Please forgive the newbie question, but what is the difference and if there is which do you prefer? I've seen parangs with the teardrop shape at the end with great branch cutting/chopping. I just got back from SHOT Show in Vegas and I've seen companies advertise machetes as parangs.
Colloquially in south east asia, "parang" is any knife. In practice, they come in various blade shapes, and are generally a large knife in the machete size range.
Cool, thanks for clearing that up for me. I think I like the bulbous one the best, over the traditional machete (uniform long) shape.
I have a homemade khukuri one of my fillipino friends made me out out an old piece of crane book lacing that i love and works great as far as what is best in my opinion i think it is what works best for you and what u are doing with it !!! just my opinion!!
Ok I hope I don't get banned for saying this I bought one of the Bear Grylls Gerber "parangs" at Wal Mart for about 30 bucks just for kicks. Guiltily it is one of my favorite blades, I ground the top guard off the handle put a nice convex edge on it and it is a cutting/chopping machine. I even used it the other day to cut up a pork shoulder to make some sausage.
I believe the different designs are for slightly different purposes. My opinion and my opinion only, from the two different types that I've wielded over the years. The parang has a slightly weightier tip, which allows for a harder strike- better for chopping. The machete is more balanced, quicker, easier to chop for longer periods of time. Yes, you can interchange them, but each one is the proverbial 10% better than the other for their own tasks. I don't live in the jungle, all I cut with my machetes are brush and those darn purple thorny vines that grown anywhere there is water and light. If I need to chop a small tree, I have other, easier means. It's all up to what you want to do with them, and maybe if the blade design aesthetically appeals to you or not.
Typographical error. The H was supposed to be after the first K, thanks for catching it...fixed. Tired. Must sleep...
I love the Khukuri blade! I have had one for years and it is always in my go bag or on my hip. There is a video somewhere on the net I'm sure on how to use one but I don't have time to look it up. But here is how I was taught, you hold the handle firmly with the thumb and forefinger with the last three fingers very loose. As you chop down, just before impact you "snap" the last three fingers into the handle giving the blade a very quick chopping effect. This increases the force of the impact considerably. Ghurkas were said to be able to chop a mans head of with one swipe. I have seen demonstrations where a 2x4 was cut in half with only 3 strokes.
My Kukuri comes from Nepal, and was made from a WWII Japanese Truck Axel. I got it as a Gift from a Friend who went to Nepal with the Peace Corp He spent two years there, and lived in the Shack, where the Major Cash Crop was stored, until it could be moved down the Mountain to Eastern Pakistan. (now Bangladesh) It is their most common Tool, used top harvest Cash Crops, and errant Chinese, that are always trying to invade, and concur their country. You will notice that the Handle is not original. The original one fell apart decades ago, and it did not fit my American Hand. I made an Antler one to replace it. When that one failed, I had a Friend, (Adam DesRosiers) a Master BladeSmith, craft the one that is in the picture. Also Notice that there is only one Skinning Blade. It came with two, but one was lost, over the last 4+ decades. The sheath is original Wood, covered with cured Goat Skin, albeit with some QuackTape, to keep it functional. My Boy Scout Belt still fits my Waist, barely..... This is my Travel Knife, that ALWAYS goes, where ever I go, along with my Browning HiPower..... .....
