Can a well balanced bowie be as useful as a machete? Can a heavy machete out chop a big bowie? The problem with many big chopper bowies is that they are too heavy to slash through light vegetation well. If I am going to take only one big knife into the Altamaha, to use for slashing and chopping and splitting wood, should I choose one of my machetes or a bowie? To answer this question, I chose to put my best chopper machete against my best chopper bowie. The Cold Steel Bolo has a 16 3/8" heavy blade of 5/64" thick 1055 steel. It has a polypropylene handle. The Scrap Yard Dog Father LE has a 10" blade of 1/4" thick SR77 steel and a Respirene C handle. Both weigh about a pound, give or take an ounce.

This downed Black Gum limb took just two whacks with the CS.

The DFLE did it one blow, breaking the limb. I alternated between the two knives as I continued to chop up the limb. The bolo chops well, but the DFLE does better. This is surprising considering the extra length of the machete blade.

On to splitting oak. The machete hung up bad and I had to beat it back out with my baton.

The DFLE easily split the oak in just a few blows.

Afterward I slashed some pines and vines and the DFLE was still plenty sharp to do it cleanly. It and my RTAK II are my best "machete bowies", but the DFLE handles better and chops better.

I continue to be impressed by the versatility of the DFLE. Hello Swamp!