How to Swing a Machete

It's your passport to the jungle worlds of Livingstone and Kipling—and about the only socially acceptable excuse for wielding a knife longer than your arm.

Here's how to do it right: "Keep your wrist parallel to the cut, and always cut at an angle," says Michael Fay, who swung a machete hundreds of thousands of times during the Megatransect, his 2,000-mile [3,220-kilometer] bushwhack through the jungles of Congo and Gabon (see Adventure, July/August 2001, "The Uncharted World of Michael Fay"—photos and audio from the expedition online).

The three steps to a proper stroke are (1) let the shoulder come down, (2) lead with the elbow, and (3) at the last second, use a flick of the wrist. Chop down on woody saplings, and use an upward flick at the flimsy herbaceous stuff.

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January/February 2002:
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