How to Swing Your First Machete: A Beginner’s Guide to Using a Machete
Gripping, using and swinging your new survival machete correctly can be somewhat difficult. Fortunately, there are a few simple tips you can follow that will greatly help you with that.
Before doing anything else, you have to check your immediate area. This means putting safety first by making sure no one is in close proximity of you and your machete, and that there is no risk of any children or pets being hurt as you swing your machete for the first time.
Make sure you check all areas around you on a radius of at least 10-20 feet, and continue to check as you work, making sure no people or animals might be walking (or running) into the area where you’ll be using your blade.
The Ideal Way to Hold Your Machete
Holding your machete correctly is essential to your success. This should be done by finding the correct grip to avoid blisters, prevent the machete from slipping, and maximize swinging power and accuracy.
To achieve all that, start by wrapping your forefinger and thumb around the machete on opposite sides, and wrap your other three fingers loosely around the base. Also, make sure you avoid leaving a palm print. Just grip the machete firmly, but a little loosely around the palm area.
Quick Tips to Get a Perfect Swing
- Swing down with your entire arm. That way you can maximize your momentum and power.
- Bring your shoulder down to add to the thrust.
- At the last second, before making contact with the object, flick your wrist. Do so upwards, if you’re dealing with leafy vegetation and downwards for managing a thicker, woodier bush.
- Avoid swinging your machete when you get too tired. Doing so would will make you feel worse and impair your efforts and precision.
- Use the machete somewhat like an axe – by using its broader, heavier sweet spot.
- Avoid hacking perpendicularly on any object you target. The best angle to consider is a 45-degree angle that would maximize the effectiveness of your machete.
How Tight Should You Grip the Machete?
When gripping your machete, it’s important to make sure that your grip is secure. You don’t want your machete to slip out of your hand and end up a lot farther away from your position than you could have thought possible. Despite your efforts to keep people away, you could still injure someone, if that should happen.
The best kind of grip is a grip that isn’t too tight, but not too loose either. While the grip will depend on the heaviness and the construction/balance of the blade and handle, these details are of little consequence while you’re still a beginner. The important thing is to avoid hot spots in areas of contact – since they can lead to developing blisters and other problems – and to minimize moisture.
If you really want to avoid unwanted, excessive moisture, there is also another measure you can take: you can use gloves, which will help greatly to improve your grip and prevent the machete from slipping out of your hand.