Ontario Knife Co 18" Military Machete - Perfect for Camping, Gardening, and Other Heavy-Duty Tasks

Jay Bee: Finish is a little uneven, but considering the use, that finish won't be so pretty after a few uses.

Tested this out by hacking the branches off a fallen tree limb. When chopping something a little thicker, hitting at an angle is way better than hitting straight on. Stout machete, excellent value for the money, hard to go wrong with Ontario's US-made stuff. It's a shame the company ended the way it did (though I suspect it'll live on with cheap stuff made overseas a la Schrade).

United States on Oct 02, 2023

RFLORSRFLORS: This a very sturdy, basic machete. Used it to hack away a whole lot of bushes and weeds and it has held up great. Only ding I gave it was the handle; too thin for my taste so I added a piece of tire inner tube. Added a wrist strap too.

United States on Sep 19, 2023

Amazon Customer: A beast of a machete, as other have noted it’s much thicker than your standard machete.

Comes with an OK edge, 30 minutes with a file put a good enough edge on it for me. (Steel is real tough, requires a lot of consistency compared to sharpening my 1065 axe head).

The handle is hot garbage. But I knew that when I bought it. I plan to sand it and round it out a bit (it’s a little too square for my preference).

I love it because it’s obvious the blade is made to be tough and durable, it will take a beating.

Although I expect the handle to loosen up sooner or later, so thinking of how I’m gonna deal with that when the time comes.

Canada on Sep 08, 2023

J. Edwards: It wasn’t too sharp out of the box but that’s easy to fix. It’s sturdy as hell. Used it to split some kindling while camping and quartering a squirrel. Good chopping power. Very sturdy construction. Great deal.

United States on Sep 04, 2023

JoJo: I have RAT 7 knife. I thought they make killer machetes too, however, this machete has bulky yet narrow handle, almost like holding chalk board eraser.
I love its blade, its strong & I used grinder to sharpen it. I just hate the handle. Wish they make flat normal handle like others.

Canada on Nov 17, 2021

Paul Robert: This was my first machete. I bought 2 other ones after that.
I was aware of the reviews concerning the terrible handle, and I thought the most important part of a machete was the blade. Discovered I was wrong, in my opinion it's 50/50.
If you can't use your tool more than 10 minutes straight because the handle gives you pain, I think it's not worth buying. If your tool is not well balanced because the handle is poorly made, you end up putting more effort than you should and get easily tired.
There are Fiskars tools out there that gave me same cutting results, for less expensive, and so much more enjoyable time.

Will try to make a new handle at some point, but right now I always pick my other machetes over this one because it's a harsh experience every time. Product seems durable though.

Canada on Oct 16, 2021

Kevin: (Review for Ontario Knife Company 6145 Military Machete)

This is my first machete, got it for some casual bushcrafting and garden work. For the price, I don't think you can go wrong with getting one of these. The machete came pre-sharpened out of the box, though . There a baked-on anti-rust coating on the blade, but since the blade is still carbon steel, so I recommend you dry and oil it after every use.

It cuts very well. Used it to prune and hack off branches from a hard, old cherry in my front yard - edge remained sharp and intact through it all.

Only complaint is the plastic grip handle, not very ergonomic and is a little thick for my hands and doesn't grip as much as I like. Though I read elsewhere people usually reshape the handle with a dremel anyways, and that's why it's so thick.

PS: Definitely recommend getting a scabbard for this if you're thinking of taking it out to the woods.

Canada on Feb 07, 2020

Rodney Francis: "How could a handle be that bad?" you may ask. The issue here is that the handle is two pieces of molded plastic sandwiching the base of the blade. The moldings are very rough and don't fit flush to the blade - this means that if you use this machete with your bare hand, you will find that the palm of your hand becomes irritated and blisters will quickly form.

I had to shave the plastic down such that it was flush with the blade, but even then the problem wasn't fully solved. Next I had to wrap the handle in fabric hockey tape, and only then did I find this usable. My recommendation is to plan for this if you do buy this machete, or perhaps buy a pair of leather gloves to wear while using it.

Canada on Sep 07, 2018

Justhefacts: There aren't a lot of tools that give you as much bang for the buck as a machete and the price of under twenty bucks is pretty crazy for what you get. Hell, even if you don't need a bad-ass machete, buy this one anyway.. just "because" :)

There are a lot of machetes to choose from, many are thin 1/16" "mystery metal", wobbly, made in China junk, while others are WAY overpriced ALSO made in China, (oh the audacity!) like fancy Gerber's or whatever. Seriously, screw that nonsense, because THIS is the I-18 Ontario "meat & potatoes" boss of the brush. Put another way, what would Jason from Friday the 13th reach for? THIS ONE, provided of course, he remains a bad-ass and doesn't suddenly follow the current PC trends to adopt a more reflective "humanist" approach, with soft fragile feelings he desperately needs to share... and "discuss" lol.

I won't say just because it's US military issue, it's the best (even though it is, to me) True, there are specialized high quality "Woodsman's Pals" with a unique shape and a polished fit and finish that the US forestry service uses, but you wanna drop like, a hundred plus $ on a machete? Personally, I don't need it that bad when I...

United States on Dec 10, 2016

totallyfrozen: I used to have the Corona 18" saw-back machete (which I reviewed) and it was a total turd. I tossed it in the trash can and bought this one instead. This professional machete was only $2 more expensive than the Chinese-made Corona machete that I threw away. If I'd have known then...

Many of the earlier reviewers complained of the machete arriving dull. Mine didn't. Mine arrived razor sharp, seriously. As in, I sliced a sheet of paper in half with a single, gentle stroke...right out of the box. The seller for the one I received was Ontario Knife Co. and it came from the Amazon Fulfillment Center. I don't know if other sellers in other parts of the country are shipping "unfinished" tools or not--but as I said, mine arrived razor sharp.

There have been lots of complaints about the handle being uncomfortable or slipping--or feeling like it will slip--out of the hand during use. I think I understand the problem with the handle: It's not because the handle scales are plastic; it's because they are too small for many of us.
I wear Medium surgical gloves and Size 7 military dress gloves. That basically means I have medium/average sized hands for the average American male....

United States on Nov 08, 2014