After months of use and one camping trip, I've come to the conclusion that this large knife/machete is well worth the money.
Why? Here are the pro's and cons I've found:
Pro's:

#1 Well balanced with good grip makes for quick and nearly effortless use

#2 Stays sharp even with heavy use (never had to sharpen it yet)

#3 Sturdy, and well built. the blade is approx. 1/8th inches thick

#4 The sheath has not fallen apart, unlike those of other reviewers.
Though it's not the best, it works.

#5 Slices through most branches in a matter of seconds, and can take down an 8 inch tree in a few minutes.

#6 No actual experience in this category, but this would make one bad@$$ Zombie killer:)

Cons

#1 The biggest, and ONLY problem with this machete is that the black coating on the blade has started rubbing off, but I don't yet know if this will affect the blade in any way. Fingers crossed

I don't have any more than the one Con, but I have a few minor complaints that DO NOT, in any way detract from the quality of this tool.

#1 FALSE ADVERTISING!!! DO NOT BUY!!! BEWARE!!! Just kidding, but seriously: The Cutlass is advertised as a machete, but is in fact a large knife. Proof? a machete has a blade length of 13"+, the Cutlass has an 11" blade.

#2 All foreign made. The knife is made in Taiwan, and the sheath is made in Mexico.

Anyway, just my two cents. hope that, and the 100 other 5 star reviews help you decide to buy this.

This Ka-bar CUTLESS is phenomenal! It has not failed me once from the mountain, campground and even back yard. Every task has been handled with ease and comfortabilitly. The Kraton G handle is astounding. I love this CUTLESS blade because its just sexy in general. And you know what they say, if it looks good, it'll cut good. It came to me quickly and razor sharp. And every question I had about ka-bars were answered after my first few swings! The blade is coated and is just amazing for lack of better words. Ill definatly rely on ka-bars perhaps for the rest of my life!

Update 02/19/13
Upon reading other reviews about the carbon steel floding and becoming damaged; if the knife is used improperly or hit against an object such as metal or rock bending or chipping of the blade is to be expected. thats just a sliver of common sense. on the trail, this thing is bored, once you leave the trail and are faced with heavy brush thats when this knife shines!yesterday i ventured forth to a new mountain of which i had plans to conquer, clearing a trail was easy with this Ka-bar, and although this is the only Ka-bar knife ive personally owned its not the only one that ive handled. And definatly not the only one that ill buy. the jist of this update i want to speak of the 3 main choices i had when deciding which knife to buy from Amazon of course ( cuz theyve got the best prices lets be honest ). i was torn 3 ways between the cuttless, the grass machete, and the kukri. you cant go wrong with either one (unless you use it improperly). my personal preference was a long blade with ample cutting power and a good heft to the it, something that will seperate a branch in a few easy swings. thats exactly what i got when i chose the cuttless machete. ive carried this thing through what could be heaven and hell, and it has not failed me at all. i can recall a specific event that required me to dig the blade into the ground tip first (to use as a handle on a descending platform)and the knife held my weight while remaining clean and still very sharp, a quick brush off and it was back to bush wackin'. processing wood is a breeze, and even when i had a little field and stream knife for what some people call "fine" work i still found that my Ka-bar did a better job. im gonna vere away for a moment and say that the sheath is absolute garbage, but it does its job and my knife hasent been lost so for that im grateful. weather you choose the cuttless, grass, big brother, or kukri your gonna get a knife that comes razor sharp, from a company thats an american icon for cutlery excelence since before WWII. YOU CANT GO WRONG WITH KABAR!

This is the winner to me. You should always carry at least 2 knives with you when you go off into the wilderness or in nature. One large and 1 small,but if your state allows and you want to gamble and carry just 1, take the Ka bar cutlass. I think this is the king jack of all trades knife period. It will chop and split wood and do all the small knife tasks as well.If weight vs usage is a concern this is clearly the answer.I got the edge extremely sharp. I think I could cut the head off of a deer with 1 swing It will fit in your pack or you can strap it on the outside. The feel is great as well. the sheath is leather and nylon with a swinging belt loop that straps the handle. It is not my favorite but it is ok. I don't know why I did not write a review before. I have had it for several months and it is keeping it's edge very well. I think I paid 42 bucks for this. It was worth it.I own several knives and machetes. I am really happy and satisfied with this blade the most.I own a lot of Ka-bar knives just because when I am looking for a good deal on a particular style of knife, Ka-bar just seems to have what I am looking for. Thinking about buying a second one to be a 2 fisted cutlass machete swinging mad man.
UPDATE 9/2013- After use of all the knives axes and Machetes I have I have to say that This is the most useful. Again I don't think you should try to venture out into the woods with just 1 knife and if you did I would take this over any knife 9 inches or under. I have given this blade a respectable beating and it has earned my trust and respect. If you ever got lost or stranded or injured and needed to prolong your stay in the woods and needed to use the woods to construct shelter, traps, fuel for fire, or whatever this is by far a better option than whatever fixed blade knife under 9 inches that you would carry and yes I bought another 1.

I've been reading machete reviews for weeks in anticipation of my camping trip last night. I was definitely hesitant to spend this much on a machete because I've only used cheap ones and know how poorly they chop wood.

I decided to buy this because it had so many great reviews, and the videos people put on YouTube looked promising. It came in a nice package with an awesome little sheath. I like that the sheath can hang down no matter what orientation your body is in. It's comfortable to stand, sit, or lay down with it on your belt.

As for the blade itself, it came pre-sharpened with what I assume is the correct angle for cutting wood. It was so sharp that I was able to shave my arm with it.

Last night I cut all of the firewood for a 20 degree night with ease. If the branches were about an inch or less in diameter, it took just 1 swipe, even hardwood. I was able to cut through 4" diameter hardwood in under a minute. It's not tiring either. I was a little weary of the short length of this blade, but now that I've used it, I'd say it's perfect for what I use it for.

When it got light this morning, I checked the blade edge, and it's still every bit as sharp as before. You can still take 1 inch deep cuts into hardwood even after a day of hard use, just keep in mind that you cut at an angle with a machete.

The handle is rubber coated and feels great in your hand.

Everything about this thing is perfect, I'm completely satisfied with this purchase.

A word of caution though, I accidentally sliced off one of the leather straps to snap the sheath shut; missed the sheath and the blade cut through it with ease. I didn't even realize it happened.

tl;dr: If you want to cut wood like a boss, get this machete and throw away your hatchet.

EDIT 3/22/15
I still take this on every camping trip I take, usually 15-20 nights a year and it's my main cutting tool. I baton, chop, carve, and dig with it and still have the original edge on it, no sharpening required.

Back home in Jamaica there were street vendors who would chop coconuts and sell them for a few cents. They could open a coconut with three quick strikes (i.e., chop away the husk and then crack the top of the nut inside just enough so that the coconut meat was left intact). You could then tap out the hole and drink the water from inside. Once that was done, you'd hand it back to the vendor and with one strike they'd cut the coconut in two to get to the coconut meat. They'd also slice off a piece of the husk to use as a spoon.

I'm happy to say that I can now do the same with this machete. Well, it takes about five strikes to clear the husk, but I can chop it open with a single strike now. It's an almost perfect weight for this sort of task. Not too heavy that you'd get tired, but enough so that gravity can do lots of the work. It also retains an edge so that slicing off the "spoon" is easy.

The balance is pretty good, though the center of weight is a little more forward than I expected (but absolutely correct for this sort of tool). The handle material is durable but hard; i.e., it's not a rubberized type of handle. If you intend to use this machete for a good length of time you might consider wearing gloves. If you don't then after the initial blisters your hands will be tougher than mine :D. As to the blade, it is equally sturdy and durable. I went through about a dozen coconuts without sharpening. The only caveat is that the blade angle is not the same as my Smith's Carbide/Ceramic sharpener so you should check before using a fixed-angle sharpener.

OK, why four stars? The coating on the blade is not completely uniform. This *might* be by design, but from my eyes it appears more like a quality control issue. This said, this doesn't affect the utility of the blade in any way. As noted, the handle is not ideal for me. My hands tend to perspire so I would prefer a handle similar to the Gerber LMF II.