Axe Vs Machete, Which Should You Carry?

Hello everyone, coming to you from my gear room, uh, there has always been a big debate about the

machete

versus the axe, especially when it comes to camping, hiking, backpacking, Bushcraft and survival, and then they were always in all the forums the survival and Bushcraft USA forums. It's the only tool option, you know, but for me, if I

carry

a

machete

, I usually have a knife attached and if I

carry

an ax, I usually have a neck knife or a belt knife, so today, what let's do? This is what we are going to discuss, look at, think and talk about the difference between whether you

should

carry a machete or whether you

should

carry an ax and

which

is better,

which

will do more, which is more suitable for you, what are the capabilities of this , what are the capabilities of this?

This is basically a cutting tool, that's what it was meant to be, this is basically a cutting tool, this is for cutting wood, tearing out pieces of wood, this is for cutting through vegetation, vines and grass, but these are they can perfect. and change the edge and do different things with them and manufacturers have released shorter and thicker versions and people have modified the standard Latin machete to do things it wasn't supposed to do, so let's take a look at these two now. We're going to go out into the field and try some small projects with one we're going to do the same project with each one try to see you know how it goes but first I'm going to talk a little bit about the axles. and then machetes and their different styles and some of the benefits of carrying them, so this is going to be very interesting, hopefully it will be very interactive in the comments section, so let's get to that end and take a look at some. axes I'm going to focus on these four axes, but since we're on the topic of axes, the smallest of them all is considered an axe, and I'm going to leave an ax out of this because to me, an axe, an axe , I don't know, it's its own kind, kind of like a battle axe, so let's focus on these ones here, uh, I have here, this is what they call a charge axe, this is a charge axe marbles. is that these two here are considered camp axes uh or kids axes, kids axes, kids axes and then this is a special class in itself, it's like a three-quarter ax and I'll talk more about that in a minute, Uh, this. like I said this is a marble this I can't pronounce it this is a I think it's pronounced Hodges Hodges Eureka is a uh a Basque ax is similar to a tomahawk because these axes are Heaven High and they are stuck with a wedge on top, but It has a tapered handle that goes in on this side, so to me, when you talk about camping, hiking, Bushcraft, these are all good, but when you talk to me about survival, I would consider it your number one. survival ax because some of these other ones, if you break the handle, you're going to have to go through a lot of carving and a lot of work to get this eye to fit back in the end, but with this one I feel like if you broke the handle, you could take the head or you could take your knife and carve a handle and just go through it from the other side because it's tapered and doesn't have an eye so this is a tip. boy's tool ax made in America, I think North Carolina, but anyway, that's those three over there, uh, boy's ax with carrying ax or maybe camp axe, this is a very , very old and rare from Verona and actually belonged to a retired sergeant major of the Green Berets and I was lucky enough to get this and this is the best.

I don't know if you would ever want a backpack with this, but you would definitely want to carry it on a canoe, kayak, four-wheeler, or slide. or a sled now I have this handle here because I want to show you the difference in its length. Let's go up here a little bit. I have them leveled right there and you can see the difference here. This is a full size ax right here and there is no way you would ever want to carry this. I wouldn't even carry this in a canoe. That's a little excessive for me, so some people call it three. -quarter ax uh three quarter ax half ax quarter ax those are some of the nicknames for these things, but we're going to look into them further, but these are the ones we're going to focus on and we're going to take I go out into the field with a lighter to work with them a bit and see how they compare to machetes.

One more thing before we move on to the machetes. All of these axes have a leather mask. The machetes have sheaths. These are called masks. and let's say, for example, this here is all leather that thing appears there like that it's just a typical mask now one thing I wanted to talk about in this case is a very, very old vintage Woodings Verona ax and that's what I did with he is instead of leather, I made a bag that has a lining that has a polypropylene lining and what you do with that is you put it on, put it on top and it protects the blade.

It's a double, double, double thick polypropylene and then. I have this thing and I'm not sure what kind of bag it is, it's some kind of military bag and since this is just the idea, I want to convey while we're talking about these things, you know, because we're talking. about military survival, well, I mean, we're talking about Bushcraft survival, whatever, so the idea behind this originally was that when I carry this on an inflatable kayak or an inflatable canoe, then I want the maximum amount of protection on this sheet and then I also have to think about this: when you have this double layer like this, you can use some of these straps here to tie it to your canoe or kayak in case it flips over and you lose your backpack and you lose everything.

You'll still have your ax and then you can have a survival kit, a mini survival kit mounted on this because look, I have two bags here and I can mount even more things on this and then this thing could be mounted on the kayak. So you'll have a kit in case you lose everything else, but that's it. Now let's move on to the machetes. I thought these are more or less what are known as simple machetes. You have the infamous Ontario with a smooth back and a D-shaped handle. This is pretty much what a machete looks like, only it comes in a regular sheath.

This is a slightly sturdier and more substantial case. This is the Ontario with the saw back on the back. Then you have the famous Tramantine which makes Tremontine. sing now most of these are spring steel some of them were made from crossbows in the past holsters vary this is a holster i made it has a giant pouch where you can put a survival kit or other items uh this is another one made Tramantina is considered a bolo shape that is bolo style because of the big bold bump at the end that gives you a little more white.

These are mainly for grass and vines and things and this one has a marble case that has three bags, which is very useful. This is a stainless steel Latin condor style machete, very good if you are going to be in salt water in the ocean or in swamps. It comes in a very heavy leather case. Now they are considered cookies, but many. Many people also call them machetes. Many of them call them kitchen machete. Some call it a kitchen knife, but now these are starting to even more of a playing field with an ax because these things are very long and skinny and like I said, they are generally cutting tools, but these are very good for cutting, this one It's a traditional Himalayan kukri, well no, where is Nepal?

If that is all. I don't remember, but uh, yeah, Nepal, this is a typical cuisine, you can see, it's very, very thick. sheet, this is a very, very beefy Chopper, now the manufacturers have played with this design and made it. This is a cold steel version of a kukri that is not exactly shaped but is shaped enough with a weight forward so it is a very efficient Chopper and this Can this hold its weight against an axe? So that's the cold steel version. This is the k-bar kukri and this is what I talk about many times in my machetes.

I'll add a knife. That way you have a complete kit with you, you have a knife and a Chevy and this is, this is the k-bar version, the K Bar kukri, great Chopper and it's actually not that heavy, this is the Ontario knife. In the company version, I have combined it with a knife to make it Bush Bushcraft plus black Bushcraft and to this thing I added an extra strap here because this strap was not enough. The blade is not that good, but the knife is really good. kitchen Ontario kukri, you can see how thick it is on the back, very thick, let's take this out right here and look there, come on, let's bring them closer together so you can see the difference in thickness, so the difference in thickness is what A Chopper makes it so efficient, those are kukris and what we are going to do is try to find something to face the ax and here we have another version of the machete and it is my favorite version. the parang the parang is a real cutting beast and as you can see these three have knives attached and this one in particular is a fantastic complete kit for shelter building and survival and whatever you need because I have attached a saw to it and when you have a saw when you have a saw silky saw and a machete you are ready to start now this is the parang style I don't have a traditional parang but you can search for them and see them this is a stainless steel Han shoe for boxing, ideal for saltwater or swamps, It comes in a leather case which is a Beast that cuts right there, this is in a leather case.

I combined it with a knife, this is the Condor Village purr, it's something different. purr style because it has a big curve on the back, but you can see it's very, very, very thick, almost a quarter of an inch thick, which is a chopping base that holds against an axe. This is the Condor Bushcraft Purr, which is an absolute cut. The Beast itself has a convex sharpening. I have it paired with a blackberry and then this is the charade version and I have it paired with a charade knife. This thing has three straps, yes, and it's parang style.

It has a Hollow Grind that sticks to the wood but cuts deeply, so now what I have to do is choose which machetes are going to fight which axes. Oh, I have one more classification that I'm going to show you too. I've seen a lot of arguments online about what a machete is and what a machete isn't and sometimes the manufacturers have distorted that definition and sometimes the people talking about them have distorted that definition. This is the Ontario SP. 53 is sold as a bolo knife, it's a quarter inch thick and it's like a big knife, but a lot of people call it a machete and just to argue, I've always called it a machete, but they sell it as a bolo. knife this is for sale this is a tarava scrama or scrama and this is technically a sax s-e-a-x is a saxophone knife but many people call it a machete and this is a fantastic cutting tool this is the top of the Heat this is a this is Se called a machete, some people call it a big knife, but it is made by Three River Blades.

It is handmade D2 steel. This is the absolute pinnacle of cutting beasts when it comes to a knife or machete. The spine measures a little more than a quarter. inch thick at the top it's like 3 16 thick and it's completely convex but that's the absolute Cutting Beast so these are the things you can take with you when you're backpacking and surviving and crafting and what I'm What I'm going to have to do is try to figure out what to compare to which Acts, so I'll think about that a little bit, then show you my decisions, and then we'll move on. to get them out of the woods and do a project with them, that's how I decided to pair them.

I'm going to put the tremontine bolo against the little marbles and I think it's a Marvel 709 with an 18 inch handle because those are going to be the lighter weight options now we're going to step up here the Eureka Basque hatchet hatches. Let it face the Condor Village parang because the parang has such a steep convex taper that the baskets have a convex taper. grind too, so let's put the two of them together and see how well they play off each other. The council toll boys ax has a sort of flat grind on the end, you know, much flatter than a convex grind, so we're going to compare it to a kukri style.

We're going to use the kukri k-bar right now for the last Wooding Verona that I would never carry a backpack with and would only carry on a kayak, sled, or canoe. We're going to put it up against a big Giant Beast of a machete that I would never carry in my backpack and it's Dave Young's Timberline Tactical and this thing is a beast, it's a gigantic machete, it's huge, it's got everything. these serrations on this end it has a saw in the sand it has serrations on this end it has like a shoelace cutter this is a gigantic machete and it's based on a panga style and it's actually quite thick I would never carry this in my backpack, but I could carry it in a kayak or in a canoe, so we'll compare it to that, that'll be pretty interesting right there in the cut test, which will just be a cut if you want to use it for yourself.

I know how to chop firewood or something, but these other ones we're going to try to make with them and make some notches and things and see how well they work, so let's go out into the field. Now we're in the forest and we're ready to start our test and our evaluation. and figure out how these things work and today I'm lucky enough to have Nick join me, no, there's no one back here, you're supposed to go, hey. Oh,tie to a canoe or a kayak, this one here, the Timberline tactical machete, this thing is so big that I actually have a coyote co-ops that I forgot I could tie it to the front or maybe to the back and this. it would actually have the same survival kit capacity and look, this could also have another pouch added on the back so you know, in case your canoe flips over and these were strapped to your canoe, you would still have a kit as well that I would have been paying attention beforehand, probably would have been better for this video, yeah I have a Timberline ax and a bag of the same style, oh yeah, right?

I forgot about that, oops, yeah, another video, oh Yes, Timberline no. make this else someone else picked it up, by the way this is a Dave Young design, but it weighs three pounds and six ounces or 1,546 kilograms, this is equivalent to five even pounds or 2,264 kilograms, so it's about two pounds more than this , so let's take a look. In this case, this thing has a stripe on the back and what we're going to do is Nick is going to time me and this is a pine gas design, but this is a gigantic, huge, heavy machete, it's very heavy and what we're What I'm going to do with this is Nick is going to use a stopwatch and he's going to time 30 seconds and I'm going to cut.

You have a stopwatch on your phone, yeah, okay, so what are we going to do and then this here? This is the Woodings Verona ax and as a gift to my long-time viewers, I'm going to make the statement that this Acta, this Woodings Verona ax was, uh, I'm lucky enough to own it. It was once owned by former Sergeant Green Beret. Major Richardson so people who watch my videos now have a last name Sergeant Major Richardson Greenbrier uh multiple medals of honor for bravery and heroism so anyway this doesn't happen Morris kohanski is a bit long Morse kohanski says it's a good Ax Survival Camp Bush, you want to put it in your armpit and be able to wrap your hand around it a couple of inches long, but as you can see earlier in the video, it's definitely shorter than for full size effects, so what?

What we're going to do now is a tree instead of using a tree on the ground. It's still a pretty good solid tree and Nick focuses a camera right there at the roots, oh, right here, yeah, I see the root ball right there, what is it? Come on, yeah, the camera is stuck, so what we're going to do is we're going to cut this out and then we're going to start cutting, so that's going to be a good place to start. editing okay okay Brady and he's going to tell me to start and stop and what we're going to do is see what damage this is going to do in 30 seconds and then we're going to see what damage that's going to do in 30 seconds oh that's one thing For everyone, safety glasses, take them with you when camping, especially when you travel at night.

I keep saying it. Hexagonal armor. Hex armor makes the best cut proof gloves on Earth. They also make safety glasses. Hex armor, those cut proof gloves are good for if you know if you're five miles out in the middle of nowhere and you're playing with a machete or an ax or you're carving, it's going to stop you from cutting. your fingers so okay let's do what 30 seconds are going to do on this side okay ready just 30 seconds 30 SEC what do you think oh okay I don't know what you think 40 50. go ahead 30 isn't much I don't know 30.

I think You could probably get a little money out of it at 30. Yeah, I think so, it only covers 30. and it will support me. I wouldn't want to spend too much time on it. this and get tired and then have that not benefit me too because I'm tired so let's go with 30 seconds and see what it does okay yeah tell me when I should go okay come out stop okay that's a good 30 seconds, right? Now I will say that the handle on this thing is horrible if you don't have a glove. They hit me in the face with a piece.

Hot spots. It's awful. Damn. Barlow is good. Although I really think he could have gone deeper yes. I would have had a glove, you know, but I mean, this isn't bad for 30 seconds, you know what permanent pieces of wood, five minutes, oh, sorry, five minutes, you could get through a 10-inch log, right now, the woods. old Verona and me. I think this is where the ax is going to shine and this is much softer it has boiled linseed oil it's not about to put it it's about to embarrass that nice machete you already have your time to be in a more of a ready position that that one, there you go, well, I mean, I thought it would take a little bit longer to get it up until we get down and so we have kind of a fair start and work our way out, well, I mean.

I guess it's not exactly the same because the machine, the ax is wider and longer and the heads are heavier and it's more of a chop and point, but you're a lot more tired after using that, like I am, yeah, but it did more , I do not know if. That's a lot I think it's a victory for the machete Why is that still? Because the ax cuts more but you are much more tired. Yes. I don't know if you want to do that often. I don't. I don't know, usually the big firewood for me is a bow saw, you know.

I don't know, you make a good point when you say that the machetes will win for you because I wasn't out of breath when I was swinging the machete, but it's so big and heavy. What was here I was swinging it, but now it became more, there's no doubt about that, in one case in that case, I could have swung it a little bit lighter, you know, it's hard to say, I'd rather have less energy expenditure, yeah , that's true, now this leads. I also answer, do you want to bring an ax or do you want to bring a machete?

It depends on what you are doing, what your purpose is. Are you going to build a shelter? Are you going to do crafts? Are you going to be chopping wood, you know what I mean, is it winter? it's summer? Is it a temperate tropical environment where you won't need a big fire for heating, just a fire for cooking? It will be a very cold snowy place like in the north, where you will need a lot of firewood, but you know, cutting capabilities. 30 seconds, you could tell that I did a lot more here, although I also took much larger pieces, the average pieces for the machete or somewhere close to that, and there is one. from the pieces of the foreign ax it doesn't smell like fat wood, but it hasn't been rotten long enough or it's really rotten, it helped speed up the process a little, yeah, maybe water got in, but anyway, that's it, uh .

I don't know, there are things I could say, there are things I could say, still throwing away chunks, yeah, I mean, this is a capable machete, it's very big, oh yeah, it's also an ax that you can chop with it, it's big enough sharp enough to carve with. you can drive stakes with it you can break acorns and nuts with it this is a machete it has teeth for carving maybe digging into things teeth here it has a cord cutter it has a saw it has a glass breaker here I don't know what the glass breaker would be used in nature, but of anyway that's correct and it's a very sharp machete so I guess we covered everything as best we could there's always been an argument for it you just have to look at these variables and think about what they weigh how you carry them what you're going to do with them uh for me it still comes down to what I always thought in the past it depends on the time of year and what I'm going to do to you I know because sometimes I bring a bag of compressed air and other times I build a whole shelter, put a canvas on top.

If you are going to build a log cabin, I would say bring a notching ax and a bow saw for the whole saw a shelter building throw a tarp over it machete it may be best to go for hot weather machete cold weather packs add Nick, this has left me confused between the two well, I had a feeling it would be like there was no clear winter, yeah, you know what I'm saying, it's just hard to tell, maybe this rests the old argument in all the ways, ooh, in fact, I choose your favorite, is there one that you think is cooler?

Do you think an ax is cooler or? cooler machetes and just bring it in, okay, let's close with that, yeah, work. Wise advice, Nick, so I hope you had fun, I hope you enjoyed it, get out in nature, get your family out, get off the couch, stop watching TV, keep watching YouTube. see you next time see you later