I'm constantly in search of the perfect trail clearing knife.
I do a lot of mountain biking and trail building, (actually, in addition to owning a bike shop I also own a trail building company2guns). Building a trail, in its heart, is finding a favorable corridor.
A large knife is the perfect tool that doesn't weigh too much or get caught on things, and the bush here is dense and low- not a lot of huge leafy plants where you need a lot of reach like in the tropics. A machete is a little too big and its springiness is quite dangerous dealing with the fibrous plants like we have around here.
Precision is key as well, and anything over 10 inches or so becomes more difficult to control, especially in close quarters. Packability, for biking is important too.
In my neck of the woods, I have to deal with stringy, fibrous bushy plants like salal, salmon berry and broom, and ferns. Sometimes I have to chop wood with a knife, but I also carry a light weight folding saw, so chopping wood isn't a defining feature of this design although it will be heavy enough due to the stock thickness to be pretty effective. Broom is a real ***** to chop sometimes, but this design will probably be more effective for the limbs and the smaller plants. The edge geometry is going to make it more of a slicer. Especially out near the tip.
Anyway, I could blather on all night, and it's time to go home!
Thanks for asking2thumbs