New handle on a machete. Ergonomics?

[Laurentius]

Another ergonomic question. The time has come to put a new handle on my machete. It has given me tennis elbow alas. I was thinking that besides making the handle a better fit for my hand so I do not have to grip it so uncomfortably, whether putting a weighted pommel on the end would make it more comfortable to swing and less of a strain on my wrist and elbow. It's just a cheapie piece of spring steel not a precision instrument.

When I put a new handle on my camp hatchet and my hammer, I made the handles twice the length they needed to be because I find that grasping a long handle in the middle is more comfortable for me than grasping the end. I am double jointed and it is much too easy for me to flex my elbow further than it is supposed to go and I have had elbow and carpal tunnel problems in the past.

Would adding some counter weight in the form of a heavy pommel or extra length be useful for a machete too?

 

[mick91]

Would be useful yes. Since I rehandled mine it's much easier to use partly because the handle is heavier. Think of your arm and machete as a lever, your wrist as the fulcrum. Of you shift the weight back it will get easier to swing. Although you won't transfer the energy as well. Its a trade off. Perhaps experiment taping weights to it to begin with until you commit?