>>935811What I have learned from trying to answer questions like this is that you base your gear on the environment you are going into, what you intend to do there and what you have to be prepared for. Starting with the gear without considering where and on what you intend to apply that gear will only lead to confusing and uninformed choices.
In the case of bladed tools, most can be used interchangeably for nearly all blade related tasks(with enough creativity and determination), but their specific characteristics are usually a response to a certain common problem or primary intended application.
A machete isn't as good at processing wood as a hatchet, but unlike a hatchet it excels at clearing dense light vegetation. So for jungles, rainforests and swamps a machete would be a better pick, but for most other areas a hatches would be better. If you are going out in a desert you might forgo both of them.
Bush(craft?) knives are typically intended for more precision woodwork, but won't be ideal for processing game, where as game knives are harder to use for woodwork.
All these tools can in some shape or form do what any of the other does, but processing game with a hatchet will quickly become a cumbersome chore, and batoning wood with a game knife will eventually snap it.
So, in summation, a tool can only be the "best" at a given task under a given set of conditions. If context is not specified then there is no metric against which to determine merit. Hence, there is no universal "best" tool for anything. People that claim some tool is the best are either trying to shill shiny crapware or lack /out/ experience in more than one environment.
