Machete - Similar Historic Tools and Weapons

Similar Historic Tools and Weapons

The modern machete is very similar to some forms of the medieval falchion, a short sword popular from the 13th century onwards. The cutting edge the falchion was curved, widening toward the point, and had a straight, unsharpened back edge. The machete differs from the falchion mainly in the lack of a guard and a simpler hilt, though some machetes do have a guard for greater protection of hands during work.

The kopis was an ancient Greek tool/weapon comparable to the machete. The makhaira was also similar, but was intended primarily to be a weapon rather than a tool.

The seax was a Germanic tool/weapon that was also similar in function, although different in shape.

The kukri is a Nepalese curved blade used for many purposes similar to the machete.

The parang was a Malaysian knife that many machetes are based on.

The grosse messer was a Medieval large knife, employed both as a tool and as a weapon.

The fascine knife is a somewhat similar tool/weapon used by European armies throughout the late 18th to early 20th centuries. In fact, the Spanish Army called its fascine knives machetes. Whereas infantry were usually issued short sabres as side arms, engineers and artillerymen often received fascine knives, as besides being side arms they also served as useful tools for the construction of fortifications and other utilitarian tasks. They differ from machetes in that they generally have far thicker, tapered blades optimized for chopping European vegetation (the thin, flat blade of the machete is better for soft plants found in tropical environments), sword-like hilts and guards, and sometimes a sawback-blade. Some later models could be fixed to rifles as bayonets as well.