I have other complaints about these but the big one is that the handles absolutely suck. Unless you have Glock shaped bear paws, it's not for you. And I'm not a little guy, I'm about average. If I grab a ruler in a hammer grip and measure from the top of the skin across my palm down to the lowest "meat" of my palm (behind the pinky), I'm just under 4" and I've got long fingers. Personally, grips for these things are like gun stocks to me. It's easier to use something too small for you than it is something too big for you. For a fun project, I'm going to rehandle mine, sharpen it and see if we can't make something useful out of it. personally, I switched to using Khukuri for everything I wanted that machete for and they excel far and beyond what I had expected at a much smaller size and far greater control of the blade. But, we are talking about a very big price difference. Don't bother with KLO's.

Good vid & sound advice. I’ve had my 18” D handle for 25 years… love it. Got a 12” D handle version for camping. Love that one too. I prefer the D handle overall.

En El Salvador uno empieza a utilizar el machete como a los diez años bueno eso es los que crecimos en las zonas rurales aqui es una herramienta indispensable para podar arboles cortar leña cortar hierbas etc Pero es una herramienta que hay que ulizar con mucho cuidado mi hermano mayor en un descuido casi se corta el dedo indice de una mano yo me corte en un pie realizando labores agricolas es de utilizarlo con mucho cuidado en los angulos de corte nunca tiene que ir el corte en direccion de quien lo esta utilizando sino siempre hacia afuera

Your voice sounds like Dr Phil

Why is your thumbnail so long girly man? Haha

How much worth

I haven't been commenting, but, since I subscribed I haven't seen any new shows from you. This did look like a fun adventure though.👍🏻

I've had my Ontario since I was 19 I'm 28 now granted I don't use it a hell of a lot only a few times a year but I did collect machetes for a while and the Ontario was by far the best

Put your index finger in front of the D ring. I love mine and can't find the original longer D ring one anymore. My " friend" liked mine so much, he stole it.

Thank you for the review. I miss North Carolina very much.

As much as I like the Tramontina , goloks and parangs , The Ontario 18 & 12 inch are still the faves . Great video .

Darn good video and a common butchers steel is great for keeping the Ontario 12" & 18" razor sharp . Walking 20 miles with a machete on my belt would drive me nuts , but if it works for you , All the best . Have a great year Southpaw and THX for sharing .

I cross my arm across my lower chest instead of behind my back, but otherwise same basic techniques I use as well

My first Ontario was Army issue in 1971 and bought the D guard years later because I thought it looked "cool" . The D guard totally sucks and was removed with a hacksaw . The 12 inch Ontario is one of the best all around camp blades and perfect for quartering and butchering large game . Hard to believe Ontario never made a sheath for the 12 inch and mine is made from heavy harness leather . Cool review video and Thanks from an old Southpaw in New Mexico .

Which do you perfer the 18" or 22" in blade length types? Thx for the D handle tip!👍And what sheath is that? Leather?

Thank you for sharing this Currie!!! Cheers, Marc

Very good advice! And thanks for the shoutout! Cheers, Marc

I like the warning idea! In Germany at lake Constance we have little lightmasts all around the shore. If they don't flash, weather and sailing conditions are safe. If they start flashing in a 5 second intervall, you are warned about weather changing. If they flash every 2 seconds, it's a clear bad weather warning and you should leave the lake. This works very well. Nevertheless, it's up to you if you leave or stay. Those who stay on the lake anyway do it on their own risk. But the majority follows the flash-signs and the lake clears pretty quick. Cheers, Marc

Awesome video loved it keep up the good work inspiring people I’ve liked & subscribed to your channel please check out my channel can do sub for sub much appreciated

I purchased one this week. It's heavy. what is the best type file I don't really know the differences? I am new to bush crafting, it will be a hobby. I live in North Alabama and I have traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains in N.C. to camp since I was 8 years old with my family. My family and took several camping trips to GSM's and it's a wonderful place. We live in the Tennessee Valley on the Wheeler Lake area. Thanks for the great video. I don't like a D Handle it does not make sense to me.

Just cut the D-ring off. Problem solved. My fav is the Ontario 12 inch. Wish they sharpened it to the bottom

Nice .thank for helping out .wish we discourage to pick up after people .but it is just in there nature some times .

I’ve had one of those Ontario 1-18 machetes for 6 years. It’s a workhorse! 👍🏻

In from Rain dance Live

First off Happy Anniversary to you and the Mrs. 🥂 and Congratulations on your new anniversary adventure vessel 👍🏻 Very cool, loved the scenery 🤩

Wow, what beautiful wood to carve 🤩 Standing ovation for your perseverance at using a bow drill 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. I haven’t tried that method yet. I have to wonder if it is a little more challenging being left handed as we view others doing it right handed so takes a while to readjust the perspective of setup.

Hello there, beautiful day and area there. Great VR. I came over from MI Woodsman channel

HEY BROTHER AWESOME CLEAN UP!!! I ENCOUNTERED BY THE M.I. WOODSMAN TO COME CHECK YOU OUT!!! NEW SUBSCRIBER AND BROTHER HERE!!! FEEL FREE TO CHECK MY CHANNEL OUT!!! THIS IS A AWESOME COMMUNITY TO BE APART OF!!! 🤘🇺🇸🤘🇺🇸🤘

Great job. Thank you for cleaning up

Awesome job my friend, i really appreciate it indeed! thanks for doing more than your part for those who do nothing with there trash! you are in the GAW and on my playlist . and thanks for doing the VR atb john

Well done! Cheers, Marc

Nice job on the fire, and the channel mentions. All of them are cool guys.... most important part is having fun! 🔥🔥🔥👍🏻

Keeping it real! I like that! Making a bowdrill from scratch and actually make it work is one of the toughest things to accomplish! Cheers, Marc

Hey man, sorry for the late reply but YT is messing big time with my comment notification. Great idea with that improvised swedish torch! Thanks for the VR to my tag and I appreciate too mentioning the bushtalk. For some reason got your channel name confused with southpaw bushcraft, so today I actually went to YOUR channel and I really like what I see! So you have a new sub, keep the good work going! Cheers, Marc

Great job on the One Stick Fire. Starting a fire with a ferro rod using wood found on the ground is not as easy as you make it look. I tried starting a fire with a ferro rod during my son's scouting days with damp conditions and ended up locating some fat lighter else I'd probably still be trying. (I have never tried the one stick fire/boil water.) It's important to master skills BEFORE faced with a survivor situation under extreme conditions. Your instructional video provides a good framework for the less experienced to gain confidence with the skill before it's needed in the field.

You do make it look easy. Thanks for the useful info.

Nice job on the fire , it doesn't matter how much time you took with the ferro rod to start the fire what matters is that you did it and got it done! all great people you mentioned, i am very good friends with Mark and Chris for many years! keep up the good videos i will give you a shout out to help you along . i would like to see a couple more videos first , take care Oh i subbed and rang the bell !! atb john

Great video, Southpaw. You make it look so easy to light a fire without a lighter!

hell yea! NC born an raised. Great first video to find.

Good advice you the only one to suggest using a mill file to sharpen with its the best thing to use I also got a 12in machete what I did about the pins I took a small tap and die set and put threads on the pins screw them together been using mine for the last 5yrs no more problems

I bought one five years ago & honestly I don't like it because of the amount of work I had to put into it modifying the square shaped handles & trying to sharpen it with a whetstone until a friend sharpened it for me with a belt grinder thinning out behind the edge to make it more slicey. If I had known it would turn out this troublesome I wouldn't have bought it.

Your point about being aware of where your free hand is at is VERY important. Many years ago, as a new machete user, I almost removed an index finger while being careless *stupid*. For some idiotic reason, I thought it would be a good idea to hold the weeds that I was cutting into a tight clump. Fortunately my leather glove took some of the cutting force and the blade stopped when it hit bone. A very painful and expensive lesson.

Awesome tips... Hope see more of this machete