Machetes and adventures in first aid

So I was at Sportsman's Warehouse the other day and noticed that they had some SOG machetes in stock. After reading Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It's Too Late I was convinced that I needed a machete. I've always been content with my camp saw and hatchet. In my neck of the woods, though, there isn't a whole lot of underbrush to worry about hacking my way through. Hatchets are cheap but they're also heavy and bulky and most camp saws are cheap pieces of crap. Enter the SOG.

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It's got a standard machete blade shape with a saw on the back. The factory blade is quite sharp. I can verify this with the gash that it left in my left index finger when I carelessly slid it into it's sheath.

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The saw teeth are also offset like your standard hand saw so it will actually cut wood if you need it to. It's got a full tang with three lanyard holes in the handle. The sheath is functional. Just don't slice your finger open when you sheath the blade like I did. For the price it seems like a good deal. I haven't put it to real use yet but it's a machete. I don't expect it to do much besides cut through shit. I've handled a lot of them and this is about as good as it gets at the price point. It seems durable, the edge is sharp and the saw blade on the back is actually functional. If you're in the market for a machete then I'd take a look at this one. For the price I just don't see how you could beat it.

Comments

Scott B. Williams said…
Machetes can be wickedly dangerous, that's for sure. Be especially careful of the "swing-through" while cutting brush and stuff. It's easy to get your knee or shin this way. I also once took a fellow survey crew member to the emergency room after he nearly cut his index finger off trying to use the machete to split the end of a survey stake (that he was holding upright)and missed.

An emergency first-aid measure that I will be posting about soon on Bug Out Survival is the old woodsman's trick of using thick pine sap to seal a wound. It saved me once with a cut that normally would have required stitches. Healed cleaner than any cut I've ever had too.
June 26, 2010 at 5:30 AM
Ryan said…
Cold steel has machetes on sale for like 10 bucks. They are normally almost 40. Also lots of quality knives on great sales. There is a minimum purchase and $9 or so S&H so not worth it if you just wanted one. However if you wanted to stash say a quality machete and knife per person at a great discount this would be a good time to do it.
June 26, 2010 at 7:07 AM
The Urban Survivalist said…
I already ordered a few knives and another machete from Cold Steel. I've got an 18" spear point machete among other things on the way. The SOG has a short blade. I just bought it for my ultra light pack.
June 26, 2010 at 1:29 PM
commoncents said…
INTERESTING! Thank You for posting this!!

Steve
Common Cents
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
June 26, 2010 at 8:19 PM
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