About Us

If you, like us, have been transplanted from a different world, then you know what it’s like to tackle a task in this world, knowing it could be so much better with a tool from the old world. Palawan Blade was born from this experience.

My name is Christopher George. My brother, Timothy, and I both spent years of our childhood and early adult lives living with an indigenous tribe of people living on the Philippine island of Palawan. We loved the land, the people, their language, the homes we built and lived in, and the tools we used to build them. The most important of these tools was the Palawan machete, forged by local blacksmiths from old truck springs and sharpened with stones. Fastened with a mango wood handle, these machetes spoiled us with their tenacity and utility. We and our friends built houses with these machetes, cutting down trees and stripping them of their bark, harvesting rattan, digging the holes for the posts, cutting the kugun grass for our roofs, and splitting the bamboo for the floors. We spent days bushwhacking trails up the tall mountains, to conquer vistas seen by few. We dug roots, built and managed fires to cook them, and peeled, cut and served them, all with the Palawan machete. The Palawan machete faced it all effectively and with ease.

Christopher George, Co-Founder

Timothy George, Co-Founder

We both eventually found our way back to America for education, jobs, and to build families of our own. But even though life in this country can be a step removed from daily interaction with nature, we both found ourselves frequently missing our old machetes. We had brought our blades back with us, but the mango wood handles had cracked from dry weather and fatigue. There was no more mango wood to carve new handles; no craftsman to quickly shape the wood and attach it so it would not easily dislodge. Our blades became useless, out of place in a foreign world; but every time a fence row was to be cleared, a garden to be prepared, a backpacking or camping trip, marshmallows sticks for the kids, a new trail on the back 40, shoot, even building a house — we missed those blades.