sharp. thicker blade stock than I expected. scandi grind. was $9.

picked up some basswood blocks too.

Filmed some videos and took lots of photos of some machetes for comparison. Here's a few group photos, I'll upload everything else and do a write-up later.

[vivi]

Handled one of these today. Felt solid but lightweight. Heard reports the handles were small but they fit me well. Might pick one up soon!

[vivi]

more machete stuff:




Smaller blades. Condor mountain pass camp knife, ontario 12" camper machete, cold steel kukri machete (the smaller model).



Larger machetes. Cold steel slant tip 18", tramontina 18", ontario bushcraft machete 16", condor terrachete 14.5"




Small machete blade thickness comparison. condor, ontario, cold steel, then the tramontina as a 2mm baseline comparison.



Ontario 12" has some weird stuff going on with the blades grind by the belly.



what the actual ****? what is this tip. I have never understood companies that do this.



Tramontina too. The spine of this blade is literally sharper than the tip. I don't get it.



Larger machete thickness. Tramontina, condor, ontario, cold steel. the thinner ones work better as machetes while the thicker ones work nice for chopping denser woodier growth, splitting firewood etc.



blade edge thickness of my cold steel slant tip. This is my most used machete so this angle definitely is stable for my uses.



Wow. Terrachete.

One of the worst edges I have ever seen in my entire life. What in the world. I can go buy a bottom of the barrel chinese splitting maul from the local hardware store with a thinner inclusive angle. This is absolutely absurd, completely nonsensical.

I was excited to try out the compound grind on this but now I'm not, because I realize the entire thing needs reprofiled to the thinner angle by the ricasso to chop wood worth a.....



sigh.

Let's look at handles, arguably the most important part of finding the right machete.



first is the cold steel kuk. I hate the handle. I've tried many kukris over the decades and I never warmed up to the handle design. I really dislike the horn on the top rear of the handle, even after sanding it down some. The grip tape helps make the handle grippier....dunno why so many companies think slick handles are good for machetes but they're dangerous.

I don't see myself buyng any more kuks due to the handle shape alone. don't even like the handle on my mora 2000 as much as my companion or bushcrafter for the same reason.



Slant tip machete. Better. Pretty standard machete handle. Never been wild about this style of pinky hook, something like the terrachete or ontario bushcraft machete works better for me. But it's functional and much more comfy than the kuk. It was a little slick too so I added some grippy hockey tape to the handle. This handle is middle of the pack for me....I've used better and I've used worse.



Tramontina. Basically the same handle as the cold steel slant tip but with a slicker texture and less rounded rear end. I like sanding that rear corner because it's a little uncomfortable for extended use without gloves. pretty nice handle otherwise, feels a bit better than the cold steel did before the tape job.



Ontario Bushcraft machete.

Weird handle on this one.

The micarta is nice looking and has a great grip, especially after I scuffed it up with 80 grit sandpaper.

The profile is nice too. Basic shape with a comfortable pinky hook....something a lot of machete handles get wrong for my hand.

The weird part is just how flat the handle is, and how narrow it gets towards the blade.



There it is next to the terrachete handle, you can see what I mean here.

While it isn't the best feeling handle when simply holding the knife, it works really well during use.

Machetes can be weird like that. They can feel comfortable when you hold them, then a single hard chop can reveal hotspots. The Ontario 12" machete is a great example, I'll talk about that soon.

One upside to the odd handle is it does feel kind of nice choking up on the more narrow section for carving and other detail work.




Terrachete. This one is really nice. It's contoured and curved where other machetes are angled and rough. Nice curved pinky hook that's comfortable for heavier chops. Generous palm swell that feels nice when choking up. Oversized by a bit so even a gloved XL/XXL hand should fit,just like most machetes.

I like how it has a palm swell visible in the ontario comparison. Many machetes come with flat handles like the bushcrafter, so that's a nice ergonomic touch.

Texture is slick, unfortunately, but otherwise I'm quickly warming up to this handle.



Ontario 12". Remember how I said some handles feel good when you check out a knife, but then when you use it, it feels bad?

This is a prime example.

Felt good when I unboxed it. Thick, sturdy feeling handle that filled my larger hands well. Nicely rounded, no sharp edges. I was excited to use it!

As soon as I chopped with it I realized it would be a problem.

The handle is very, very slick ungloved, and every single chop jams my pinky against the D guard with enough force to make it uncomfortable to use.

I wouldn't want to chop with this for an extended period of time, even with gloves. It was pretty rough ungloved.

It's a shame because otherwise it looks like it'll fill its intended role well.

Guess I'll play around with some grip tape because I want to use this machete and put it to work, but the handle is rough as is.


Back to the terrachete....I'm new to condor so not 100% sure what to expect when it comes to corrosion resistance and their black coating.....but it looked like this right out of the box:



Here's some shots of the neat compound grind. Shame the forward edge is so stupid thick.




some group shots. Videos will go in the next post.

[vivi]

showing the ontario bushcraft machete handle

https://streamff.link/v/7990325a


Showing the terrachete handle:

https://streamff.com/v/70c0a4e3

chop chop time.

cold steel kuk:

https://streamff.com/v/5ca319f8

good chopper for the size. not the best true machete, but a nice versatile camp tool that's dirt cheap. not wild about the handle shape....sanded off some of the horn on the top rear end and added some tennis racquet tape. great beater.

Ontario 12"

https://dubz.link/v/ede5fc

notice how much I had to reposition my hand after each swing?



tried it again and same thing. gonna need to work on the handle some.

18" tramontina



happy with it. like I mentioned earlier I'll sand the handle a bit and give it a pointy tip, otherwise this one works pretty well out of the box. edge could be a little bit thinner and sharper,but overall it's one of the better edges I've gotten from their factory in brazil. Definitely sharper and more even than my 22" from home depot.

Terrachete:



sad performance from the factory. gonna have to re-evaluate it after taking it to my belt sander and giving it an edge that makes sense for the tool. I've got a few more condors on my wish list and I'm really hoping they don't all come ground like this.

Other than that I'm happy with it. The blade shape, the handle, the size and the kydex sheath are all nice. In fact I could see this one day becoming my favorite medium sized machete (14-18") once it gets a proper edge.

18" cold steel slant tip machete



Like I mentioned this was my go to machete for about 2 years. Started out with $8 tramontinas, then bought a cold steel kopis machete. Bought about 10 more cold steel machetes, trying out different patterns and stocking up on the south african made version when I found out they were switching a lot of models to chinese made with different steel.

It's a great machete for the price. I love the blade shape. For chopping vines, wood, briars etc., this blade shape works way better than the much more common latin style.

Not sure why minimal belly or no belly machetes are so rare to see, but I wish more companies made them.

You can see a massive performance difference between this and the terrachete simply due to the edge angle. This one was reground to around 12-15 degrees per side which is thinner than most folks take their pocket knives.

It stands up to full power chops into wood no problem, which begs the question what are ya'll doing with your 3" pocket knives that you run a 20 degree per side edge?



Ontario bushcraft machete



There were a few different versions of this machete. This one is the micarta handled 16" fyi.

This has been my go to machete since I got it. While I generally prefer less belly, like the Terrachete or the slant tip cold steel, this one works well. It's harder 5160 so it holds an edge longer and deforms less on hard impacts against wood. Stiffer blade with it's 2.5mm stock VS the tramontinas and cold steel slant tip machete, but it doesn't feel too heavy or cumbersome to use on lighter growth the way some thicker machetes do.

It's a good general purpose tool with the least offensive handle out of the box. Feels a little funny at first when handling the machete - the handle is flat and has an odd taper to it. But using it? It works great. Less re-positioning of my hand and no hot spots. That's more than I can say for most machetes I've tried.

The steels seems great so far. Not sure how hard Ontario took their 5160 but it feels a few rockwell points harder than my south african cold steels and brazilian tramontinas.


Had fun shooting these videos. Maybe I'll take a tripod out to my woods sometime soon and do a longer one with better audio.

[cabfrank]

Nice, vivi. It does look like a fun day.

[cabfrank]

Double

[vivi]

Kiwi #21 came today. It's a bigger version of the 171.

If you don't know about Kiwis, they're the Moras of the culinary world. Suspiciously low prices and nothing but excellent performance.



Here's the #21 next to the smaller #171.

The #171 has been living on my cutting board. It's my go to knife for quick prep jobs, like cutting up fresh fruit and veggies for the kids lunch every morning.

I paid $5 for it.

Yep, $5.

The #21 was a whopping $9. High roller.





I'm excited about the extra knuckle clearance. That's the one thing I didn't like about the 171, not quite enough clearance.




The factory edge is a hollow saber grind with a secondary bevel around 10 degrees per side. It came functional but not even scrape shaving sharp.

I gave it a few passes on the diamond sharpmaker rods at 15 degrees, and tilted the knife towards the stones for a more acute angle. Once the apex was reset I finished it off on the whites.

The steel is soft and grinds easily. No issues jumping up so fast in grits.

It took one of the best edges I've ever put on a knife in about 90 seconds. Love it. Tree tops arm hairs effortlessly.



The stock is just as thin as the smaller version, which is nice.

The #172 and #22 are also big brother little brother, but there's more differences. The 172 has a straight edge, while the #22 has a subtle curve. The #22 is also about .5 to 1mm thicker stock, which gives it a little more drag at times.

If you've never tried a Kiwi knife, you should. They're some of the best values out there. They out cut a lot of more expensive knives purely on geometry, just like Moras. They're lasers.

Almost a year later and the Kiwi #21 has handled about 95% of the food prep in my home kitchen. It's a work horse. I bust out the japanese cutlery when doing meals for large groups, but the Kiwi is my daily user. It lives on my cutting board. Only maintenance it takes is a wipe down after use and a few strokes on a ceramic rod every month or two.

easily one of the best values in the world of knives. the thin blade outcuts a lot of my $100-200 kitchen knives in terms of pure geometry.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Vivi
In your opinion and experience, would this be a good "inexpensive but good quality general purpose and survival cutlery set":

1 Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara 2 or Byrd Cara Cara 2 Wharncliffe folder.
2 Mora Companion or Robust or Pro S Stainless Blue Fixed blade.
3 Cold Steel Double Safe Hunter folding knife.
4 Opinel N0 9 or 10 folder.

[Donut]

I was a big fan of ESEE for a while but I don't know the last time I reached for one. I like the SRK handle a lot more than my ESEE 4's, and have come to prefer street beats to izula 2's.

I hear you.

I keep an ESEE-5 in the door of my car.
When I am going to take a trip to a local place with forest nearby, I usually toss my ESEE-6 in my bag.

But, I almost never actually use them. I used to visit the ESEE forum and I like watching camping videos.

[vivi]

Vivi
In your opinion and experience, would this be a good "inexpensive but good quality general purpose and survival cutlery set":

1 Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara 2 or Byrd Cara Cara 2 Wharncliffe folder.
2 Mora Companion or Robust or Pro S Stainless Blue Fixed blade.
3 Cold Steel Double Safe Hunter folding knife.
4 Opinel N0 9 or 10 folder.

Cara caras are a great budget folder, can't go wrong with them.

Same with Moras and Opinels.

But I'd choose tools with less overlap and more versatility.

For example in my trunk I keep a 22" bow saw, fiskars 28" chopping axe, and a cold steel kopis machete.

If I were putting together an inexpensive survival set of cutting tools from what I already own, I'd go with something like....

Victorinox Spartan
Mora Companion or Cold Steel SRK-C
Fiskars X15 chopping axe (23.5")
Condor Terrachete
21" Sven Saw

I could swap out larger tools for more compact tools if I planned to hike long distances, e.g. a fiskars hatchet instead of the axe, cold steel 12" kurki machete instead of the Condor, bahco laplander saw instead of the 21" svens etc.

what you'd want to bring depends a lot on your environment and where you'll be trekking. Many areas don't allow open fires (thankfully none of those places are near me), so axes wouldn't be as useful there. Up north near canada, machetes are less useful than in the subtropics of florida, south carolina, etc. Depending on what other gear you're packing, a Leatherman could be a more sensible choice than a swiss army knife - especially one with a diamond coated file if you have no other portable sharpener.

[vivi]

I was a big fan of ESEE for a while but I don't know the last time I reached for one. I like the SRK handle a lot more than my ESEE 4's, and have come to prefer street beats to izula 2's.

I hear you.

I keep an ESEE-5 in the door of my car.
When I am going to take a trip to a local place with forest nearby, I usually toss my ESEE-6 in my bag.

But, I almost never actually use them. I used to visit the ESEE forum and I like watching camping videos.

I still like their designs but they don't do anything better for me than other options I own.

My ESEE 4's are a lot heavier than my spydies - temperance, aqua salt, and street bowie. Not to mention Mora Companions.

If I want something more robust for heavy batoning my SRK's feel better in my hand.

I could definitely get by with an ESEE 4 as my main woods knife. It's a solid design. There's just no compelling reason to carry it over my other knives for me.

Recently added a Condor Mountain Pass Camp Knife to my collection and that's another good option, and I have a Winkler Belt knife due this fall that'll really blow them out of the water.

Maybe I'll do some updated fixed blade photos once the belt knife arrives. Got a few more fixed blades since the last photo, and my machete collection tripled this year. I was getting a lot of use out of them and wanted to explore some other brands than cold steel. Got 3 ontarios, a couple condors, a few tramontinas, some marbles etc.