Not having used a machete all that much, I defer to the wisdom of those that have. I THINK that the consensus of those that use machete's in they jobs say that it is VERY much preferred to have a handle that allows your hand to slide just a bit on the handle. I DO know after using the CS magnum Kukri in the machete mode, it will eat your hand up in no time! But that may just be do to the hard plastic of the handle material.