My philosophy on guns and knives is the same. Buy what works and spend as little as possible. Guns will be taken from you if you use them, so don’t make it a catastrophic loss. Also, if you lose the knife (for whatever reason) it shouldn’t hurt. They’re tools, not keepsakes.
I have several manufacturer makes of the standard US GI issue machetes made over the years. The cost for these is extremely reasonable and the quality has not diminished significantly even from ones made in the 60s. From what I can tell, the cost cutting operations have been made in the sheaths and sharpener areas. There are also versions with sawbacks on them for wood, bones, etc.
Bang for the buck as a survival type edge weapon, this is high on my list.