Kershaw Camp 10 Tan Machete, 10-In. Steel Blade

Se siente de buen material, es barato y con un buen peso para utilizar… Lo uso para abrir cocos y funciona muy bien

I purchased a camp 10 for my father about 4 or 5 years ago. He constantly raved about how good it feels in his hands, how the sheath is spot on perfect, and how well the blade has been holding up under pretty extreme conditions. Eventually I bought one for myself to see what the big deal was. When it came in, I immediately took it in the field for a campsite test. I put this thing through a very extreme conditioning test to see how sturdy this 1077 carbon steel was. I’m usually not a huge fan of Chinesium steel blades, but this thing just kept on going. I used the camp 10 to cut through thick and thin branches, and it dug in very nice. The most extreme thing I did was chop through a massive fallen tree that was blocking the trail. I had stepped over that tree since I was a little kid, it was about time to clear it from the path. Now, this tree was about 8 ft in diameter, pretty large and thick, given it was dead wood, but still, the camp 10 ate it up like an axe. Blade didn’t chip, warp, or roll. The handle is still secure. Ergonomically speaking, the blade shape is like a straightened kukri, and the handle is canted downwards, when you pick up the knife, you can straight away feel the forward heaviness. The 10 inch blade is somewhat of a sweet spot, not quit a machete, not quit a knife, but in between those lines is a nice chopper. Blade is thick enough in the spine to handle just about anything made of wood. There are plenty of reviews raving about how great the camp 10 is, and at this price point, you truly cannot get a better knife that can do everything this can do without spending upwards of $150+. I’ve used expensive knives and cheap knives. Kershaw really hit a home run with this one. I consider this to be a cheap knife made to medium standards. Also, you get a really nice plastic sheath, that alone is worth what the knife itself is. Don’t know how many times I’ve bought a TOPS knife and hated the sheath it came with. I am not a fan of nylon in any firm it comes in, unless it is hardened with epoxy. Out of the two kershaw knives I have used and seen used it is safe to say that the quality control on these is pretty much spot on, which says a lot at this price point. Usually when you spend under $100 on a big knife, you end up with something unusable, not the case here. The knife came in fairly sharp from the factory, nothing crazy, but it definitely wasn’t dull. After using the knife to cut through a tree, I took a 600 grit wet stone and made about 10 passes on either side and the blade was actually razor sharp. I’m very impressed with the 1077 carbon steel, I normally go for 1095 carbon because it’s a good all around steel for a decent price. 1077 mimics 1095, in that sense, it’s quit impressive at the price point.
If your looking for a something with a bigger cutting surface than a hatchet, then get the camp 10, it’s basically a 10 inch hatchet.
In the 5+ years of experience with thus blade, I can safely recommend this to anyone looking for a camp knife that they can beat on.

I held off on reviewing this until I had a chance to really put it to the test, and that time came on a backpacking trip and a construction job I was on. But before we get into that, the preliminaries…

As I’m sure you read in the description, this is made out of 65mn steel, a Chinese Spring steel, roughly comparable to 1065. This is a high carbon steel, not a stainless steel which is actually preferable for a machete. Take care of the blade in and you shouldn’t have a problem. This is not a top end steel, but it is a good steel, and I have yet to see any mass produced machetes made out of top end steel so don’t let that turn you off. It’s elastic properties make it easy to sharpen and able to withstand and bounce back from continual heavy blows (which means it’s good for things like axes and machetes) when used as the chopper it is, and it has decent edge retention and durability. For a knife you could do much better than 65mn (in my opinion, everyone has their favorite steel, so that subject is always up for debate), but for a machete, it’s pretty decent, not the most amazing in the world, but pretty decent. Most hard-core adventurers and zombie apocalypse Preppers wouldn’t Disparage anyone wielding a machete made out of 65mn even if it isn’t their first choice. And especially at the price point it’s offered, it’s a good bargain. I love the slight handle guard, which not only protects your hand just a little bit which is a bigger deal than you might imagine when you’re in close combat with the bush; branches attacking and slapping back at you, but also it offers wonderful grip, the grip itself is fantastic, comfortable, ergonomic, easy to grip, even when wet, and the design bites into wood well, and is versatile, with a thick and well balanced blade, that’s still fairly light weight and easy to carry.

On a backpacking trip I went on I got lost leading a group and to get where we needed to be we ended up having to chop through some extremely thick underbrush. Not the kind where you chop something out of your way that’s inconveniencing you, they kind of thicket where you literally cannot move forward unless you chop a path through the small trees and bush. The kind where you can only see about 2 feet in front of you. I wielded this machete in Ernest for two days, with breaks coming only when my group and I found a clearing or an obstacle that did not involve a machete, like a river crossings or large rocks we had to find a way around or climb over the top of. I liked this machete when I got it and figured it would perform decently, however it out performed my every expectation. It was invaluable on that trip. It found continued use on a roofing job before I took it out of my truck after the backpacking trip. The roof needed a repair and I was the technician sent, but everything was so overgrown I had to chop the jungle out-of-the-way before I was able to do my job. Again, hours of work, occasionally striking one of the concrete roof tiles, and although there is a chip or two from the abuse it held up. I would highly recommend this tool if you’re looking for a compact machete. Yes, if you spend more money, there are higher quality machetes than this (like the woodsman pal for instance) but in my opinion, this is the best bang for your buck machete that I have ever used, it’s quality exceeds its price point, and I would be more than happy to rely on it even in an extreme situation as long as it is kept well maintained.

This is my second one. I got the first one about 6 years ago as a gift. She has been with me on several backcountry trips and is still going strong. I like it so much I wanted the tan version as well. This is not a $300 knife but performs well enough and she will last. Mine has batoned hundreds of logs. Chopped branch after branch and even been smashed into the rocks and dirt. Only damage has been minor to blade (sharpened Out) and my brother some how hit the hand guard while batoning a log and it broke off. A little wiggly now in the sheath. Still works just fine though. Overall I love this blade.

I won’t say I’ve used this extensively but I’ve definitely used it alot and it’s great! Very sharp, very comfortable and so far very durable. I really like the mounting/carry versatility of the sheath and that it’s kydex so no snagging the tip on cloth or cutting seams when drawing or re sheathing. It’s a good mid size chopper for when you want to carry something smaller than a machete but need something for hacking where a knife won’t do. The design makes hacking/slashing very easy. This is a go to tool that I’m more than happy I finally got!