Holy Grail of Machetes DAH MKIII

[Peter Laidler]

Suurpmil has it for me. We called our issue machettes, PARANGS, GOLLOCKS or PANGAS. They were all the same. Some had wood handle grips while others had a sort of compressed dark red fibre stuff. Quite useful bits of kit and the blokes used to keep them pretty sharp. So sharp that when opening a coconut, it spouted milk out and the next hack he took, his hand slid down the blade opening up his fingers. Good job for field dressings..........

[Mk VII]

Brig. Fergusson, somewhere in The Wild Green Earth, records that his complaints about the poor quality steel of the dahs supplied by the Indian Army Ordnance Corps reached a high-level official.


"I explained how one bout of five minutes cutting serrated the edge like a saw. He was horrified, alright, but not for the reason we meant. "Do you mean to say you've been trying to cut trees with them?" he asked, scandalised.
"Well, what else is a dah for?"
"I'm not quite sure", he said, "but not that"
He was a perfect example of the type of officer I call 'pit ponies' who spend their lives in offices and blink when they get out in the open air."

[browningautorifle]

He was a perfect example of the type of officer I call 'pit ponies'

I can imagine you trying to explain indirect fire with the GPMG to him then...