Originally Posted by
highangle
You damn right you don't.
My grip's better cuz I choke up to where the machete balances. This puts my index finger on the steel, the hand guard between my first two fingers, and I get Mark McGuire blade speed but in perfect control. I actually did learn it in SA, where people mow yards with a machete...
Went out to a job where the boys were setting some Bearing Trees on the RR ROW in some stunted white spruce. In office clothes I picked up a crew machete and slicked off about 4' of tree trunk while I was giving some instructions, like it was some loblolly pine. Then I darted the machete into the snow in front of the tree and carried on with whatever else I was saying. Didn't think nothin' of it.
When the crew got back, they told me their track maggot hi-rail driver was mightily impressed, and cut line for my crew all day for the machete lesson.