Machetes vs Green Coconuts

**Pict** · 02-01-2010, 12:06 PM

YouTube - Ten Green Coconuts

This video is based on a simple concept, machetes and green coconuts. Most people in the Northern Hemisphere think that coconut water comes neatly packaged in sterile boxes. Reality is somewhat harsher.

If the splitting of green coconuts with machetes makes you feel uneasy or you have some moral objection to the eating of green coconuts or the splitting of green coconuts with machetes then please look away. These green coconuts were raised for human consumption and splitting them wide open with sharp steel machetes is simply a daily reality of life in the tropics.

Please don’t search for any deeper meaning or allegory in this video. It is not a commentary on modern American liberalism. I promise that I was NOT thinking of Nancy Reid or Harry Pelosi when I made this video. It really is just a simple video about green coconuts, machetes, and the people who love them.

Machetes in order of appearance

#1. 14 inch Tramontina Bolo

#2. 14 inch Tramontina Bolo

#3. 16 inch Latin Pattern Tramontina

#4. 14 inch Tramontina Bolo

#5. 12 inch Ontario CT1

#6. Condor Puerto Rican Machete (I had just received this one as a gift)

#7. I put the Cold Steel Bushman in this video to give some form of comparison between a seven inch knife and a machete. The Job was finished with a 13 Inch SAICO.

#8. 13 Inch SAICO Heavy Machete (SAICO is a Brazilian brand)

#9. 20 Inch Chies Machete

#10. 14 inch Modified Tramontina Golok of my own design

The Giant Toad is commonly called a Sapo Boi or Bull Toad. This one lives in our yard and happened to show up while we were filming. Hes so ugly even the Pit Bull leaves him alone.

Mac

**Themeek** · 02-01-2010, 12:42 PM

Great vid, seems like you lose a lot of the water that way though.

I was wondering, what is that tool you used to poke a hole in the coconut to drain it, and where can one be found?

**rebel** · 02-01-2010, 12:56 PM

Thanks for the vid.

**Pict** · 02-01-2010, 12:57 PM

The coconuts are empty when they are split. We drain them in the kitchen first. I only showed the whole process with the last one.

Those tools are common here in Brazil. I don't know of a US importer.

Mac

**rebel** · 02-01-2010, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by Pict

The coconuts are empty when they are split. We drain them in the kitchen first. I only showed the whole process with the last one.

Those tools are common here in Brazil. I don't know of a US importer.

Mac

Could one be made from a piece of pipe?

**Pict** · 02-01-2010, 01:01 PM

Yes, there are cheap versions of that tool made here from pipe but they end up getting twisted. That one's heavy duty stainless. They cost about $15.00 here but if you drink coconuts like we do it's worth every penny. Mac

**rebel** · 02-01-2010, 01:04 PM

Mac,
Which machete did you like the best in your vid?

**crashdive123** · 02-01-2010, 01:27 PM

Thanks. Very entertaining video.

**hunter63** · 02-01-2010, 01:32 PM

Great vid, the first couple with bare feet gave me the willies though......I'm a steel toe kind of guy, have one scar on my ankle from a glancing ax
Thanks.

**Pict** · 02-01-2010, 01:44 PM

The way they are set on the railroad ties and the and the angle of the chop don't allow it to go anywhere but into the wood. I actually try to not stick it too deep through the coconut and into the wood. The blade is coming straight down and winds up horizontal in most cases.

My favorite? Might as well ask that of my kids. I have used the 14 inch Bolo as my kitchen machete for years but that Condor has got my attention recently. Mac

**Pict** · 02-02-2010, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by rebel

Mac,
Which machete did you like the best in your vid?

I have used the 14 inch Bolo as my kitchen machete for years. In the bush I most often carry the 16 inch Tramontina. In North America I carry the 12 inch Ontario.

That Condor Puerto Rican is a very scary blade that will serve well in this role as a kitchen blade and also may come in handy for Home Defense. If I had to cut my way out of a fight with a machete, that would be the one.

The Long 20 inch is one of the ones I use for clearing vacant lots.

The cut down Tramontina Golok is going to be my new utility bush blade for much of the terrain I hike through. I wanted a blade that cuts like a 16 inch Tramontina in a shorter package. That was a prototype but I think I got it right.

Mac

**Batch** · 02-02-2010, 11:01 PM

I just used the standard Mora to cut the husk off of a green coconut.

I would like to get a hold of that spike you used.

I am interested in any tips on coconut harvesting. I have the following:

Put the nut in a cooler environment such as a freezer to loosen the meat from the shell.

limit your coconut water (we called it milk growing up) to 3 cups a day as it has a strong laxative effect.

To get the coconut oil grind the meat and add water and then squeeze through a cloth. Boil the water out and you'll have coconut oil for a food additive or fuel...

The fastest way I know to husk a coconut is a pick axe stuck in the ground. I have seen other tools all based on the same principle.

**Rick** · 02-02-2010, 11:31 PM

You can tap a ripe coconut around its equator with the handle of a knife or some other hard object and it will crack open. I've never tried it on the green ones.

**Batch** · 02-03-2010, 12:19 AM

Rick, that is the nut its self. I take a heavy blade like the back of a cleaver and work it around the nut.

**Rick** · 02-03-2010, 07:52 AM

Oh. Well, where I live nuts are about the only thing you encounter. Along with the occasional coconut.

**Pict** · 02-03-2010, 10:55 AM

"limit your coconut water (we called it milk growing up) to 3 cups a day as it has a strong laxative effect."

I'm not sure this applies to coconut water from a green, unripe coconut. The mature dry, hard coconut milk is much stronger tasting and I can't drink much of it at all. I have drunk as many as three green coconuts in a day and haven't noticed any ill effects, that's about a liter and half.

I have heard that both the Americans and Japaneses used green coconut water as an IV during the war in the Pacific.

"As a tree sap, coconut water is essentially the "blood" of the coconut palm. The electrolyte profile of coconut water is somewhat similar to human plasma and for that reason it has been used by doctors as an intravenous solution and injected directly into the bloodstream to prevent dehydration. When freshly extracted from the coconut, this liquid is free from germs and parasites. Doctors working in tropical climates have often used the water from coconuts as IV solutions, a common practice during world war 2 and in Vietnam where commercial IV solutions were often in short supply.* Water from unopened coconut is uncontaminated by bacteria, fungi, or other pathogens. Therefore, if properly prepared, it cancan be given intravenously without fear of introducing microorganisms. Recent research on the use of coconut water as an intravenous fluid has shown it to compare favorable with commercial solutions.* Coconut water does not harm red blood cells, is non-allergenic, and is readily accepted by the body. It is considered a safe and useful means of rehydration, particularly when a patient suffers from a potassium deficiency.* In fact, coconut water has been shown to be just as effective as commercial electrolyte solutions in prolonging survival times in sick patients.* Researchers have demonstrated that coconut water can be given through intravenous infusion by as much as one fourth to one third of the patients body weight without complications."

MORE ON COCONUT WATER

Mac

**Rick** · 02-03-2010, 03:16 PM

I learn more stuff on this forum. I have never heard of using coconut water as a substitute for plasma.

**owl_girl** · 02-03-2010, 05:15 PM

what makes them fizzy like soda? they dont taste fermented. maybe its just starting. but thats how i like them, sweet and fizzy.

**Trabitha** · 02-03-2010, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by Pict

"limit your coconut water (we called it milk growing up) to 3 cups a day as it has a strong laxative effect."

I'm not sure this applies to coconut water from a green, unripe coconut. The mature dry, hard coconut milk is much stronger tasting and I can't drink much of it at all. I have drunk as many as three green coconuts in a day and haven't noticed any ill effects, that's about a liter and half.

I have heard that both the Americans and Japaneses used green coconut water as an IV during the war in the Pacific.

"As a tree sap, coconut water is essentially the "blood" of the coconut palm. The electrolyte profile of coconut water is somewhat similar to human plasma and for that reason it has been used by doctors as an intravenous solution and injected directly into the bloodstream to prevent dehydration. When freshly extracted from the coconut, this liquid is free from germs and parasites. Doctors working in tropical climates have often used the water from coconuts as IV solutions, a common practice during world war 2 and in Vietnam where commercial IV solutions were often in short supply.* Water from unopened coconut is uncontaminated by bacteria, fungi, or other pathogens. Therefore, if properly prepared, it cancan be given intravenously without fear of introducing microorganisms. Recent research on the use of coconut water as an intravenous fluid has shown it to compare favorable with commercial solutions.* Coconut water does not harm red blood cells, is non-allergenic, and is readily accepted by the body. It is considered a safe and useful means of rehydration, particularly when a patient suffers from a potassium deficiency.* In fact, coconut water has been shown to be just as effective as commercial electrolyte solutions in prolonging survival times in sick patients.* Researchers have demonstrated that coconut water can be given through intravenous infusion by as much as one fourth to one third of the patients body weight without complications."

MORE ON COCONUT WATER

Mac

I was going to ask that exact question! Thanks Mac!