Billhook

A filipino friend offered to get us a billhook from the philippines, so we gave him a template for a tool something like the new billhook.
the blacksmith in his village didn't follow the template, but he let it influence him: the result is a something halfway between a billhook and a bolo, the traditional filipino cane-cutting knife.
we fitted it with a two-handed grip a bit like the hilt of a japanese sword: shaped hardwood split in two, with recesses cut in each half for the tang, secured with a through-bolt and a ferrule at each end.
this is by far our best cutter, light, perfectly balanced, and the progressive, downward sweep of the blade does the work for you, you don't have to hack away. It's much better than a machete.
the blade-length is 33 cm, back thickness tapering from 5mm to 1mm.