Keep your blade sharp, carry a first aid kit, a wear safety glasses or shaterproof sunshades. Cut bush often springs back for revenge, and a thorn in the eye is no joke. Avoid goggles, they steam up and look a bit naff. Buy in the farmers cooperative as the locals know what works in their bush.
How to use a machete in a jungle enviroment?
- Thread starter Camel
- Start date
-
Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Don't mean to raise the dead, but in my opinion the "holy grail" of machetes/parangs is the duku chandong. (Top of pic)
There is a retaining pin in the tang, and mine is really well made.
On the left, the rubber loop is for blade retention during hill descents or periods of non-use. Unnecessary really, sheath fits well.
I have decided that after about 4-5 parangs, this is the best so far. It is more a trail clearer than a chopper, good for slashing away vines, rattans, brush, zombies ect..
Sadly they are not really commercially available but are certainly worth looking out for if you are in Borneo.
There is a retaining pin in the tang, and mine is really well made.
On the left, the rubber loop is for blade retention during hill descents or periods of non-use. Unnecessary really, sheath fits well.
I have decided that after about 4-5 parangs, this is the best so far. It is more a trail clearer than a chopper, good for slashing away vines, rattans, brush, zombies ect..
Sadly they are not really commercially available but are certainly worth looking out for if you are in Borneo.
OK, so it's an old thread, but here's my two pence: buy your parang in country. You'll be able to choose from thousands, they are cheap (£4-£10 in Indonesia, £10-£20 in Malaysia) and they do the job.
One other point: some people (my mum included) seem to think that parang are for hacking trails through the bush. This is typically not the case - the jungle is a strange place, or rather a mosaic of strange places, but even in completely virgin forest you can usually move about without blazing a trail. Parang are mostly for chopping/splitting firewood, shaping wood, building shelters, digging for roots, cutting drainage channels around your shelter etc.
My favourite style of parang, parang Karo, comes from northern Sumatra in Indonesia.
One other point: some people (my mum included) seem to think that parang are for hacking trails through the bush. This is typically not the case - the jungle is a strange place, or rather a mosaic of strange places, but even in completely virgin forest you can usually move about without blazing a trail. Parang are mostly for chopping/splitting firewood, shaping wood, building shelters, digging for roots, cutting drainage channels around your shelter etc.
My favourite style of parang, parang Karo, comes from northern Sumatra in Indonesia.
