M1942 Machete
| Factions | Weapon | Icon | Damage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Attack | Secondary Attack | |||
 US |
 M1942 Machete |
 |
42 63 headshot |
Charged 84 (25 bleed) |
| Full name | Weapon Type | Place of Origin | Date | Manufacturer | Blade Length | Total Length | Weapon Script Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FN | Melee | USA | 1942 | Arm | in ( mm) | in ( mm) | weapon_m1942 |
The M1942 Machete is a U.S. military machete with an approximately 18-inch blade, intended primarily as a field tool for clearing brush and vegetation. It was issued across multiple theaters and is most associated with jungle and tropical operations where troops needed a durable cutting tool. While not designed as a fighting knife, it could serve as an emergency melee weapon at very close range.
HISTORY
The U.S. standardized the M1942 pattern during World War II to support operations in environments where entrenching tools and knives were inefficient for cutting trails, vines, and dense undergrowth. The design emphasized a long, robust blade with riveted grip scales and a simple scabbard suited to field carry, and it was produced by multiple contractors to meet wartime demand. Surviving wartime examples in major museum collections show the typical markings and construction used on issued machetes of the period.
After World War II, M1942-pattern machetes remained a practical, low-tech tool and continued to appear where U.S. forces operated in heavy vegetation. In the Vietnam era, machetes were carried for trail clearing, improving fields of fire, and routine camp tasks, and the M1942 pattern could be encountered through remaining stocks and continued use of standard-issue field equipment. In practice, many units also used locally obtained or commercially sourced machetes, but the M1942 remains one of the best-documented U.S. military machete patterns tied to jungle operations across the mid-20th century.
Sources
- Imperial War Museums – machete, US 1943 “True Temper” (collection entry)
- Smithsonian (National Museum of American History) – True Temper 1943 US Machete (collection entry)
- MIL-M-2301A, Machete, 18-Inch Blade, M1942 (U.S. military specification)
- M. H. Cole, US Military Knives 1861–1968 (reference work)