Axe & Machete Combo Rubber Overmold Handle Nylon Sheath

• Fixed
• Axe/Machete
• 12
• 19
• 420 Stainless

Chop-chop! - Any sensible person looking at this listing would wonder what the heck an axe & machete combo is supposed to be. It s an obscure tag for a nifty tool-- a short, heavy machete that chops like a hatchet. It s one of three Blackie Collins-designed knives that I own, and while I m impressed by the other two, I m awestruck by this one. Granted, this is only an initial impression and will have to be borne out by torture-testing through the Spring and Summer.What Blackie has done is to adapt the basic, ubiquitous Latin machete to heavy chopping while retaining characteristics that make it a good light-brush clearing tool. Any idea that allows a hiker or camper to trade two tools for one is a great idea, especially when one of them is typically very heavy and seldom-used, and I have to wonder why more manufacturers haven t done something similar. Because of it s 12.5-inch blade and D-guard handle, it looks a lot like the Ontario camper s machete-- which I believe is also a Blackie design-- but the resemblance is superficial.First, the Meyerco is 1/4 thick at the spine, about twice the thickness of any machete I ve ever handled. (I saw this spec listed on the package and didn t believe it until I got out the calipers for mysef.) Next, it has a full convex grind, often called an axe grind, which supports the cutting edge with a lot of metal and is therefore extremely strong while still permitting great sharpness and cutting mechanics. Indeed, it will shave off arm hair right out of the box.The thickness and convex grind, it seems, justifies the axe part of this item s title, but most consumers probably wouldn t pick up on that and would be left wondering where the axe is.A convex-ground blade like this cannot be sharpened the same way as a flat or hollow grind but can be easily maintained by stropping. There are web pages that show how to make a stropping system out of old mouse pads and sandpaper.The overmolded rubber handle with the D-shaped knuckle guard seems chunky and oversized at first, but I have pretty small hands and still find the grip surprisingly dexterous, and its mass seems designed to absorb heavy shock and vibration. It is attached to the tang not by rivets but by machine screws and hex nuts, another adaptation to hard chopping. I have heard a lot of complaints about Blackie s D-guard handles as they appear on other machetes, but the only complaint I have about this one is that the hard plastic around the lanyard hole tends to chafe the heel of my palm.Speaking of lanyards, I took mine off immediately. If you lose your grip on this thing, you do not want it swinging back at you on the end of a tether. Take it off and let the cat play with it.If you re anything like me, this knife s potential as a weapon will occur to you as soon as you pick it up and needs no further comment.But its main use is as a camp knife, which places it in competition with big knives like the Ka-Bar Cutlass and the Kershaw Outcast, at anywhere from half to one-sixth the price. The Meyerco is not as handy for kitchen chores, except perhaps for dividing melons, coconuts, or ducks in a single blow, but it should be better at wood-chopping and brush-cutting than the big camp knives.It remains to be seen how the 420 J2 stainless steel will hold up, and the sheath is dead-basic, without even a retention strap to secure the knife in the event that you re turned upside-down for any reason. If that remains my only complaint, I expect to be getting several more of these.