Interesting info about the machete!
'Interesting', yeah, for a bunch of reasons. The lack of significant improvement in statisitical lethality from whenever it was BCE to 1960s CE. That it was that odd little sword, not a manly man's sword, but the very utilitiarian secondary arm of the legions. Candor requires that I be open about my biases, note my avatar, the best all around close combat weapon against an unarmored opponent in history, the U.S. 1850 saber. Note also that it was militarily obsolescent when it was developed; the reliable repeating handgun had been in existence for decades. And the guys who did the study were trying to drum up money for their pet project, so their numbers can't be taken at face value.

On a more contemporary note, Shmedlap has an excellent point. The shear number of people killed with machetes in Rwanda during the troubles is staggering. Note also, that Che Guevara's coach Bayo, encouraged machete's as a 'entry-level weapon for guerrillas. Any FARC SMEs have anything more contemporary to add?

Adam L,
It won't be long till someone posts the optimal specifications online.
As Cavguy's apparent hero would say "Always with the negative vibes". Yer probably right though.