Cold Steel All Purpose Tactical Machete with Sheath, Great for Clearing Brush, Survival, Camping and Outdoor Activities, Cutlass Machete

If I could give this machete sword 10 stars I would!!! I just received this when I got home from work. Pulled it out of the package. Which I was a little disappointed about that. ( I ordered a 6 inch cast iron skillet, also with Amazon being the fulfiller of the sale, but, the box was way to big for the 2 items with lots! of room to move around with no bubble wrap of any kind, and there was a big whole punched in the side.... be careful what you order in the same session... Luckily nothing was damaged though. So it's no big deal. Could have been a big deal though, so just be cautious.) But, anyways, I pulled the sword out and from first sight you can tell this thing is a SOLID! tool. Very well built, sleek, great handle, great machete balance, a couple inches up from the handle, and VERY sharp out of the box. The sheath is nice, functional, holds the blade tight. I was thrilled to say the least... So I went out and did some yard work (after a 10 hour work day in construction) that's how eager I was to try this thing... Well I trimmed the headges all around my house and hacked away at a massive amount of Kudzu vines, which have takin over a lot of yards in my neighborhood. It punished those vines like they owed me money (they kinda do) and my headges where all left perfectly shaped. If you're machete shopping for something that works great and will last... Buy this. If you're toy shopping for something that's awesome!... Buy this. (although this is no toy and should be handled with care i.e. VERY SHAP) If you're preparing for zombies or economic collapse... Buy this. I am very happy with this purchase and can't wait to use it again!

From the male of the family. I wanted a couple of fighting swords for home defense, and this Cold Steel cutlass is certainly one of my picks. We have a large property, with lots of wildlife on it as well, including javelina (in the pig family), bobcats, coyotes, and more, so it's nice to have a hefty longknife at my side while working out there. Of course, call it a machete and you can get it for a far better price than most "swords," so that's fine with me.I was watching a video on knife fighting, and one of the instructors said, "if you get in a knife fight, don't ever think you're going to use your arm or body to block a blade. Your best defense is always, don't get cut. To that end, go for your attacker's knife hand." Then I remembered reading stories about battles from medieval times when women would go around after the fighting, and fill entire baskets with fingers.You know what I'm leading up to: if you're going to ever use a sword or longknife in self defense, you want to be sure and protect your hand. Most machetes and even a lot of swords don't do this for you. This cutlass does! That tough polypropylene handle will stop a blade -- or thorny branches, for that matter, if you're using it as a machete. We need the hand protection!As for the blade, it is 2 feet of high carbon steel. That means, it will take an edge. Mine came reasonably sharp, but not enough (and I do understand that it's a safety feature, not to ship a blade with it's keenest edge. The makers don't want your first experience to be slicing yourself!). A few minutes with a file, then stone, and I had a wicked edge.The handle is 6 inches long, and fits my hand very well. I like that the blade has a baked on anti-rust finish, and that the cutlass came with a canvas sheath.This is a great price for what you get!Recommended.

Feels powerful indoors, and it is Cold Steel.

These were $23.99 when I bought my first one in August 2017. Heck of a deal. They are $49 on Cold Steel's web site. After seeing the quality of the first one, I immediately ordered a second one and would have ordered a third if the price had not increased to $35 over night. I will probably order one or two more if the prices goes back down. Why? because these are bad ass machetes. I would not feel poorly armed against one or two assailants that were not armed with firearms in a self defense situation. They work well as tools, too. Being so thin, they are easy to tuck away out of sight in random nooks and crannies, but still hefty enough for chopping small branches..ProsGood qualityInexpensive at $23.99Came sharp and can be made sharperProtective coating reduces maintenanceHefty enough for good chopping powerVery thin and easy to conceal for quick accessCheap enough to buy severalConsHandle gets slippery fast when using. I added friction tape to the handle, problem solved

I give this 5 stars because of what it's designed to be, which is about the cheapest costing sword you could find. It's not good for parrying or anything, but it's solid and will do a lot of damage.Mine came with a pretty poor quality edge, I find this usually the case when I buy from Amazon instead of Cold Steel direct. Still, an edge is easy to put on, and there's got to be something about this that makes it cheaper then the cold steel direct price right?The sheath isn't curved for the blade, but the blade fits the sheath just fine, so you'll have to forgive the aesthetics there, you're buying cheap, and this is a cost cutting design.So once you've put a good sharp edge on it, it'll hack and slash with the best of them, probably can even stand up to a few sword on sword blows. It's weight is about the same as Cold Steel's 1917 cutlass (the real one)What this blade is not going to be great for is actual machete use. It's simply to heavy of a blade for long days of hacking and slashing vines through the jungle. It's much better for hordes of zombies and irritating neighbors dogs.