Ontario Knife Company’s New Bushcraft Machete and Knife Combo
Jon Stokes 01.15.14
The bushcraft revival is in full swing, as it seems like every knifemaker is offering wood-handled products instead of the standard G10 and micarta that has come to dominate the scene in recent years. Yesterday, we mentioned CRKT’s new tactical tomahawk that comes with a Tennessee hickory handle, and today’s bushcraft selection is an OKC machete with an American walnut handle.
The machete, which is appropriately called the “Bushcraft Machete,” is made of 5160 steel that’s hardened to between 53 and 55 HRC. The blade is 16 inches, and the overall length is a bit over 21 and half inches. I didn’t get to handle it, since it was a prototype and was locked in the display case, so I can’t speak to its balance, feel, or its zombie skull splitting abilities. I will say that it’s a beautiful piece, and it’s expected to cost about $150 at launch later this spring.
There’s a companion to the machete that you can see in the background, and it’s called the Bushcraft Field Knife. This knife has a 5 inch blade and a 10-inch overall length. It’s made of the same 5160 steel and American walnut handle combo.
Both the machete and the field knife are debuting at this year’s SHOT for the first time.
Also debuting at SHOT 2014 is the OKC Chimera, a beast of a knife with an 8.25″, 1095 blade and a skull-crusher-tipped Kraton handle. This is a very Rambo-looking knife, and the booth rep told me that it was originally designed to be a last-ditch weapon in a boar hunt. So this is a hog-killing knife, if you’re crazy enough to attack a hog with just a knife (and some folks certainly are).
I think it’s a sharp looking knife that feels great in the hand, but it’s way, way too Rambo for me. I’m also not a fan of serrations on the blade, but if that’s your thing then you may want to give this knife a look.
