JM-021

Owned one of these for more than half a decade and loved it. Unfortunately I don't put it through super intensive use like trying to chop down century oaks like some of the guys on here, but I've put it through some good trips and it's come out healthy every time. Some notes: It's a $14 machete. Don't get your hopes up for a katana-of-legend when you're paying $14. It's a glorified hunk of lawnmower blade. And no, I'm not kidding. It has a good, comfortable heft to it in my opinion. This is a huge pro for me. It doesn't have a razor edge. It will never have a razor edge. It's not a razor. Again, lawnmower blade. It does, however, keep enough of an edge for me to use for a good few hours of trail blazing though. THINK of it as your favorite lawnmower blade. Get a stone for sharpening mower blades and spend a half hour staring at a fire or zoning out to CSI:whatever while you sharpen it. (Do this with your windows open if you don't like your neighbors.) If you can cut hairs with it when you're done, consider starting a YouTube channel. Don't use the wrap. Seriously, what's all the bellyaching about how bad the nylon wrap on this thing is? Of course it's lousy, it's the cheapest nylon cord they could possibly find, probably made from recycled gym shoe laces or something. Good grief. When it arrives, cut the cording off and throw it away. What nutcase would use a slick nylon handle? Wrap it in paracord (there are half a million videos on how to do this) or learn how to make your own handle. If you go with paracord, consider wrapping a flint stick under it to give it some more girth if your grip feels too small, and to have an emergency fire starter if you ever need to unwrap that handle! If you want a world-champion machete, follow the other reviews and go check out Ontario or something. This is also a great knife to find out *whether* you need something better. Remember grampa's advice: buy the cheap tools first. If you use them till they break, THEN get the best.

This machete really sharp, China, Mod JM 021 and about 3 mil or a little more, blade length is 14 inches, Stainless. This was stupid cheap, less than $11.00 on sale after Christmas, Amazon. Feels good in the hand, even with worthless cord wrap handle. Very sharp, easily cutting paper, sharp point, too. Sheath is totally worthless, Pleased with this purchase, Needs a new wood handle and a DIY sheath.

The handle is marginal but the blade is great and holds an edge. It works great for clearing brush and trimming small limbs up to about 1 inch. I bought two and expect they will be the only ones I will ever need. The price is great too.

The blade itself seems decent. Other then that the sheath is completely useless. Immediately after opening the package noticed there was all ready a hole cut in the bottom of the sheath from the blade. It also has a flimsy velcro strap which does not hold the machete in the sheath. Also worth noting is the fact that the cord wrapped on the handle is very slippery and is not tight on the handle. It has been out of the box for 3 mins and is all ready falling off. This however does not matter to me as I planned on removing it and replacing it with a high quality paracord wrap anyways. Overall I expected these things when purchasing this item so I'm not unhappy. So far it seems like a get what you payed for situation i'm just hoping the blade holds up to what I have heard about it and if so I will be satisfied.

I was looking for a "cheaper" Machete because I will only use this when I am 4-wheeling. I needed a good lower price Machete to take with me for when i am on a trail and I need to chop down branches that are in my way. It arrived very quick. The box was like 4 times bigger than it needed to be. After removing this from the box I first noticed the weight. This to me anyway is NOT flimsy. I really liked the weight of this Machete. I went out side and chopped on an old log. And sure enough it worked great. This is more than what i was looking for and this will more than suit my needs. There are two issues that I have a little problem with though. 1 - The sheath. When this arrived the tip of the blade was poking through the sheath. I'll figure out something to fix this issue. 2 - The roping on the handle. When I tried this on that old log outside, this roping moved. BUT most important the roping was slippery. Meaning that when i used this machette my hand was moving. To fix this issue I used some good electricial tape and wrapped right over the rope handle 2 times. I went and tried this again outside on that log and sure enough my hand didn't slip AND I kept the comfort of the rope handle. Considering these 2 minor issues I am still going to rate it at a 5. Like I say, for the price you just can't beat it.

Absolutely ridiculous. The Rope handle came completely apart on the first swing LOL. It's also kind of top-heavy. I guess the steel is good quality but there are certainly way better machetes out there. From my experience, a rubber handle, with a slide resisting knob at the end is your best bet. Preferably one with finger grooves as well.

I was looking for the cheapest machete I could find to clear out some overgrown rose bushes and some other random weeds and (small) tree branches. I was nervous to use such a large/sharp blade but it was quite easy. I just made sure I swung it away from my legs/feet. I'd stand sideways to whatever I wanted to cut and swiped from front to back along my right side. At first it wasn't doing much but I quickly got the hang of it and just how hard to swing. I am "not" a "yard-work" type of person at all and have no skills really and I found this very easy. I am a small-built female and this was sharp enough to slice through the rose bushes, tall weeds and some over-grown branches from a tree. I did not have to slice through anything major or too thick (probably the thickest was like 1-2 inches around I'm guessing and those took a few whacks but, like I said, I am not skilled at this stuff and I don't have much muscle behind me). I would highly recommend for clearing out minor-medium overgrowth.

Handle is cheap as garbage, but the rest of the thing is awesome. I used it back home to mow down the plantain trees that grow like weeds. I ended up wrappingthe handle in ducktape. Not very ergonomic, since you get a lot of blowback on your wrists when chopping