Machete History – The Rise of a Great Historic Tool
When it comes to the Machete, it is one of the modern tools by look. But it is an upgraded one that our predecessors used. As you see machetes, all of them come with different shapes and styles. According to their specifications, this tool is used. All machetes have different shapes that relate to the origin of the country. So styles and other specifications vary from region to region. Let’s go through the Machete History!
Table of Contents
What is Machete?
A machete is like a knife, or you can also relate it to a sword. It comes with a broad blade with tang. However, the Machete comes from macho, which is a Spinach word meaning sledgehammer.
The Machete has three parts mainly. These include blade which is fixed, a tang which extends its length and two scales which is the handle. However, the blade, handle, and tang depends on each Machete’s origin.
Also, it is an ultimate tool that you can be used indoor, outdoor as well as a survival tool. Its blade helps you to cut, slice, chop, trim, slash, hack, dig, crush, and more. Just like, it can do everything when you put in front of it. Also, it is used in the military as one of a deadly weapon.
Description of Machete
There are various blade length sizes include in a machete. It ranges from 10 inches to 24 inches. However, the blade shape will be different from each other. It can be straight, curved, thin, thick, etc. also, the handle differs in size and shape varies on the blade length as well as origin.
As we have told you, all of Machete comes in three parts such as blade, handle and sheath. A machete blade has three types including carbon steel, stainless steel, and high carbon stainless steel. There are also some metals used for it. For the handle, it can be woody, plastic, rubber or composite material.
When coming to the sheath, it has different materials like plastics, leather, and more. But the Machete has many types. The machete types include cane, barong and more.
Machete Knife As A Historic Tool
Going back to the stone age, Machete is one of the tools used in ancient times. It is a historical tool. In the thirteenth century, a sword name Falchion was mostly used. To date, it is popular all over the world. The Falchion had a little curved edge and blade is wide at the point. But the edge had straight.
However, the Machete is similar to the Falchion in terms of work. But the main difference between a falchion and Machete is, the Machete doesn’t come with guards as well as its handle is also simpler than the Falchion. Even you can now find a lot of Machete with guards but is it’s unusual. A machete is used for daily purposes while the Falchion had not used routinely.
Going back to the eighteenth to the twentieth century, the Fascine knife was mostly used on European armies. This tool also resembles machetes. Moreover, the Kopis in the Greek ancient tool which also similar to machetes. Also, the seax and makhaira look similar to machetes which are the tool used in Germanic.
Nowadays, Machete is used in different fields. They are more versatile. By following the footsteps, the manufacturers made this tool more productive. Now, you can use a machete in your kitchen, in your garden, lawn, battlefield and more.
Origin of Machete
Despite a machete is the most widely used tool all over the world. But there is no clear origin exist for Machete. There is no clue to find out how and when the first Machete being created, such as the Bowie knife. However, there are several designs developed to date.
However, going back in ancient times, there was a Great Britain invaded Cuba, which uses a machete for defense purpose. But the reality is, the machetes were likely used long before the thirteenth century.
Origin of the Design
Besides the origin of the Machete, there are many knife makers in historians that are agreed that the origin of the machete design is inspired by the Falchion. However, the Falchions was a sword taken from the billhook.
As I have mentioned above, the Falchion was a popular word used in the thirteenth century. Its one-handed design is almost similar to the machetes. However, this sword was cheaper to make than others, so it was mostly used in military purposes and as a survival weapon. However, the machetes look like the Falchion sword bit they also varied by location.
In Machete history, the billhook is also a piece of the puzzle. However, this Machete is used in agriculture purposes. It also used in forestry around the globe, but it depends on the design. It has the appearance of a meat cleaver which extends with a wood handle. But its blade has inward curved which improves the cutting capabilities.
In order to remove the guard of the falchions, the billhook machete is similar to that.
Use of Machete
A Machete is an all-purpose tool. Due to its versatility, it has many uses. It can be used for both an axe or knife. It offers extreme versatility. However, there are many uses of machetes. Some of them are mentioned below.
Cleaning Bushes
When you want to clean the unwanted brushes, a machete is most handy not only in your garden but also for outdoor activities. There is no need to brush cutter use for cleaning brush. A machete can easily clean out the brushes as you expect.
Chopping
Another use of Machete is chopping. A machete can effectively handy for chopping. It lets you clearly clean up the larger pieces more efficiently. It is a chopping compost that easily breaks down into small pieces.
Harvesting Crops
If you grow crops in your garden, the Machete will be useful for you. Especially, it comes very handily when the stick styled one ideal tool for harvesting, including corn, sugar cane. Barley. It mostly complete agriculture needs when it comes to cutting.
Chopping Animals Food
When going to the farming needs, a machete is perfect to use for chopping up the fodder for your loved animals.
Cleaning Grass
If you are on route to camping, a machete helps you not only clear your camping space but also you can chop up the woods, you can use it for cutting the sticks for your campfire. Instead, it can be used for your cooking purposes to cut up fruits, vegetables, nuts and more.
Weapon for Defense
Indeed, a machete is a great tool for survival. Especially when you go to outdoor activities in the wild area, it will be great for your self-defense. It can kill wild animals as well as venomous snakes.
Foraging Pray
If you are a hunter, a machete is good for you. It allows easy foraging for you pray. Also, you can split your pray into many pieces using it so you can easily manage all the parts. In case if you are a butcher and doing other jobs of meat, it will be greatly useful for you.
Gutting Fish
Are you like fishing? A machete works effectively for you. You can use it to clear out the fishing space easily. Also, you can cut off the branches. It can be used for gutting the fish which you had grab.
Removing small branches and plants
A machete is greatly used to remove all uninvited branches as well as plants. It can easily remove the smaller branches from the lower tree trunk to invasive plants. Also, you can remove underbrushes and chop trees as well.
Hiking
Whether you are going camping or hiking, a machete is useful in both cases. You should get a machete with you without any doubt. It makes your hiking safe not only for survival purposes but also for many other purposes.
Shaving
A machete is an extremely versatile tool in all over the world. There are some people that used a machete for shaving.
Other Popular Uses For Machete Are
- It allows you diverse habitat for native species
- A machete can be used as fodder for small pets and livestock
- The Machete works for coppice trees for charcoal, firewood, and other uses.
- You can thin woodlot to reduces the growth of income-produces trees
- It is effective to remove invasive plants
- A machete is useful to trim overhanging branches either in inside or outside
- For increased visibility, you can clear the brush and scrub by using a machete
- It let you make the snares as well as traps
- You can be used it one the butcher’s chop
- This tool is handy to cut line, open bottles, ready lures, gut fish and more
- The Machete can be used to collect the medical plants or edible also; you can dig for roots by using it
- Use a machete to construct the shelter box from poles and bark
- Due to its extreme versatility, a machete can be used for more purposes
The First Company
The first machete manufacturers were the Collins and company from Connecticut. They are from Latin America, and the region is the Caribbean. The founder of this company was Samuel W. Collision. They started work in 1826 with the goal of making axes. Which later in 1845, there were the first sellers of machetes.
This was a huge success. Then each Machete was named “Un Collins”. After that, the Robert Mile and Sons in the Caribbean region manufactured an agriculture cutlass. These machetes were from Birmingham, which was known for its quality. To date, there are still small souvenirs. These are known as the survival in collector’s collection.
However, in the early time, every Machete comes in the best quality with a long life span. But by the span of time, the machetes’ quality has deteriorated. But there are many popular brands available on the market which are remarkably known for their product’s quality. Some of these include Barong machete, bolo machete, parang vs Machete, pole machete, bowie machete, kukri machete, Golok Machete and more.
Modern History
In the modern age, there are lots of verities available to get the best Machete. There are some with full tang attaching with two parts for handle by wood, rubber, plastic and more.
Aside from the material and quality of the handle, there are so many types of blades as well. Also, there is a choice to get a sharper edge or less sharpen the edge. A rough edge is, the customers usually sharpen the edge according to their needs. Also, there are machetes available on the market that comes with a hole in its handle to attach the lanyard cord. It ensures you to get extra safety.
Moreover, modern machetes come with sheaths. These are known as the case of the Machete, so the blade shape determines the sheath shape. There is a collection of sheaths available on the market according to each machete design regardless of the origin. However, a sheath is an integral part of the Machete which added security and let you carry easily.
Conclusion
All in all, you have walked through the machete history, which can’t be fascinating enough. But aside from the history, this is one of most ancient tool which is useful to date in many purposes. Machete makes most of our working easier. There are so many uses of a machete. There are so many popular brands of Machete. Each of them has their own specifications and purposes. So, if you are looking for one of the best, you should figure out your needs first. Besides, it is one of the deadly weapons so you should be careful when you are carrying it with you. Thank you for visiting us!
