Viable melee weapons

It seems to me the melee weapons in general are extremely underwhelming. Especially now that spears have been split into two with the addition of javelins, using a standard spear seems more like a liability than a help. They do the same damage as a knife, don't seem to have a range bonus, but they have dramatically lower attack speed. What exactly is their intended purpose? Obviously you want to avoid melee confrontations as much as possible, but there should be SOME recourse when it is unavoidable. Having to rely on simply swinging a knife because it does damage the fastest at melee range is honestly ridiculous. This should also apply to the machete in tier 4. Why is that not an actual sword? Could it not do SIGNIFICANTLY more damage than a knife, at the cost of being a VERY poor skinning tool? TLDR: Buff spears and the machete (and/or add real swords ;D) to be legitimate melee weapons. A knife being far superior in a melee confrontation seems a bit silly.