permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

On Mon, Nov 25, 2013 at 2:01 PM, Chris Carnevale 
<c.s.carnevale@gmail.com>wrote:

>  Nice machete collection. Which one is your favorite for general purpose
> tasks around the farm? I have a 19.5" tapanga style machete, which is good
> for heavy duty use, but too heavy and large for general purpose. I'm
> thinking of getting a 14" for more basic use.
>

Probably the KaBar (Gurkha) Kukri, short, heavy, cut trees down, clear
brush
Both the two Collins military machetes
For gardening: all of the three Mexican hand forged (out of leaf spring)
curved machete-sickles

I recommend two lengths of straight machetes (like the Collins or
equivalent in Bellota)
1) short length for close work
2) long length for massive clearing like when you wade into a huge patch of
blackberry canes, tangle of honeysuckle vines or
trumpet vine (campsis radicans). You need to keep these machetes very sharp
so they will sever the stems and vines rather than make them spring back at
you

I also use a scythe with appropriate blades for brush clearing. Pick the
scythe up high over the mass of vines or stems and swing down and pull it
toward you and to your left in an arc.
I use this technique to begin clearing large patches of brush.

Best advice: ALWAYS wear eye protection when clearing brush, pruning or
cutting firewood or working in a shop. Obtain the best you can buy and wear
it continuously during work sessions, goggles, safety glasses or a
polycarbonate face shield. Flipping a twig into your eye causing a corneal
ulcer is no fun
and can cause a lot of downtime even heavy duty medical treatment if the
infection begins to get out of hand risking loss of an eye.

-- 
Lawrence F. London
lfljvenaura@gmail.com
http://www.avantgeared.com
https://plus.google.com/+Avantgeared
Skype: lawrence.f.london