Machete

Older machete from Latin America
Gerber machete/saw combo
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file:Mexican machete.JPG, Mexican machete, from Acapulco, 1970. Horn handle, hand forged blade (hammer marks visible).

A machete (; ) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a diminutive form of the word ''macho'', which was used to refer to sledgehammers. Alternatively, its origin may be ''machaera'', the name given by the Romans to the falcata. It is the origin of the English language equivalent term ''matchet'', though it is less commonly used. In much of the English-speaking Caribbean, such as Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago, the term ''cutlass'' is used for these agricultural tools.

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). 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. 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.

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.

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.

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

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. The machete was also the most iconic weapon during the independence wars in Cuba, although it saw limited battlefield use. 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. 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.

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''.

Some countries have a name for the blow of a machete; the Spanish ''machetazo'' is sometimes used in English. 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. To strike with the sharpened edge is to "chop". Throughout the Caribbean, the term 'cutlass' refers to a laborers' cutting tool.

The Brazilian Army's Instruction Center on Jungle Warfare developed a machete with a blade in length and a very pronounced clip point. This machete is issued with a 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).

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.

Manufacture

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. The company was founded as Collins & Company in 1826 by Samuel W. Collins to make axes. Its first machetes were sold in 1845 and became so famous that all good machetes were called "un Collins". 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 travelers to Trinidad, Jamaica, and, less commonly, St. Lucia.

Colombia is the largest exporter of machetes worldwide.

Cultural influence

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

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.

In the Philippines, the ''bolo'' is used in training in '' eskrima'', the indigenous martial art of the Philippines.

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 . The upper inclined portion of the blade may be sharpened.

Other similar tools include the '' parang'' and the '' golok'' (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:
* Dusack
* Golok
* Kopis
* Kukri
* Macuahuitl
* Seax
* Sorocaban Knife

Popular culture

* Marvel Comics features machetes used by Kraven the Hunter; and also Harley Clinvendon, his counterpart in the 1967 version of Spider-Man.
* In the ''Friday the 13th'' franchise, a machete is Jason Voorhees' signature weapon.
* In the 1999 version of ''Tarzan'', a machete was used by Clayton, a poacher.
* Sokka, one of the main characters in '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', uses a machete.
* ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' features a machete used by Rocksteady, a mutant rhinoceros thug.
* Machetes were among many weapons used by Sideshow Bob in ''The Simpsons''.
* Machetes were the primary weapons for Isador "Machete" Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' films, the '' Grindhouse'' fake trailer, '' Machete'' and ''Machete Kills''.
* ''The Last Circus'' features the Funny Clown, father of the protagonist Javier, who wields a machete.
* The machete is the short-range weapon of the Medellín Cartel when fighting Somali pirates in ''Deadliest Warrior''.
* '' The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'' features a machete becoming the primary weapon for Peeta Mellark.
* James Bond film series features machetes in '' Live and Let Die'', ''Licence to Kill'', and the 2006 version of ''Casino Royale''.
* Mother Russia wields a machete with the words "God give, God take" inscribed on the blade in Russian on '' Kick-Ass 2''.
* '' Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry'' features machetes used by Adéwalé.
* '' Call of Duty: Black Ops II'' features a machete as an optional melee weapon in some missions.
* Dylan Morton from ''Dino Crisis 2'' had a machete as a side weapon at the start of the game and enabled him to hack away at doors that were covered in heavy vegetation.
* Chris Redfield from '' Resident Evil 5'' uses a machete as his default melee weapon.

References

External links

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American inventions
Hiking equipment
Blade weapons
Camping equipment
Gardening tools