GERBER Gator Machete - Black w/ Nylon Sheath [31-000758]

I want to start by saying that I happen to own quite a few machetes such as Tramontina, Imacasa, Condor, Ontario, Ka-bar, and Cold Steel. So I have quite a bit of experience when it comes to machetes in general.Upon receiving this machete, I immediately took note of a few things. First, I was rather impressed with the quality of the sheath that comes with this machete. It's a sturdy quality nylon sheath that is a rigid construction. Usually, most machetes either come with no sheath at all, or a rather lousy one at best, so this was a pleasant surprise, especially considering this machete sells for under $20!The next thing I noticed about this machete in comparison to my other, more traditional, machetes is that this machete is rather heavy and slightly awkwardly weighted due to the rather modern styled handle design. However the handle is very comfortable and the "Gator Grip" is textured very nicely and provides lots of traction.One downside to this machete though, is that it's not full tang which presents some concerns due to the fact that it's used primarily as a chopping tool. Unfortunately, only time will tell as to how sturdy this machete will prove to be. I will be sure to include an update in the event of any type of failure.The machete comes with a decent grind out of the box that will save you from having to worry about spending time doing any type of heavy grinding, however, it does not come quite sharp enough right out of the box to take into the woods. I spent some time putting about as sharp of an edge as I could on this machete, which was kind of hard due to the fact that Gerber tends to impart a very soft temper on their steel. I was however able to get a sharp enough edge to where it cuts very well in the woods.The saw on the machete works surprisingly better than I thought it would. I was impressed and happy that this saw will actually serve me well when it comes to notching wood for different common bushcraft tasks.Lastly, I wanted to touch upon something rather important when it comes to machete use. I noticed a number of people complaining about braking their machetes and putting rather obscene chips in the blade and so forth. Anyone looking to buy a machete needs to keep in mind that machetes are not designed to take down redwoods! They are made from thin spring temper steel and are designed to primarily cut green (living) vegetation and underbrush. If your looking to fell hug-sized trees, then buy an axe. If your looking to have a tool to help clear camp sites, or help carve your path through the woods, than a machete is probably a good option. I would not push a machete to do anything more than a hatchet could comfortably handle.Also, I notice that the vast majority of North Americans generally don't know which area of the machete to strike with either. I've found that most people that are unfamiliar with machete use, tend to strike with the middle section of the blade. This is bad. When striking with the middle portion of the blade, this puts the machete at high risk of bending or breaking in the event that the machete glances off of the medium being struck, and can cause extreme lateral pressure and flex. Striking with the middle portion of the blade does not offer the most speed and power for your swing either.The ideal portion of the blade to strike with is roughly the final 1/3 of the blade (generally the flat portion of the blade directly before the rounded belly of the blade). The closer to the tip of the machete that you strike with, the more head speed and power will be generated. Likewise, in the event that the blade glances off of the intended target, the blade will not experience large amounts of flex that could permanently bend, chip, or break the blade. For those who would like to learn more about machetes and their use, check out Joe Flowers or Colhane on youtube.In conclusion, I think this machete is proving to be a good tool thus far. If I experience any changes in performance, I will amend this review and post an update below.

Wow! For the less than $20 price point this machete seriously impresses. I was almost dissuade by the few negative reviews, as I’d prefer not to be fleeced. However, the outweighing by positive reviews reinforced my feeling that this looks like a quality blade at an amazing price.Let me reassure you, this blade does not disappoint! I got the FULL SIZE 18” saw-back ‘Gator’ machete and not the ‘Junior’ as some reviewers suggest, personally I’d steer clear of any machete as small as the ‘Junior’ model for my personal use, I mean unless I was providing it to boy scouts. Whoever these crazy people were that had bad things to say about this blade; They obviously were either extremely intoxicated during their use of this blade or had never before in their entire lives wielded a machete therefore tried to use it in the manner of a different tool? Honestly idk and I could care less. Imho this is a fantastic blade and makes an excellent machete!It hacked through fresh pine branches with precision utilising the fine edged blade, and I hadn’t even sharpened it yet by that point. So that was purely out-of-box sharpness which is always a bit dulled down from the full potential metal-hardened sharpness which could be attained when purchasing inexpensive blades. What I’m saying is that it comes sharp enough to do a robust job and can be easily sharpened further, I haven’t sharpened it to a beard shaving razor blade but the metallurgy holds an increased edge extremely well. The saw-back is no gimmick either, it is truly a rough-cut tooth rip saw blade. I easily sawed through a 6in diametre pine using traditional handheld wood saw methods.As for the blade stability, it is the absolute perfect balance for a dual-edge machete. The blade thickness doesn’t allow too much flex during hacking with the fine edge blade and holds up well against opposition. Meanwhile it provides the flex necessary to properly use the saw-back to avoid the blade become lodged in deep cuts. Extremely impressive! The handle is very nicely shaped and is comfortable to hold. The handle provides a half-tang relationship with the blade, obviously full-tang would generally be preferred but half-tang is plenty robust for what this machete is designed to do. It isn’t an axe, it’s a machete... Look up a YouTube video if you don’t know how to use a machete. And if you never used a hand rip saw before look up a video on that too!If you know what you’re doing this blade is an incredible quality at an incredible value! I almost don’t believe it, buy it now! I promise you will not be disappointed. Well, the sheath is a let down... But then again who has ever provided a decent sheath for a blade under $100? If you seriously need to sheath your machete I would just look for an 18” leather machete sheath as this blade ergonomic is nearly identical to a classic machete and the saw-back is low-profile enough to use with a standard sheath. Happy hunting! 🤙🏼