modern factory-made Machete

The machete (pronounced /məˈʃɛti/) is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically 50–60 cm (18–24 in) long, usually with a thin blade under 3mm thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet (though the name 'machete' enjoys greater currency). Photograph taken by Ivan Yulaev (myself) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Photograph taken by Ivan Yulaev (myself) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Look up machete in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

The machete is normally used to cut through thick vegetation such as sugar cane or jungle undergrowth but it can also be used as an offensive weapon. There are many specialized designs for different regions, tasks, and budgets. Species Ref: ITIS 42058 as of 2004-05-05 Sugarcane is one of six species of a tall tropical southeast Asian grass (Family Poaceae) having stout fibrous jointed stalks whose sap at one time was the primary source of sugar. ... Box Log Falls, Lamington National Park, Queensland, Australia Jungle usually refers to a dense forest in a hot climate, such as a tropical rainforest. ... For other uses, see Weapon (disambiguation). ...

The modern machete is very similar to some forms of the medieval falchion (a type of sword distinguished by the blade being wider towards the tip than the hilt), differing mainly in the lack of a guard and a simpler hilt, though some machetes do have a guard for greater protection of hands during work. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Look up Sword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... See also: Hilt (band) and Peter Hilt Hilt of Szczerbiec The hilt of a sword is its handle, consisting of a guard, grip and pommel. ...

Uses

To cut vegetation

Salvadoran man cutting squash with a long knife-style machete

In tropical and subtropical countries, the machete is frequently used to cut through jungle undergrowth and for agricultural purposes (e.g. cutting sugar cane). Besides this, in Central America it is not uncommon to see a machete being used for such household tasks as cutting large foodstuffs into pieces — much as a cleaver is used — or to perform crude cutting tasks such as making simple wooden handles for other tools. Also, in the Dominican Republic it's common to see people using machetes for their odd jobs such as splitting open coconuts, or working the lawns and other related activities. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1215x1800, 121 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Machete ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1215x1800, 121 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Machete ... Box Log Falls, Lamington National Park, Queensland, Australia Jungle usually refers to a dense forest in a hot climate, such as a tropical rainforest. ... Species Ref: ITIS 42058 as of 2004-05-05 Sugarcane is one of six species of a tall tropical southeast Asian grass (Family Poaceae) having stout fibrous jointed stalks whose sap at one time was the primary source of sugar. ... For other uses, see Central America (disambiguation). ...

As a weapon

Guatemalan machete in decorated scabbard

In many (tropical) countries, a machete is as common and ubiquitous a tool as a breadknife is in other cultures. Consequently, it is often the weapon of choice for uprisings (the poor man's sword). A machete should also be classified as a basic sword, because it can be used like one. Machetes were the primary weapon used by the Interahamwe militias in the Rwandan Genocide, as well as the distinctive tool/weapon of the Haitian Tonton Macoute. The machete was also one of the most common weapons during the Cuban Independence War. Slaves freed by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes agreed to fight against Spain, where their only weapons were the tool they used to cut the sugar cane in the La De Majagua plantation. The Bolo Knife saw plenty of use in the jungles of the Philippines during World War II against the Imperial Japanese Army. As a result, it is a common weapon in the Filipino martial arts known as Kali, Arnis, or Eskrima, as well as the survival knife of the military. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (461x2021, 162 KB) Summary Guatemalan machete in a decorated scabbard. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (461x2021, 162 KB) Summary Guatemalan machete in a decorated scabbard. ... A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword or other large blade. ... The Interahamwe (Kinyarwanda meaning Those who stand together or Those who work together or Those who fight together) is a Hutu paramilitary organization. ... The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu sympathizers in Rwanda and was the largest atrocity during the Rwandan Civil War. ... The Tonton Macoutes (singular Tonton Macoute referring to a member thereof; or Ton Ton Macoute) was a Haitian militia force under the control of François Papa Doc Duvalier. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carlos Céspedes. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) (KyÅ«jitai: 大日本帝國陸軍, Shinjitai: , Romaji: Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun), or more officially Army of the Greater Japanese Empire was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945. ... Filipino Martial Arts The Philippines The Martial Culture from the Philippines. ... Arnis may refer to: an alternative name for Filipino Martial Arts, Eskrima, Kali, Garote, Estokada, ... Modern Arnis, a Filipino martial art Kapatiran Arnis, a Filipino martial art Arnis, Germany, a small town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Category: ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Some tropical countries have a name for the blow of a machete; the Spanish machetazo is sometimes used in English.

In Trinidad and Tobago, to hit someone with the flat of the blade is termed planass. Although the machete is known in Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere in the West Indies by the term 'cutlass', it is nevertheless a distinctly agricultural tool first, and a weapon of convenience second, and therefore not a true cutlass. The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... French naval cutlass of the 19th Century A cutlass is a short, thick saber or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. ... French naval cutlass of the 19th Century A cutlass is a short, thick saber or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. ...

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" is made by Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil (IMBEL).

Most battles for independence in the Dominican Republic were fought by Dominican patriots using the machete as a weapon of choice; this led to the well known battle cry "Machete, carajo!"(Machete, damn it!) which has been credited to General Gregorio Luperón during the Restoration War. This battle cry is still used to date by many military units of the modern day Dominican Republic Armed Forces such as "Los Cazadores" or The Hunters of the Constanza Valley and the use of a machete as a symbol and a field tool within their ranks.

In Hong Kong, the machete is a widely used weapon by the Triads. It is sometimes referred to as a "watermelon knife". Triad (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally Triad Society) or (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally Black Society, a general term for criminal organizations) is a term that describes many branches of Chinese underground society and/or organizations based in Hong Kong and Macau and also operating in Taiwan, mainland...

Cultural variations

The Swahili tapanga is a variant used in East Africa, with a broader blade and mostly with either a spear-point or a trailing-point tip. Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see Kiswahili for a discussion of the nomenclature) is an agglutinative Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. ...  Eastern Africa (UN subregion)  East African Community  Central African Federation (defunct)  geographic, including above East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. ...

bolo or itak

Mexican Machete, from Acapulco, 1970. Horn handle, hand forged blade taper (hammer marks visible.). (Has been sharpened by owner. Rust marks visible.)

In the Philippines, the bolo is a very similar tool, but with the blade swelling just before the tip to make the knife even more tip-heavy for chopping. A longer and a more pointed tip bolo or itak (intended for combat) was also used during the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish, and later a signature weapon of guerillas in the Philippine-American War. Filipinos still use machetes for everyday cutting and chopping of dense vegetation and meats. Machetes are also commonly found in most Filipino kitchens, having sets on the walls for show and other sets for everyday usage. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1280x459, 170 KB) Summary bolo made from a jeepneys leaf spring. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1280x459, 170 KB) Summary bolo made from a jeepneys leaf spring. ... A bolo is a kind of machete, used particularly in the jungles of Indonesia and the Philippines. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2117x405, 266 KB) Summary Bought north of Acapulco in 1970. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2117x405, 266 KB) Summary Bought north of Acapulco in 1970. ... A bolo is a kind of machete, used particularly in the jungles of Indonesia and the Philippines. ... Combatants Filipino independence movement Spanish Empire Commanders Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines Strength 80,000 soldiers unknown Casualties unknown unknown The Philippine Revolution (1896—1898) was an armed conflict between the Spanish colonial regime and the Katipunan, which sought Philippine independence from Spain. ... Combatants United States Philippines several groups post-1902 Commanders William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt Wesley Merritt Elwell Stephen Otis J. Franklin Bell Henry Ware Lawton† John J. Pershing Joseph Wheeler Emilio Aguinaldo Miguel Malvar Pio del Pilar Manuel Tinio Gregorio del Pilar† Licerio Geronimo Vicente Lukban Juan Cailles Maximino Hizon Antonio...

Other similar tools include the parang and the golok (from Malaysia and Indonesia); however, these tend to have shorter, thicker blades with a primary grind, and are more effective on woody vegetation. The Nepalese kukri is a curved blade which is often used for similar tasks. Some types of Chinese saber (dao) are similar. The parang is the Malay equivalent of the machete, typical vegetation in Malaysia is more woody than in South America and the parang is therefore optimised for a stronger chopping action with a heavier blade and a sweet spot further forward of the handle, the blade is also beveled more... Golok is the name given to a range of large knives and short swords originating from Indonesia, most notably from Myanmar (Burma). ... For the genus of snakes having the common name kukri snakes, see oligodon. ... Chinese Dao Knife or Sabre Dao (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: tao1, knife) is a category of single-edge Chinese swords primarily used for slashing and chopping (sabres), often called a broadsword in English translation because some varieties have wide blades. ...

In the Southern Brazil (state of Rio Grande do Sul), the machete is largely used by the native inhabitants. It's used to open ways through the jungle, and was used to fight against the Brazilian Empire in the farrapos' war (War of Tatters). There, the machete is called "facão" or "facón" (literally "big knife"). Today, there is a dance called dança dos facões (machetes' dance), that is danced in this region. In this dance, performed only by men, the dancers knock their machetes while dancing, simulating a battle. Flag of Rio Grande do Sul See other Brazilian States Capital Porto Alegre Largest City Porto Alegre Area 282,062 km² Population   - Total   - Density 10. ... Combatants Rio-Grandense Republic Empire of Brazil Commanders Bento Gonçalves da Silva Antônio de Souza Netto Giuseppe Garibaldi General Lima e Silva War of Tatters (in Portuguese: Guerra dos Farrapos, Revolução Farroupilha) was a Republican uprising that began in the southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul and...

Manufacturing

In manufacturing both the materials used and the shape of the machete itself is important to make a good machete. In the past, the best and most famous manufacturer of machetes was Collins Company of Collinsville, Connecticut. Indeed, it was so famous that all good machetes were called "un Collins." ^[1] Today however, companies as Cumberland Knife Works, Condor Tool and Knives, Tramontina have now become the largest machete-producing companies. ^[2] There are a number of cities or towns named Collinsville: Collinsville, Alabama (USA) Collinsville, Connecticut (USA) Collinsville, Illinois (USA) Collinsville, Mississippi (USA) Collinsville, Oklahoma (USA) Collinsville, Texas (USA) Collinsville, Virginia (USA) Collinsville, Queensland (Australia) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise...

Since the 1950s however, manufacturing shortcuts have resulted in a quality decline of machetes. Today, most modern factory-made machetes are of very simple construction, consisting of a blade and full-length tang punched from a single piece of flat steel plate of uniform thickness (and thus lack a primary grind), and a simple grip of two plates of wood or plastic bolted or riveted together around the tang. Finally, one side is ground down to an edge — although some are made so that the purchaser is expected to finish the sharpening. These machetes are occasionally provided with a simple cord loop as a sort of lanyard, and a canvas scabbard — although in some regions where machetes are valuable, commonly used tools, the users may make decorative leather scabbards for them. The tang of a sword or fixed-blade knife is that part of the blade extending into and usually through the grip that is fastened to it. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... See also: Hilt (band) and Peter Hilt Hilt of Szczerbiec The hilt of a sword is its handle, consisting of a guard, grip and pommel. ... A lanyard (sword knot) fixed to an infantry sword handle A lanyard, also spelled laniard, is a rope or cord often worn around the neck or wrist to carry something. ... Look up Canvas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword or other large blade. ...

Toughness is important because of the twisting and impact forces that the relatively thin blade may encounter, while edge retention is secondary. Medium to high carbon spring steels such as 1050 to 1095 are well suited to this application (with better machetes using the latter), and are relatively easy to sharpen. Most stainless steel machetes should be avoided, as a lot of high carbon stainless cannot stand up to repeated impacts, and will easily break if abused. Martensite, named after the German metallurgist Adolf Martens, is a class of hard minerals occurring as lathe- or plate-shaped crystals. ...

After hardening, many blades are tempered to maximum toughness, often nearly spring tempered. This also makes the blade relatively easier to sharpen. Tempering is a heat treatment technique for metals and alloys. ...

A properly constructed machete will have a convex or flat primary bevel from the spine to the edge, which is formed by a secondary bevel. Better machetes will also have a slight distal taper. The term Blade geometry refers to the physical properties of a sword blade: cross-section and taper. ...

In popular culture

• The machete is also a performance weapon used in variations the martial dance called maculele, often practiced by exponents of capoeira.

• People bearing machetes affirm it is the best weapon to kill the mythical cadejo, it being light weight and flexible.

• In computer and video games such as Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures (and other Indiana Jones-series games), Mortal Kombat (specifically, the characters Kobra and Kai), Manhunt, Scarface: The World Is Yours, ... machetes are used as a weapon, In "Far Cry"(PC and XBOX game) the main charecter Jack can use a machete to kill his enemies

• In the Friday the 13th-series of films, Jason Voorhees uses a machete as his primary weapon.

• In the movie "Romancing the Stone", the main character Jack carries a machete everywhere he goes.

• In the popular TV-series Stargate Atlantis, one of the characters (Ronon) uses a machete for personal protection.

Maculele may refer to: Maculelê - a dance from Brazil Makulele (people) Makulele Region of the Kruger National Park Category: ... Capoeira (IPA: ) is an Afro-Brazilian martial art, game, and culture created by enslaved Africans in Brazil during the 17th Century. ... Cadejo is a legendary character of Salvadoran (El Salvador, Central America) folklore. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures is a 1998 computer game based on the Indiana Jones movies. ... For other uses, see Mortal Kombat. ... Kobra is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Kai is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Manhunter: New York and Manhunter 2: San Francisco Manhunt is a controversial video game released by Rockstar Games in November, 2003. ... Friday the 13th is considered a day of bad luck in English-, French- and Portuguese-speaking countries around the world, as well as in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Bulgaria, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. ... Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. ... Romancing the Stone is an American 1984 action-adventure film. ... Stargate Atlantis (often abbreviated as SGA) is an American-Canadian science fiction television program, part of the Stargate franchise owned by MGM. Developed by longtime SG-1 producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, it is a spin-off from the television series Stargate SG-1. ...

References