An Announcement Regarding the Baryonyx Machete

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

Baryonyx walkeri
Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
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2013 is looking to be an exciting year for Condor, but will sadly be without the Baryonyx Machete. I received word a few days ago that Condor plans to be a little more conservative with new model releases this year and putting a lot of focused energy into improving things like quality control and production speed. As a result, they have backed out on the Baryonyx Machete and it will not be included in their 2013 line. While it was tough to hear the news after years of effort bringing this project to life, I fully support their decision. The bright side is that I'm working with Condor to push ahead with the project as a private label item and a sample request has been made. I know many of you have been following this project over the past few years and I wanted to thank you guys for your support and let you know where things are in the process. I'll keep you all informed with how things progress. :)

Mods--if you consider this the wrong place for this thread feel free to move it!
 
How did I not know you were working on this?! I mean, I'm a little disappointed that it won't be released with Condor this year, but I'm significantly more excited that you're getting a machete design into production!
 
It's been in the works for a few years now. :) I'm just glad that I'll be able to get it made by them in some form or another even if I'm footing the bill. :p It's my number one choice for a chopper in the North American temperate zones. I'd feel confident being dropped off in the woods in the middle of winter with it as my only edged tool--and I want to share! Everyone I've let play around with the prototype has been immediately impressed, and the opinion hasn't faded with extended use! The sample requests that were put in were for one in 1/8" stock and one in 3/32" to see if it's still rigid enough in thinner stock. I'd had 3/32" stock in mind when originally designing it but when I had the prototype made 1/8" was the thinnest I could find in the width I needed. Fortunately Condor doesn't have that problem. :D
 
Well, given your experience and sensibilities I'm pretty pumped about this. I've come to really like machetes and I'm suspecting this is gonna be a good one. Any chance of some pics?
 
Here's my personal prototype. :)

CIMG0283.jpg
 
Hey Forty2, well this a bit dissapointing really, when do you reckon you will have more prototypes available? have you thought about just having condor or someone else make up heat treated blanks for you then handling and grinding them yourself?
 
stewey1 said:
Hey Forty2, well this a bit dissapointing really, when do you reckon you will have more prototypes available? have you thought about just having condor or someone else make up heat treated blanks for you then handling and grinding them yourself?
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Oh I won't be producing anymore prototypes--those were done purely for my own use and the original design submission. However, I'm working on having Condor produce the Baryonyx for me as a private label item. :)

Insipid Moniker said:
Nice! Looks reminiscent of some Filipino blades.
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It was mostly inspired by English billhooks, but it does have a bit of that sort of feel to it, doesn't it? :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Mods--if you consider this the wrong place for this thread feel free to move it!
Click to expand...

I say it's a good place for it, especially for a design like the Baryonyx Machete. There is something primeval about it, a tool for our historical place in the great forests.
 
Thanks! It's an absolute brute of a tool with enough handle length to be used two-handed if need be, but short enough to stuff in a pack well. I can close it in my Maxpedition Kodiak with only the very end of the handle poking out. The sweet spot is absolutely massive and it'll cleave through 1" thick seasoned oak in a single blow, yet it'll shave a good fuzz stick and I'm confident that I could field dress small game with it if I had to. The prototype is ALMOST everything I could ever desire in a "do all" chopper. If the private label production solidifies as it should then it WILL be everything I could desire. I'm really hoping the 3/32" sample will perform like I expect it will--I think it'll knock a good chunk off the weight without dropping raw chopping performance by much. That combined with the lighter handle ought to go a long way towards fine-tuning it. If it goes too flexible for good batoning and splitting then I'll stick with 1/8" though. :)
 
If you no not have success with Condor, you could try one of the Italian makers - Angelo, Leonelli or Rinaldi as they will all make batches of special blades to order. As a last resort there are also some good Indian and Pakistani makers, but quality control may be more of a problem. Good luck - I hope it comes out in 2013 - I'll add it to my wants list for this year...
 
Haha--thanks! If something falls through with Condor for some reason then I have some other domestic companies I can try contacting. The European production route wouldn't be feasible right now since Condor has a US presence that helps make importation less of a headache (as well as CAFTA, which simplifies things) whereas importation from Europe is a different beast that I'm not prepared for yet.
 
I'm thinking I'll be having them do them with a "natural" heat treatment scale finish and, if possible, green handles since the upcoming Bushcraft Parang uses that color and I quite like it. Also I'm toying with the idea of their super heavy-duty nylon for the sheaths instead of leather but will have to see if that bumps up the minimum order quantity.
 
The one thing missing from a lot of higher end machetes is a decent sheath, if you can make that happen that would be great.
 
We'll put it this way--as far as I'm concerned it'll either have a good solidly functioning sheath or it won't have one at all. I never understood how some companies would make people spend money on a crappy non-functioning sheath and then have to get a custom one done anyway. If Condor's nylon wasn't so darn good I wouldn't even be considering the possibility. :) By the way, here's the drawing I had for the leather sheath layout. Obviously the stitches wouldn't actually run through where the edge is--it was just a rough concept sketch. ;)

BaryonyxSheathTransparent.jpg
 
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