Parang - my best tool buy in a long time

[hoodat]

I have that coarse California ice plant growing behind a retaining wall. If you don't watch it, it will drape over the wall, hit the ground and take over the whole garden. In the past I've tried heavy duty hedge trimmers, loppers, sharp shovels and they all worked me to death and were slow. Then I got smart and bought the parang sold by Condor. WOW! that thing slices through those tough stems like butter. I bought the one made in El Salvadore on the theory that it's best to get one from a country where they are in common use; they're more likely to have a well designed tool. I'm told they are made from retempered bus and truck springs. It has a thick blade so it's heavy enough to do the job without a hard swing. The weight does most of the work for you. After I got my ice plant trimmed back I started looking for other uses for it. Great for chopping up vegetation for the compost pile, cutting out heavy weeds and light brush and you can even chop down small trees with it.
This is the one I bought except that I got the one with the wood handle. I like the feel of good wood in my hand.

 

[digitS']

Let's see . . . Stokes garden accessories . . . Rootcutter, 6" blade. That doesn't seem like much to me. . . your Parang looks bigger than that . . .

That Garden Bandit tool would work but maybe not on your ice plant, Hoodat. Yeah, we used to take a hacksaw blade and either wrap it around a handle for a loop weeding tool or leave it straight for getting in tight. That was in the rose greenhouse. I bet they'd take out Marshall's dreaded oxalis in an instant. Those kind of weeds.

No. no more good weeding tools in Stokes . . . Garden Hands! What the heck are those??! Couple of dust pans that you slap together to pick up dry leaves? Shoot.

Steve

 

[so lucky]

Very elegant design. I think I would prefer the wood handle, too. How much do you think it weighs?
Right now, one of my favorite tools in the garden is a serrated edge knife; possibly a Ginzu knife that I never did like for kitchen use. It stays sharp, doesn't rust (I leave it lying in the garden) and is used to cut weeds, roots, dig holes, prune unruly plants, trim veggies, etc.

 

[hoodat]

Mine has a 12.5 inch blade and weighs a little over two pounds. Most of the weight is on the forward end since that's where you do most of your cutting. Rust can be a problem since it's carbon steel. It has to be cleaned and oiled after each use or the rust will get it. I use light grease instead of oil.

 

[thistlebloom]

I just watched several you-tube reviews of your parang Hoodat. Looks like a great tool. I'm thinking it would make a nice gift for my husband. We have plenty of material around here to keep it busy, and it might make tree thinning and brush clearing into more of an adventure than the chainsaw and loppers he currently employs. Handy to have in case of zombie attacks too.

 

[so lucky]

Mine has a 12.5 inch blade and weighs a little over two pounds. Most of the weight is on the forward end since that's where you do most of your cutting. Rust can be a problem since it's carbon steel. It has to be cleaned and oiled after each use or the rust will get it. I use light grease instead of oil.

This is a very polite way of telling me not to leave the parang out in the garden, lying amongst the decaying marigolds, eh, Hoodat?

 

[hoodat]

Zombies in your garden? Boy there's a real pest problem.

 

[hoodat]

Mine has a 12.5 inch blade and weighs a little over two pounds. Most of the weight is on the forward end since that's where you do most of your cutting. Rust can be a problem since it's carbon steel. It has to be cleaned and oiled after each use or the rust will get it. I use light grease instead of oil.

This is a very polite way of telling me not to leave the parang out in the garden, lying amongst the decaying marigolds, eh, Hoodat?

Couple weeks of that and it would be ready for the trash. Before I got the parang I used a Chinese cleaver and made the mistake of leaving it out in the weather. Time went by; I forgot it was there and it got hidden by weeds. When it finally turned up it was a wreck; rusty blade and rotted handle.

 

[Mapdoctor]

Nice, I might have to get one of those.