Machete

A machete (/məˈʃɛti/; es) is a broad blade originating from Central America, It used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically 30 to 66 centimetres (12 to 26 in) long and usually under 3 millimetres (1⁄8 in) thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a diminutive form of the word macho, which was used to refer to sledgehammers.[1] Alternatively, its origin may be machaera, the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the falcata.[2][3] It is the origin of the English language equivalent term matchet,[4] though this is rarely used. In much of the English-speaking Caribbean, such as Jamaica,[5] Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago, the term cutlass is used for these agricultural tools.[6]

## Contents

* 1 Uses
* 1.1 Agriculture
* 1.2 Warfare
* 2 Manufacture
* 3 Cultural influence
* 4 Similar tools
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Uses

### Agriculture

In various tropical and subtropical countries, the machete is frequently used to cut through rainforest undergrowth and for agricultural purposes (e.g. cutting sugar cane).[7] Besides this, in Latin America a common use is for such household tasks as cutting large foodstuffs into pieces—much as a cleaver is used—or to perform crude cutting tasks, such as making simple wooden handles for other tools.[7] It is common to see people using machetes for other jobs, such as splitting open coconuts, yard work, removing small branches and plants, chopping animals' food, and clearing bushes.[7]

Machetes are often considered tools and used by adults. However, many hunter–gatherer societies and cultures surviving through subsistence agriculture begin teaching babies to use sharp tools, including machetes, before their first birthdays.[8]

### Warfare

People in uprisings sometimes use these weapons. For example, the Boricua Popular Army are unofficially called macheteros because of the machete-wielding laborers of sugar cane fields of past Puerto Rico.[9]

Many of the killings in the 1994 Rwandan genocide were performed with machetes,[10] and they were the primary weapon used by the Interahamwe militias there.[11] Machetes were also a distinctive tool and weapon of the Haitian Tonton Macoute.[12]

In 1762, the British captured Havana in a lengthy siege during the Seven Years' War. Volunteer militiamen led by Pepe Antonio, a Guanabacoa councilman, were issued with machetes during the unsuccessful defense of the city.[13] The machete was also the most iconic weapon during the independence wars in Cuba, although it saw limited battlefield use.[14] Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, owner of the sugar refinery La Demajagua near Manzanillo, freed his slaves on 10 October 1868. He proceeded to lead them, armed with machetes, in revolt against the Spanish government.[15] The first cavalry charge using machetes as the primary weapon was carried out on 4 November 1868 by Máximo Gómez, a sergeant born in the Dominican Republic, who later became the general in chief of the Cuban Army.[16]

The machete is a common side arm and tool for many ethnic groups in West Africa. Machetes in this role are referenced in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.[17]

Some countries have a name for the blow of a machete; the Spanish machetazo is sometimes used in English.[18] In the British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago, the word planass means to hit someone with the flat of the blade of a machete or cutlass.[19] To strike with the sharpened edge is to "chop". Throughout the English-speaking islands of the Caribbean, the term "cutlass" refers to a laborers' cutting tool.[19]

The Brazilian Army's Instruction Center on Jungle Warfare developed a machete-style knife with a blade 25 cm (10 in) in length and a very pronounced clip point. This machete is issued with a 13 cm (5 in) Bowie knife and a sharpening stone in the scabbard, collectively called a "jungle kit" (Conjunto de Selva in Portuguese); it is manufactured by Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil (IMBEL).[20]

The machete was used as a weapon during the Mau Mau rebellion, in the Rwandan Genocide, and in South Africa, particularly in the 1980s and early 1990s when the former province of Natal was wracked by conflict between the African National Congress and the Zulu-nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party.[21]

## Manufacture

File:A craftsman sharpening a machete in Lira, Uganda.jpgA Ugandan craftsman sharpening a machete

Good machetes rely on the materials used and the shape. In the past, the most famous manufacturer of machetes in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean was Collins Company of Collinsville, Connecticut.[22] The company was founded as Collins & Company in 1826 by Samuel W. Collins to make axes.[23] Its first machetes were sold in 1845[24] and became so famous that a machete was called un collin.[25] In the English-speaking Caribbean, Robert Mole & Sons of Birmingham, England, was long considered the manufacturer of agricultural cutlasses of the best quality. Some Robert Mole blades survive as souvenirs of travellers to Trinidad,[26] Jamaica, and, less commonly, St. Lucia. Colombia is the largest exporter of machetes worldwide.[27]

## Cultural influence

The Flag of Angola The emblem of Iran

The flag of Angola features a machete, along with a cog-wheel as communist symbols.

The emblem of Iran features a machete, along with four crescents and shaddah.

The southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul has a dance called the dança dos facões (machetes' dance) in which the dancers, who are usually men, bang their machetes against various surfaces while dancing, simulating a battle. Maculelê, an Afro-Brazilian dance and martial art, can also be performed with facões. This practice began in the city of Santo Amaro, Bahia, in the northeastern part of the country.[28]

In the Jalisco region of Mexico, Los Machetes is a popular folk dance. This dance tells the story of cutting down sugar cane during the harvest. Los Machetes was created by Mexican farm workers who spent a great amount of time perfecting the use of the tool, the machete, for harvesting. Traditionally, real machetes are used while performing this dance.[29]

## Similar tools

The panga or tapanga is a variant used in East and Southern Africa. This name may be of Swahili etymology; not to be confused with the panga fish. The panga blade broadens on the backside and has a length of 41 to 46 cm (16 to 18 in). The upper inclined portion of the blade may be sharpened.[30]

The traditional bolos of the Philippines are sometimes incorrectly known as "bolo machetes"

In the Philippines, the various indigenous swords and knives (known under the general term bolo) are commonly incorrectly described as a type of machete (as "bolo machete"). But bolos are unrelated to the machete. They are pre-colonial and hand-forged (unlike mass-produced machetes), with distinct types that differ by ethnic group.[31] The most obvious difference is the shape of the cutting edge, which is typically curved in bolos and more or less straight in machetes.[32] Bolos are also usually shorter than machetes, at around 25 to 45 cm (9.8 to 17.7 in) long, and are adapted to a wider range of uses.[33][34]

Other similar tools include the parang[35] and the golok[36] (from Malaysia and Indonesia); however, these tend to have shorter, thicker blades with a primary grind, and are more effective on woody vegetation.

The tsakat is a similar tool used in Armenia for clearing land of vegetation.

Other similar tools include:

* Billhook
* Dusack
* Golok
* Kopis
* Kukri
* Seax
* Sorocaban Knife

## References

1. ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=machete.
2. ↑ "La falcata ¿mito romántico o realidad? - Archivos de la Historia". 8 April 2020. https://archivoshistoria.com/la-falcata-arma-iberica-o-mito-romantico/.
3. ↑ Es, Armas. "El Machete: Abriéndose paso en jungla y combate - Mundo Armas". https://www.armas.es/arma-blanca/el-machete-abriendose-paso-en-jungla-y-combate.
4. ↑ "matchet". Dictionary/thesaurus. The Free Dictionary. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/matchet.
5. ↑ Blair, Teresa P. A-Z of Jamaican Patois (Patwah), Page 49, Google Books Result
6. ↑ Klein, John (21 October 2013). "What Is a Machete, Anyway?". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/what-is-a-machete-anyway/280705/. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Franz, Carl; Havens, Lorena (2012). Rogers, Steve; Rogers, Felisa Churpa Rosa. eds. The People's Guide to Mexico (14th ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: Avalon Travel. pp. 277–278. ISBN 978-1-61238-049-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=I2YZgJJXj1YC&pg=PA278.
8. ↑ Day, Nicholas (9 April 2013). "Give Your Baby a Machete". Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/how_babies_work/2013/04/09/bad_parenting_ideas_that_are_actually_good_for_some_babies.html.
9. ↑ Martin, Gus (15 June 2011). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Second Edition. SAGE Publications. p. 490. ISBN 978-1-4129-8016-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=I_jh4VBi_HYC&pg=PA490.
10. ↑ Verwimp, P. (2006). "Machetes and Firearms: the Organization of Massacres in Rwanda". Journal of Peace Research 43 (1): 5–22. doi:10.1177/0022343306059576.
11. ↑ Braid, Mary (3 March 1999). "The Jungle Massacre: African rebels who revel in their machete genocide". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-jungle-massacre-african-rebels-who-revel-in-their-machete-genocide-1077954.html.
12. ↑ "Tonton Macoute". Haiti History. Haitian Media. http://www.haitianmedia.com/index.php/46.
13. ↑ Ponce, Mildrey (2007). "Why Did The English Take Over Havana?". Cuba Now. http://www.cubanow.net/articles/why-did-english-take-over-havana.
14. ↑ Tone, John Lawrence (2006). "Chapter 10: Mal Tiempo and the Romance of the Machete". War and Genocide in Cuba, 1895–1898. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-0-8078-3006-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=OxRVaAPpeCsC.
15. ↑ Gravette, A G (28 September 2007). "Chapter 7: The Southern Peninsula". Cuba (5the ed.). New Holland Publishers. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-84537-860-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=y7B51dAgT8MC.
16. ↑ "Major General Máximo Gómez Báez". Revolutionary Armed Forces. Gobierno de la Republica de Cuba. http://www.cubagob.cu/otras_info/minfar/defensa_ingles/imaximo.htm.
17. ↑ "Plot Overview". Things Fall Apart. SparkNotes. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/things/summary.html.
18. ↑ Sturges, James Walter (August 2010). Machetes in the Trunk: Three Weeks in Panama. James Sturges. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-4404-8664-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=plSb1MoA0hQC&pg=PA31.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Allsopp, Richard (2003). Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage. University of the West Indies Press. pp. 184, 442–443. ISBN 978-976-640-145-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=PmvSk13sIc0C.
20. ↑ "Conjunto de Selva". Produtos. Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil. http://www.snstecnologia.com.br/imbel3/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=117.
21. ↑ Cavaleri, David P. (2005). The Law of War: Can 20th Century Standards Apply to the Global War on Terrorism?. DIANE Publishing. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-4379-2301-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Gq820_ESKXgC&pg=PA66.
22. ↑ Jones, Chester Lloyd (1906). The Consular Service of the United States: Its History and Activities. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 72. https://archive.org/details/consularservice01jonegoog.
23. ↑ Kauffman, Henry J. (1994). "III: The Nineteenth Century". American Axes: A Survey of Their Development and Their Makers. Masthof Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-883294-12-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=x5ZiYCZRdHwC.
24. ↑ Henry, Daniel Edward (1995). Collins' Machetes and Bowies, 1845-1965. Krause Publications. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-87341-403-6.
25. ↑ La Farge, Oliver (1956). A Pictorial History of the American Indian. Crown Publishers. p. 219. https://archive.org/details/pictorialhistory00lafa.
26. ↑ "1566: Vintage Trinidad Machete in Leather Sheath : Lot 1566". liveauctioneers.com. http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6121694.
27. ↑ "Colombia líder – La Prensa". 12 April 2014. http://www.laprensa.com.ni/2014/04/12/activos/190612.
28. ↑ Lewis, John Lowell (1992). "3: Capoeira in Salvador". Ring of Liberation: Deceptive Discourse in Brazilian Capoeira. University of Chicago Press. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-0-226-47683-4. https://archive.org/details/ringofliberation0000lewi.
29. ↑ "Los Machetes - Folk Dance Fun!". https://www.sallysseaofsongs.com/2015/05/los-machetes-folk-dance-fun.html.
30. ↑ Mothander, Björn; Finn Kjærby; Kjell J. Havnevik (1989). Farm Implements for Small-scale Farmers in Tanzania. Nordic Africa Institute. pp. 36–37. ISBN 978-91-7106-290-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=0N0mJ8cvM2gC.
31. ↑ Bolieu, Reuben. "Forged Filipino Bolo Knives". https://www.knivesillustrated.com/forged-filipino-bolo-knives/.
32. ↑ Alth, Max (1982). Sharpening Hand Tools: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-66. Storey Publishing, LLC. ISBN 9781603425971.
33. ↑ "Machete vs Bolo: Decoding Common Word Mix-Ups". https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/machete-vs-bolo.
34. ↑ Tait, Matt. "Bolo: Filipino survival blade". https://sevenswords.uk/bolo/.
35. ↑ Stone, George Cameron; Donald J. LaRocca (1999). A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times: In All Countries and in All Times. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 481–482. ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=A4Rp_Qx9in4C.
36. ↑ Stone, George Cameron; Donald J. LaRocca (1999). A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times: In All Countries and in All Times. Courier Dover Publications. p. 249. ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=A4Rp_Qx9in4C.

## External links

* v
* t
* e

Knives and daggers

* List of daggers
* List of blade materials

Kitchen and
table knives|

* Boning
* Bread knife
* Butcher knife
* Butter knife
* Case knife
* Cheese knife
* Chef's knife
* Cleaver
* Electric knife
* Fillet knife
* Grapefruit knife
* Lame
* Mezzaluna
* Parmesan knife
* Pizza cutter
* Splayd
* Steak knife
* Tomato knife
* Japanese kitchen knives
* Deba bōchō
* Maguro bōchō
* Nakiri bōchō
* Santoku
* Sashimi bōchō
* Udon kiri
* Unagisaki hōchō
* Usuba bōchō
* Yanagi ba

Other knives|

* Aircrew Survival Egress Knife
* Athame
* Balisong/Butterfly
* Ballistic
* Ballpoint pen knife
* Bayonet
* Boline
* Bolo
* Boot knife
* Bowie
* Cane knife
* Ceramic knife
* Clip point
* Combat knife
* Commander
* Corvo
* CQC-6
* Deba bōchō
* Diving knife
* Drop point
* Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife
* Gerber Mark II
* Ginsu
* Golok
* Gravity knife
* Guna
* Hacking knife
* Higonokami
* Hunting knife
* Jacob's ladder
* Karambit
* Kard
* Kīla
* Kirpan
* Kitchen knife
* Kukri
* Laguiole knife
* Machete
* Mandau
* Marking knife
* Misericorde
* Mora knife
* Multi-tool
* Navaja
* Neck knife
* Nontron knife
* Opinel knife
* Palette knife
* Pantographic knife
* Parang
* Penknife
* Penny knife
* Pirah
* Pocketknife
* Putty knife
* Puukko
* Rampuri
* Resolza
* Sabatier
* Sami knife
* SARK
* Scalpel
* Seax
* Sgian dubh
* Sharpfinger
* Shiv
* Sliding knife
* Smatchet
* SOG Knife
* Straight razor
* Strider SMF
* Survival knife
* Swiss Army knife
* Switchblade
* Taping knife
* Throwing knife
* Trench knife
* Tumi
* Ulu
* Utility knife
* Warrior knife
* X-Acto
* Yatagan

Daggers|

* Anelace
* Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife
* Arkansas toothpick
* BC-41
* Bagh nakh
* Balarao
* Baselard
* Bichuwa
* Bollock dagger
* Cinquedea
* Dirk
* Ear dagger
* Emeici
* Facón
* French Nail
* Gunong
* Hunting dagger
* Janbiya
* Jile
* Kabutowari
* Kaiken
* Kalis
* Katar
* Khanjali
* Khanjar
* Kris
* Kunai
* Mark I trench knife
* Parrying dagger
* Poignard
* Push dagger
* Rondel dagger
* Seme
* Shobo
* Sica
* Stiletto
* Marine Raider
* V-42
* Tantō
* Yarará Parachute Knife
* Yoroi-dōshi

Manufacturers|

* Aitor Knife Company
* Al Mar Knives
* American Tomahawk Company
* Aritsugu
* Benchmade
* Böker
* Buck Knives
* Camillus Cutlery Company
* Cattaraugus Cutlery Company
* Chris Reeve Knives
* CHROMA Cnife
* Clauss Cutlery Company
* Cold Steel
* Columbia River Knife & Tool
* Cuisinart
* Cutco
* Dalian Hanwei Metal
* Dexter-Russell
* DOVO Solingen
* Due Ancore
* Ek Commando Knife Co.
* EKA
* Emerson Knives
* F. Dick
* Fällkniven
* FAMAE
* Fiskars
* Gerber Legendary Blades
* Füritechnics
* Glock Ges.m.b.H.
* Imperial Schrade
* Ka-Bar
* Kershaw Knives
* KitchenAid
* Korin Japanese Trading Company
* Kyocera
* Leatherman
* Mad Dog Knives
* Marble Arms
* Medford Knife and Tool
* Microtech Knives
* Morseth
* Muela
* Murphy Knives
* Olfa
* Ontario Knife Company
* Opinel
* Randall Made Knives
* Rösle
* Sabatier
* Shun Cutlery
* Slice, Inc.
* SOG Specialty Knives
* Spyderco
* STI Knives
* Strider Knives
* Thiers Issard
* TOPS Knives
* Tramontina
* Victorinox
* W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co.
* Carl Walther GmbH
* Wenger
* Western Knife Company
* Wilkinson Sword
* Wüsthof
* Yoshida Metal Industry
* Global
* Zero Tolerance Knives
* Zwilling J. A. Henckels

Knifemakers|

* Rex Applegate
* James Black
* Blackie Collins
* John Nelson Cooper
* Ernest Emerson
* Jerry Fisk
* Bill Harsey Jr.
* Phill Hartsfield
* Gil Hibben
* Jimmy Lile
* Bob Loveless
* William F. Moran
* Ken Onion
* Ralph Osterhout
* Bo Randall
* Chris Reeve
* A. G. Russell
* Jody Samson
* William Scagel
* Mike Snody
* Robert Terzuola
* Michael Walker
* Buster Warenski
* Daniel Winkler

Associations|

* American Bladesmith Society
* Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association
* Knifemakers' Guild

* Book:Knives and daggers
* Category:Knives / Daggers

* v
* t
* e

Forestry tools and Heavy equipment

Tree planting/
afforestation|

* Caulk boots
* Hoedad (hoedag)
* Groasis Waterboxx
* Mattock
* Pottiputki
* Root trainer
* Seed trap
* Tree planting bar (dibble bar)
* Tree shelter (Tuley tube)
* Tree spade

Mensuration|

* 3D scanner
* Angle gauge
* Biltmore stick
* Chain
* Cruising rod
* Diameter tape
* Hemispherical photography
* Inclinometer
* Increment borer
* Rangefinder
* laser
* Microtome
* Relascope
* Tree caliper
* Wedge prism

Fire suppression|

* Aerial firefighting
* DC-10
* UAVs
* Driptorch
* Fire flapper
* Fire rake
* Fire retardant
* Helitack
* McLeod (rakehoe)
* Pulaski

Axes|

* Billhook
* Broadaxe
* Froe (shake axe)
* Hatchet
* Labrys
* Log splitter
* Splitting maul

Saws|

* Bow saw
* Bucksaw
* Chainsaw
* safety clothing
* safety features
* Crosscut saw
* Dragsaw
* Head saw
* Lumber edger
* Portable sawmill
* Resaw
* Two-man saw
* Whipsaw

Logging|

* Cant hook
* Feller buncher
* Forwarder
* Go-devil
* Harvester
* Helicopter
* Log truck
* Lombard Steam Log Hauler
* Michigan logging wheels
* Peavey
* Pickaroon
* Pike pole
* Skid cone
* Skidder
* Washington winch
* Steam donkey
* Yarder
* swing

Other|

* Denailer
* Firewood processor
* Forest railway
* Forestry mulcher
* Hand compass
* Hand hook
* Hydraulic debarker
* Log house moulder
* Machete
* Stump grinder
* Chainsaw mill
* Tree tyer
* Tsakat
* Whoopie sling
* Wood-drying kiln
* Woodchipper

*   * Categories
* tools
* equipment
* Commons
* tools
* equipment
* WikiProject Forestry

* v
* t
* e

Garden tools

* Averruncator
* Axe
* Broadfork
* Brushcutter
* Chainsaw
* Cultivator
* Daisy grubber
* Dethatcher
* Dibber
* Earth auger
* Edger
* Garden fork
* Garden hose
* Grafter
* Grass shears
* Grass stitcher
* Hedge trimmer
* Hoe
* Homi
* Hori hori
* Irrigation sprinkler
* Kirpi
* Lawn aerator
* Lawn mower
* Lawn sweeper
* Leaf blower
* Loppers
* Machete
* Mattock
* Pickaxe
* Pitchfork
* Plough
* Post hole digger
* Potting bench
* Pruning shears (secateurs)
* Rake
* Riddle
* Scythe
* Shovel
* Sickle
* Spade
* Loy
* String trimmer
* Trowel
* Watering can
* Weeder
* Wheelbarrow

Types of tools
Cleaning
Cutting and abrasive
Forestry
Garden
Hand
Kitchen
Machine and metalworking
Masonry
Measuring and alignment
Mining
Power
Textile
Woodworking

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machete. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Engineering:Machete&oldid=3903661"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template