You should be able to rely on every tool in your arsenal, and your machete is no different. The best way to ensure this is to fully customize a blade from the ground up. The best way to do that is to follow the steps in the video below.

Crafting your own blade is no easy task, especially if you choose to follow this method and don't use power tools. However, it's also one of the only ways you can get a customized blade in which you can be assured of the quality of the tool without having to drop a small fortune with a craftsman to make the machete for you.

What makes this video so useful as an educational tool is that the smith shows you how you can create this blade without the aid of power tools. You may then follow that example or make things easier on yourself and use modern technology. But if SHTF and that's no longer possible, at least you know how to do things the old-fashioned way (minus the torch).