You may recall seeing Manu Toigo on the show “Naked and Afraid”. After an 8-year stint in the Australian Army, Manu spent several years recovering from injuries. During this period of recovery and self-discovery she found herself in acting school. After a student exchange in Seattle, she emigrated to the US and spent some time in the contract training world as a role player and instructor in scenario based training. This parlayed into some private investigation and personal protection work.
Eventually, she ended up on the show, “Naked and Afraid” in a jungle scenario, in Panama, leveraging the survival skills she learned growing up. On this episode, she used an Ontario machete. Based on this experience she was determined to create something more versatile than that single use instrument. This is what she has come up with.
Offered in 18″ and 24″ models, the Manu Toigo Signature Series Survival Machetes are manufactured from 1070 High Carbon Steel with either G10 or Micarta handles. The design incorporates several features Manu wishes she would have had at hand during her Panamanian adventure including a saw, gut hook and lash points which come in handy when using the hook to retrieve flora from trees.
Manu is still getting this project off the ground and so far she only has custom, low-rate production models. In order to get this into full production, she is looking for viable contacts in the following areas:
– A production knife sheath maker, producing Kydex and Nylon sheaths.
– US Based machine shop with blade making capability.
– Manufacturer of phenolic laminate like G10, including maker of production knife scales in OD Green, Coyote and Camo.
– Saw and or knife blade manufacturer.
Email: info@panaceax.com
panaceax.com/shop/precision-tools/sm18-survival-tool
