Talk:Machete

The claim about the Nigerian Armed Forces strikes me as rather improbable. At Talk:Nigeria I have asked if anyone can confirm or deny it. Securiger 00:38, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

OK, I have moved this from the article:

The Nigerian Armed Forces have been reviewing the possibility of using the Machete as their standard weapon in their new conscript army of 5,000,000 troops.

I can find no support for it anywhere, it sounds like someone denigrating Nigeria (which actually has a pretty well equipped army for Equatorial Africa), and this, if true, would represent a nearly ten-fold increase in the size of the Army. In short, I think it's bogus. Securiger 17:14, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

It's almost certain that the Nigerian armed forces mention is garbage. And neither I nor my friends in Nigeria can find any reference to any news articles about machetes as armaments for the Nigerian military, nor any references to a 'new conscript army' being raised by the government. Rjhatl 16:35, 10 December 2004 (EST)

Yes, I totally agree with removing taht statement. As a matter of fact I believe thay us FN FALs. King Toast —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.128.253.170 (talk) 16:39, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

Nothing on Rwanda

In use as a weapon? Machetes where the prime weapon of the militias during the 1994 genocide. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.253.98.250 (talk) 15:53, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

use on wood

the lack of a primary grind makes the machete much less effective on woody vegetation

I've seen a man convert a large dry tree branch to an almost perfectly squared block of wook with a well sharpened blade...

The standard I know is, if you can shave with it, it's sharp enough Guettarda 22:08, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC)

It's not a question of sharpness. Because it lacks a primary grind (i.e. the faces of the blade are parallel, except for the actual edge), it tends to bind up if it bites deep into wood. If the wood isn't too thick, you will get away without it jamming, but it will still be harder work. If the wood is thick, pretty often it will jam fast and you will have to rock it back and forth a few times to lever it out. If you're working all day doing this, I don't doubt you'd soon prefer a blade profile more appropriate for woody vegetation. Securiger 09:17, 22 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification - I suppose I didn't read the article properly. But I still maintain that if you know what you are doing you can cut a 6-8" tree with a cutlass/machete. As for the issue of bite, it's a matter of keeping the strokes slightly angled to the stem - thus, taking out wedges with each pair of blows. Sharpness is important for this - and yes, of course, you are going to throw a few blows too perpendicular and have to work the blade back out. I wouldn't want to have to cut down a large tree with a blade (or with a hand-axe, for that matter). Guettarda 13:39, 22 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I removed that sentence as it is misleading. Not all machetes lack a primary grind, just the low price ones. My first good quality machete (the sawback at the bottom of this [1]page has a primary grind and is quite good at chopping wood. In fact in my experience, it out-cuts a bush axe (without a primary grind) more than twice it's weight and size, both tools sharpened with the same carbide V sharpener.--Knife Knut 03:11, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

I live in new england and I can say from extensive personal experience that in terms of survival, a hatchet is of much greater use in this environment than a machete. They chop through hardwood much more efficiently than machetes and are inherently durable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.35.205.164 (talk) 23:51, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Weapon

I got hit on the head recently by one of these things. Sharp blade. Ouch! See Talk:Security situation in Honduras. --SqueakBox 18:05, Feb 19, 2005 (UTC)

A machete wouldn't make as great a weapon as many people think. They see one and think "short sword", but most machetes are considerably thinner than similarly lengthed swords, and thus do not have a lot of weight behind them. They can cause bad cuts for sure, but not very deep ones. They most certainly cannot remove limbs, as is commonly portrayed in movies. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.35.205.164 (talk) 23:55, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Pronounciation

I don't think the offered IPA pronounciation: /ma'ʃɛti:/ is correct, I believe it is an anglicized pronounciation. In languages from where the word originates it is supposed to be pronounciated /ma'ʃɛte/. Now, for the sake of correctness, I advise putting the original pronounciation, for what's the purpose of it otherwise? People can figure out an anglicized one for themselves when reading the text in English...

Origin of the word

I recently heard a theory stating that the word is derived from the phrase "Made in Manchester". The story goes that a group of Spanish-speaking workers who used the blades as an everyday tool eventually started referring to them as "machete"s (a hasty prounciation of the name "Manchester") because of this common country of origin inscription. Does anyone know any details regarding the word's origin or have an alternate explanation for it? White Agent 16:54, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Update: Another explanation is that the word is derived from "macho", a word for "club" in Spanish, and "mattea", as in "war club" or "mace" in Latin [2]. White Agent 20:31, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet (though the name 'machete' enjoys greater currency). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.8.204.39 (talk) 22:22, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

There are a number of Scottish and English surnames now numerous in Ulster most of which, though not sufficiently well established to be classed as 'principal names' in the so-called census of 1659, were already to be found in the province at that time. A few of them indeed occur transiently in medieval Irish records, and the name MATCHETT was one of these names, originally from England. The name is also found in the Orkney and Shetland islands, and was formerly used as a given name there; it has been supposed to derive from a Scandinavian form of Mathew, and means 'gracious gift of Jehovah'. It was an exceedingly popular font name during the 11th and 12th Centuries. This given name was of biblical origin, ultimately from the Hebrew male font name Matityahu, recorded in the Greek New Testament in the form Matthias. The name is also spelt MADGETT, MATCHET and MATCHITT. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.8.204.39 (talk) 22:20, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Movie references

There are four movies titled "Machete". The first is an American movie that came out in 1958 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051886/), the second is a Filipino movie that came out in 1990 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402352/) with a sequel four years later (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140345/) and the fourth is a Mexican film due out this year (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808359/). There's also the 1969 movie "La primera carga al machete" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064841/) and 1981's "Machete Maidens of Mora Tao" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198677/) and last year's "El Malefico Dr. Machete" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497799/). Doberdog 10:05, 24 August 2006 (UTC)Doberdog

Trivia Audit

∴Walkeraj 03:50, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

wrong length or wrong label

"The Brazilian Army's Instruction Center on Jungle Warfare developed a 10-inch blade machete with a very pronounced clip point. In the same scabbard there's a 5-inch blade Bowie knife and a sharpening stone. This called "jungle kit" (in Portuguese, Conjunto de Selva) is made by Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil (IMBEL)[2]." A ten inch blade is a knife, not a machete, and a knife with a 5 inch blade is not a bowie knife. Not every clip-pointed knife is a bowie knife. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.35.205.164 (talk) 23:57, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Two points

What kind of source is there for the 20-24 inch range as being 'average'? Most which are not only for sale, but in use seem to be a good bit smaller, averaging 16-18. Although some are as long as two feet, they are the exception. Maybe a wider range is more appropriate for the description, since it would seem silly to classify any other style of bladed tool within four inches.

I changed the range to (about) 13-24 inches, The majority of machete I've seen are about 16 inch, and unless this is completely wrong, and every machete I've seen isn't a machete, unless it's almost two feet, you can change it back.'''Aryeonos''' (talk) 02:22, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Also, I'm kind of surprised this article makes no mention of the plethora of modern mass-produced stainless steel machetes which are marketed for various uses (or just curios) to people in non-tropical climates. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.45.27.76 (talk) 19:55, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Popular Culture

First off, why is a flag considered popular culture? Shouldn't it be more like a symbol or something important. Secondly, in The Book of Eli, his "machete" is more of a parang, or an over sized Kukri. It could possibly even be a sword. Halofanatic333 (talk) 13:28, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

The Machete

The Machete is not a full gender of utensils as reported here. The Machete is a tool created by Puerto Ricans with the intention of harvesting the cane, a replacement of the ax before used for that purpose for being too heavy and having to bend to use it. The Machete is flat, wide and curved. All these utensils have their own name and are not Machetes! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.48.212.129 (talk) 12:10, 4 February 2011 (UTC)