Cold Steel All Purpose Tactical Machete with Sheath

This arrived on time, in sturdy if not excessive packaging. The product is outstanding, exactly as pictured and the edge is of course a bit rough. With some work the edge is quite nice, it took less than 10 minutes to make this one workable. The sheath is plain and simple, with a few clips to keep the tool secure and not much else going for it. The Chopper is heavy and long, these two qualities equate to a sturdy tool. In terms of value, this was 10 bucks cheaper than the Kopis from the same company, both are well worth the price. I plan to buy more Cold Steel and recommend that you check this bad boy out. Be safe, this item has only one purpose and that is to DESTROY. If you are not safe it will touch someone.

Cold steel all terrain chopper. I ordered this prior to making a discovery that did not settle well with me. I had other comments on the subject but deleted them since it really does not matter. What matters is my action and behavior. People are going to hunt and people are going to eat what they kill. Most hunters kill much more humanely than the people that provide bacon on your plate. As much as I like the quality of cold steel items, I cannot continue to buy from a company where the president..aka Lynn Thompson,,,, enjoys killing leopards and hippos. All the time posting images with a poop eating grin next to the dead once beautiful living creature. I do not support trophy hunting. Period. So this will be my last cold steel item. It was somewhat sharp but I touched it up to a utilitarian edge. As heavy as this thing is not much more is needed. In my opinion only. I had some tree limb trimming to do and it cut through fine and clean. One still needs a little technique but that is easily learned. One handed swings are doable but it is not a balanced katana so I find two hands much more effective. It is a beast and a solid one at that. Reminds of sling blade wicked and would split a head or take a good bone breaking slice out of your leg if you missed. Be a fitting piece for the movie...you know the one. One of the lines goes like this. Doyle: What'cha doin' with that lawn mower blade Karl? Karl: I aim to kill you with it.

The ATC is a great tool, though somewhat specialized for thick, woody brush. It is overkill for light stuff and you can wear yourself out if a lighter machete would do the same job. It came with a good working sharpness out of the box. In my experience, you don't want an overly sharp, thin edge on heavy machetes as the edge will chip cutting into larger diameter deadwood. The ATC machete is long, heavy and has space on handle for two hands to use. The long handle is nice for this reason when chopping larger diameter branches and trees and because it gives you extra reach. It is not an ax or a chainsaw but its weight and reach are an asset. I cleared a blackberry/black locust thicket with it and though it was a workout, it did the job that otherwise would have required a brush-cutter, machete and axe. I put black cotton friction tape on the hand grip as it does get slick from sweat, though not excessively so.

I am a surveyor, and have been working in the woods and swamps of Florida for the past 20 years cutting line, blazing trees etc. This machete is good in many ways and in many ways is really incomparable to other machetes. First off, the blade is very thick and is fairly difficult to sharpen due to the thickness and coating material on the blade. You cannot sharpen this machete at the same angle as other machetes, but more like a hybrid angle between an axe and a machete. Once you get it to the desired sharpness you will probably be good for a little while because the thickness and hardness of the blade. I wasn’t real sure about the shape of the blade at first, but after using it regularly for about 4 months I am growing kind of fond of it. It looks and feels strange, but it really seems to help having the point on the thick end like it does. The handle is great. If you have never used a two handed machete before it will take a bit of getting used to, but you can put a lot more umph into a swing with two hands, and there’s a far less chance of your machete flying out of your hands while using two hands. (As a matter of fact I cannot remember a time I have let a two handed machete fly in about 6 years of using them) The weight of this machete is not like others, this thing is heavy/sturdy, because of the weight this machete doesn’t do well if you are in light brush such as vines and briars, or stuff you really need to finesse your way through. This machete really begins to shine when you come across the bigger stuff, woody trees 2-6” in diameter, you can make a real good dent in the heavier brush with a lot less effort using this. Because this is not a tool that solves every line cutting issue I am typically using the sheath provided to carry it on my back, and carrying the other traditional machete along, only breaking out big papa (as this machete is affectionately called) as needed.

I swore I would not write a review on this product until I tested it well enough to give a really comprehensive and useful review that might help other folks. 1. The setting I am using this in is southeastern Louisiana bottomland woods that contain a mixture of many thorny bushes /thorny vines up to saplings large fan palmettos and heavy larger sized trees. I mention this, because I want anyone reading this review to understand this tool worked superbly for this type of terrain... but may not be the best choice for other terrains. I also do not baton wood as there is no need for me to do this so I don't think it would be the proper application for this tool though it may work for this task. 2. The main use for this tool for me was heavy trail clearing and then transitioning to camping/bushcraft/survival type uses. Heavy trail clearing was by far the thing this tool would be most used for. The main thing that confronts us in these types of woods is switching between clearing thorn bushes, thorny vines, blackberry type bushes, weeds and grasses, then switching right back to saplings and trees in the same section of trail. What we have repeatedly seen in the past is that the tools that work great for cutting the grasses and vines (cane knifes, two handed cane knifes, thin bladed very sharp machetes) are not nearly heavy enough to cut trees or saplings with ease. Alternately, the tools that are heavy enough for light to medium chopping tasks (sp8 machete, rtak II, woodsmans pal, short handled thick bladed brush hooks,and heavy machetes) are usually terrible for the brush clearing especially due to their blunt angles and short reach which result In a nice big pin cushion of an arm due to burying it in the thorn bushes. These heavier tools have a tendency to crush and break the thorn bushes/vines but not cleanly slice through them. And of course after heavy chopping with the lighter tools, you either wear yourself out or see loose rivets in the handles etc. 3. So now we come to the cold steel ATC. I wont bore you with the specs as they can be found easily online, but will go directly to real world experience. I will cover the sheath first as that was the component that I found a few flaws with. But with the chopper performing so well, I couldn't bring myself to drop it to a 4 star rating for minor sheath issues that would not be a deal breaker for me. Also, there is a great video on cold steels website with the product in use. Shipping from amazon/seller was quick and easy so no problems in that area. Price IMO was well worth it. The Sheath. The sheath was made of a heavy ballistic type nylon with a plastic type liner in the inside. It also has a heavy plastic guard riveted to the bottom outside of the sheath to prevent it from cutting or poking through the bottom of the sheath. It works fine for this purpose. The machete slides in through the side of the sheath which is open on one side from top to almost the bottom and two small straps reach across the opening and button the sheath closed. There is also a strap and button that wraps around the handle. The only minor flaws that I could find with this design is the two straps have a memory and keep covering the sheath opening as you try to insert the machete. Perhaps cold steel could have added a piece of Velcro to the back side to keep the flaps out the way as you try to re-insert the blade. This was not an issue with the strap that secured the handle section as they fell to the side and did not get in the way. All buttons were of high quality and securely snapped into place and served their purpose very well. Next, the machete is a very tight fit in the bottom section of the sheath and has to be pivoted into the bottom and pushed firmly to seat it. The machete is also not quick draw in anyway even though it is carried over the shoulder. It takes a little time to remove, and cannot be quick drawn, but this is more than made up for with the extremely secure fit and safe carry in the sheath. To me its a very worthwhile tradeoff if I'm carrying this thing for long distances. On to the shoulder strap. This was a slightly weaker part of the sheath IMO, but again not a deal breaker. The shoulder strap is about 1" wide and is riveted to the sheath at the top. There is also a short section riveted to the bottom end with a lever type locking buckle for the longer top section of strap to pass through. One can thereby adjust the length of the strap for over the shoulder carry. Here is the good and bad of it. The strap could benefit from being slightly wider although I have no complaints with it currently. The buckle is the weak point. It is plastic and seems like it would not take much abuse. Also it's impossible to push the lever all the way down as the strap seems a bit big for the buckle and I fear forcing it down further would break the tab. Although as the strap pulls against your chest, it does tighten the buckles action and does not let the strap slide through at all. The strap has ample length and on my chest (46") I have at least a foot to a foot and a half extra strap for adjustment over heavier clothing. One last little minor point is there is another buckle to secure the extra free hanging strap which is poorly designed. It slides over the sling but is a pocket clip style on top that the extra string slides under. It can have a tendency to constantly slide out from under the clip which is all cheap plastic. I would have liked to see a plastic slider type buckle to keep the extra strapping secure, but at the low price this sells for it cant be made much better. Again, I mention this so you'll know but the blade far outweighs these minor flaws. There is no provision to carry this on the belt, but it would be ridiculous to do so due to the long length so this is a moot point to me. The machete was comfortable and secure to carry even while running the trails for great distances....in the rain....because you forgot to bring your poncho......The only time the sheath could be a bit aggravating is when using the machete. It has a tendency to slide around to your front when swinging as it is flexible without the knife in it. I take it off and put it in my backpack when using it to solve this problem. Overall...for the low price of 33.00 I thought the sheath was great. There were a few small issues I listed, but these things most likely keep this thing very affordable. Also sheath mods could be made if desired for very little money. The Machete I loved it!!!!!!!! Black coated blade came extremely sharp from the factory. It is of a good steel that sharpens well and holds an edge well....if you don't let your kids chop sand with it......The long two handed handle was well made, felt solid, and had a good checkered textured grip to it. I wear gloves when heavy trail clearing, but it don't feel this handle would give you blisters as quickly as traditional machetes do. The design of the handle worked well for one handed swinging by choking up on the handle and even better for two handed hold with massive swinging/ heavy chopping tasks. Finish is holding up well thus far but I keep some wd-40 on it after use so it never rusts. I'm sure the finish will wear eventually, but I am wearing this sucker out on the trails and it has done well so far. So now my favorite part. It cuts free standing thorn vines, blackberry vines, and palmetto stems clean through!!! It sliced them just as cleanly as my cane knife does....BUT...with the extra reach and absolutely no crushing or breaking which makes thorn bush clearing a pain in the butt.....and the forearm when it comes out looking like a pin cushion. I hate whacking a thorn vine 50 times because it just keeps bouncing back and forth until it breaks...never cutting it. This thing sliced through them with no issues. Then as an added bonus, when I transitioned to the saplings I was easily slicing through them with a single swing. When moving on to the heavier chopping, the two handed chopping method made short work of trees up to 5". I chopped and sliced everything imaginable with this thing and it did a great job with all of it. The blade is large and a little heavier than a large machete but did not tire me out after trail clearing for two hours. Because it cut so well it made the work less tedious...and best of all no loose rivets with shaky blades between the handles. I found it to be well balanced with a slight weight forward feel but just enough to be helpful and not a hindrance. The quality of the edge made the free standing slicing easy and the extra heft made the chopping easy as well. There was no vibration and bounce that is common when trying to chop wood with a regular machete. All in all, I found no shortcomings with the machete and only minor ones with the sheath. This is probably the best tool I have ever purchased for this type of work (and believe me I have many...just ask my wife) and it far outperforms several other tools I have mentioned above. The best feature is that it takes the place of both types of tools I mentioned above yet only cost around $33.00 at the time of this review. You cannot go wrong with this tool at this price.

Very heavy and rigid blade and a solid grip feel that instills confidence with every swing. It wasn't as quite razor sharp as I was expecting initially, but that's no big deal since the carbon steel blade takes very well to the stone. The secret to maximum carnage, like most any machete, is to strike closer to the base of the blade so that you take full advantage of the momentum from its considerable heft. Once it's been sharpened a bit, you'll find that that with good technique, it is like a faster version of an axe! In fact, it EASILY easily out-chops my double-headed axe on 4"-5" hardwood branches heads up, no excuses! Takes out 3" hardwood branches in 2 swings with a strong arm behind it. Try that with an expensive sword of any type (better yet......DON'T!!). I wish Cold Steel would make their two-handed Katana Machete with this kind of rigidity. Never fails to make an impression on your company or anything that stands in your way----the looks on other's faces upon seeing this thing are priceless---watch them take a few steps back!! And needless to say, this would be a formidable zombie slayer, more heavy sword than machete... The accompanying sheath is tough, although a thicker/better strap would have been appreciated. The odd blade profile means you can't draw it from the sheath as you would a conventional machete, which also makes it impractical to wear it in your belt, so it's slung from the shoulder.

Cold steel, always a great buy. Strong steel, keeps its edge, durable, cost efficient. I could go on and on. I am a repeat buyer and have probably spent way too much, but a good sharp edge when you need it is priceless. You will not go wrong with a cold steel product.

I wanted a machete to clear brush with. The machete arrived with a decent edge on the blade. It appears well made and I was pleased with the quality. I've used it for a couple of hours and for me the weight is fatiguing after a couple of hours of hard use. It doesn't seem to hold an edge as good as my Condor but for the price this is a great value. In addition, the handle is long enough to hold this like a baseball bat if you've got something that needs a little extra swing speed to cut down. I think that was a good purchase and would recommend this to anyone that puts value over absolute performance.

Eine einfache, schlichte, fast schon martialisch anmutende Arbeitsmachte, die im Finish zwar nur mäsig punktet, bei der dafür aber nicht am Stahl und an der Codura-Scheide gespart wurde. Das Ganze gibt es zu einem wirklich angemessenen Preis. Sicher werden einige sagen, diese Machete käme im Finish nicht an ihre vertrauten Solinger Stahlwaren heran, sähe man an den Kanten doch noch die Stanzspuren, sei das Heft zwar ergonomisch und griffig, aber doch auch sehr einfach und lieblos in der Anmutung. Aber wir reden immer noch von einem Arbeitsgerät. Dass dieses Arbeitsgerät eine gut wärmebehandelte, gleichermaßen zähe wie harte Legierung aufweist, deren feinkörniges, martensitisches Gefüge sich bald rasiermessergleich herausschleifen lässt und die darüber noch lange schnitthaltig bleibt, auch wenn sie mit Harthölzern gefordert wird, sollte entgültig überzeugen. In deutschen Katalogen, Onlineshops und Läden feilgebotene, vermeintlich in D. hergestellten Macheten werben großspurig mit "wertigem" 420er Stahl, aber das ist lächerlich. Chrom ist ein Schneidenschädling und bestenfalls für Küchenmesser geeignet. Wer grob hauen oder sehr fein schneiden möchte, sollte deshalb auf rostfreie Stähle verzichten lernen und damit leben sein Werkzeug entweder trocken zu lagern oder nach Gebrauch mit einem öligen Lappen abzuziehen. Wenn man das Ölen vergisst, macht es auch nix, sofern nichts besonders saueres am Stahl frisst, weil auch dieser Stahl leidlich rostträge ist. Wenn man die Machete auspackt erschaudert man kurz, so mächtig und massiv mutet sie an. Viel Stahl fürs Geld. Sie flext nicht, weil sie doch 3 Milimeter stark ist und es lässt sich eine - nicht nur gemessen am Einsatzzweck - sehr feine Schneide herausschleifen, die sogar einer Rasur genügen würde, die darüber auch hält, also weder zu schnell abstumpft, noch ausbricht oder eindellt. Die Machete erinnert insgesamt mehr an eine Waffe als an ein Forstwerkzeug, Assoziationen zu den Orkwaffen aus dem "Herr der Ringe" Epos liegen nahe. Für eine Waffe wäre sie aber zu schwer und träge, was aber für ein Hauwerkzeug im schweren Gelände wiederum ideal ist. Sie ist trotz ihres hohen Gewichtes dank des griffigen Beidhänderheftes aus Kunststoff sehr führig, auch bei Schweißnässe. Sie ist aber keine Gras- o Schilflandmachete, dafür ermüdet man damit zu schnell. Sie ist eher fürs harte Unterholz vorgesehen und sollte man keine Axt zur Hand haben, erledigt sie deren Aufgaben auch gleich mit, ohne sich dabei Blöße zu geben. Ich kann das Produkt empfehlen. Ergänzend sollte man sich trotzdem noch eine leichte und dünne einhändige Machete vorhalten, eben für die weniger holzigen Pflanzen um nicht zu ermüden. Unterschätzen sie nicht, wie wuchtig und schwer das Werkzeug am Ende daherkommt.

Ich hatte mir diesen ATC für das ausschneiden von massenweise ca. 20 Jahren eingewachsenen, verholztem Buschwerk gekauft. Die Machete kommt stumpf vorgeschliffen, auch die Schneide ist mit der Pulverbeschichtung eingebrannt. Mann muss Sie also schärfen. Optimalerweise macht man sich hier die Mühe, einen geraden Schliff anzubringen, kein Hohlschliff, schließlich soll damit gehackt werden. Papierschneide-Schärfe ist kein Problem, selbst nach Stunden arbeit, ist die Schneide noch scharf genug, sich damit böse schneiden zu können, ohne Ausbrüche. Die Klinge ist für eine Machte ziemlich dick, fast 3mm. Sie ist biegsam ohne zu wabbeln und knickt nicht, selbst wenn sie sich im Ast verkantet. Wichtig zu wissen ist, das dieses Exemplar wirklich groß ist und Gartenarbeit, selbst wenn sie so grob ist wie oben besprochen, besteht aber immer auch aus feinerer Arbeit, wie z.B. Entasten. Hier wirds aufgrund der Größe und des hohen Eigengewichts und Kopflastigkeit anstrengend, eine kleinere wäre da deutlich besser gewesen. Dafür kann aber dieses Messer nichts, war ja alles angegeben. Es ist tatsächlich ein großes Respekteinflösendes Teil, das sich sicherlich gut in einer Zombieapokalypse machen würde. An dieser Stelle sei noch dringend erwähnt, das es sich im Grunde um ein ziemlich gefährliches Werkzeug handelt. Ich würde es also nicht meinem schludrigen, jugendlichen Sohn zur Gartenarbeit geben, denn wenn hier aufgrund von Ermüdung zu Ausrutschen, oder fahrlässiger Handhabung kommt, ist aufgrund des relativ hohen Gewichts, der langen geraden Schneide und der furchteinflößenden Schärfe schnell wirklich schlimmes passiert. Würde einem das Ding auskommen, wären die Finger samt Sehnen und Nerven bis auf den Knochen durch, von danebenhacken will ich erst gar nicht sprechen. Daher sollte es nur von Personen mit Übung und angemessenen Respekt und Selbstdisziplin verwendet werden. Ich gebe 5 Sterne, weil Griff und Klinge zu einem unschlagbaren Preis halten was versprochen wurde und die gerade Spitze viele Vorteile bringt, möchte aber hier die Aufmerksamkeit aber auch auf die kleineren Expemplare dieses Teils lenken, die gibts auch in 18 und 21 Zoll.

Zu einem günstigen Preis erhält man hier eine RASIERMESSERSCHARFE Machete. Die Verarbeitung ist sehr robust, also theoretisch wirklich für Survivalausflüge durch den Busch geeignet. Zum ausstellen in einer Vitrine für Sammler durch die schlichte Verarbeitung vielleicht eher nicht so geeignet. Für alle, die die Machete auch wirklich benützen aber klare Kaufempfehlung!

I took a chance on this machete because of the price was so reasonable . Saw some reviews and they mostly said that it was too big and heavy and more like a sword . The handle is designed for two hands and works best this way but you can also use it one hand depending on the task . This is an awesome chopper . Will chop an 1 1/2 branch with ease and I'm 67 . Good for use in bush crafting and yard work !

Macht Spaß! Strapazierfähig, wendig, leicht zu schärfen, sehr führig, trotz Kopflastigkeit und einfachem Griff...könnte mit einem Hieb einen gut angehangen Schinken mit Bein zerteilen. Man darf sich nicht von den 2,8mm täuschen lassen, es ist keine flimsige Blechmachete, sondern ordentlich Masse. Nur mein Condor Dadao kann mithalten.