Reviews and Ratings for Cold Steel 97BAM18S Barong Machete 18" Blade, Polypropylene Handle, Cor-Ex Sheath

(9 reviews)

4.1 out of 5 stars

5 star

4 star

3 star

2 star

1 star

Cold Steel 97BAM18S Barong Machete 18 inch Blade, Polypropylene Handle, Cor-Ex Sheath

Price: $29.95

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Enngee
NE uss

Aug 04, 2013

Pros: Blade Material

Cons: Sheath/Scabbard

awesome

it is bigger than it seems which may or may not be a good thing. chops hard. takes a nice edge and holds it. sheath is so-so but its also only 24 bucks. heavier duty than i thought it would be. overall excellent tool

Chris
San Diego, Ca

Sep 18, 2014

Pros: Weight, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Blade Material, Sheath/Scabbard, Materials, Finish, Blade Sharpness

Cons: None

Satisfied

Just what I was looking for, it is bigger than it seems, razor sharp out of the box, nice sheath, this is much better then a crappy Gerber avoid those Cold Steel has better quality, best of all it's made in South Africa, shipping took longer then I expected took over a week to get here, overall no complaints here, I'm happy with my purchase.

Frankie
PR

Dec 25, 2014

Pros: None

Cons: None

If you can only have one...

If you can only have one machete, this is it! Versatile, perfect size and hefty.

Pedro
Fallbrook, Ca

Apr 23, 2016

Pros: Weight, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Blade Material

Cons: None

PERFECT SHTF TOOL!

I added this in my 72 Hour get-home bag and I really love the weight and quality of this tool. It is a machete, so do not expect a tool that has all the bells and whistles. Overall, very happy and I am getting ready to buy another one.

Gordon T
Humble, Tx

Sep 05, 2016

Pros: Weight, Overall Quality, Blade Material, Sheath/Scabbard

Cons: Blade Sharpness

Good Value. Performs well.

I wanted to wait until I had a few weekends of use before I wrote a review. Overall I like the Barong quite a lot. Weight, blade length and shape, and handle were fine for me. Good Cold Steel value as you would expect. I rated it 4 out of 5 stars primarily because the edge grind angles were odd. It was 18.8 degrees on one side and 24.5 degrees on the other. That was not a huge deal as this steel is easy to sharpen. I re-profiled it to 23 degrees per side (46 degrees total angle) using my Edge Pro with a diamond stone. That is working well. Over the past few weekends I've used it to clear heavy brush, chop wood that was 2 to 3 inches in diameter, and cut down some nuisance bamboo. I rated the "sheath/scabbard" as a pro, not because it was anything special, but it seems adequate for a machete.

808Styx
Hawaii

Aug 23, 2014

Pros: Weight, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Sheath/Scabbard, Blade Sharpness

Cons: None

Cool Machete

I'm a practitioner of FMA, these are cool for training, bought a pair. Nice weight . Was sharp, but I'm dulling it for safety in training. Will purchase 2 more that I will keep sharp. Good for training.

Victor
CA

Jul 29, 2025

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Finish, Materials, Overall Quality, Weight

Cons: Handle Material, Sheath/Scabbard

Barong machetes,

The overall quality of the tool is good, also the price is reasonable. This is a great training blade, and if needed a weapon. Again I like the fact it can be modified to an extent. The handle, and also the scabbard. Anyway for the most part a good deal. I highly recommend it, thank you again.

Low
T-town OK

Jan 23, 2014

Pros: Weight, Overall Quality, Blade Material, Materials, Blade Sharpness

Cons: Handle Material, Sheath/Scabbard, Finish

Nothing wrong with this Barong

This 2nd gen CS barong feels much better in the hand than the Latin handled version. I used it to clear some scrub brush and canas. It had a fair factory edge but with a little elbow grease and an hour I got a nice convex edge for FMA. I like the handle a lot but would have been better with a softer rubber kraton instead of the plastic. Good weight and balance. Good edge retention. Cheap sheath but ok for the price. Would suggest purchase to anyone looking for a good FMA weapon or jungle machete.

Ian
California

Jul 10, 2013

Pros: Materials

Cons: Weight, Sheath/Scabbard, Finish, Blade Sharpness

Too big and unwieldy!

When I first saw pictures of this barong, I thought it was a must have. When it arrived, I was so disappointed. The handle is way too big. I usually wish handles were larger, but this handle is way too big. The blade is also very unbalanced. It does not swing well. I think that this barong is just too big, it's too much. If you wanted to, you could modify the handle because it is some kind of polypropolene or something, but that does seem like a lot of work for a blade that will still be unbalanced. The edge comes really rough and jagged, but it is sharp. The sheath is cheap, but it's a standard Cold Steel sheath. Overall, I advise against buying this machete.