Condor Barong?

R

rpn

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
6,042
Anyone have one or are these just getting released? If you have one, what's the scoop? Is it fast in hand? Looks like fun.

C'mon 42blades- I know you have the info...and the blades! :D:thumbup:
 
What? It's like you're on someone's mailing list or something. :D I'm interested too.
 
Funny you should be asking when I just put them on the site. It's like you have ESP or something... :p;) It's a sweet piece of steel! Nice and fast in the hand but with a good heft for chopping. The flat grind is very nicely done, and the belly sits low enough for you to pinch the spine like a chef's knife and use it on a board. The fine point will pierce or drill, and the lower balance and sweet spot placement allow you to reach high tip velocity quickly for taking out vegetation or brambles.

The sheath is different from the snap-flap design you see on a lot of pics online. It's a taco-folded one piece now, like the Boomslang and Rodan/Varan/Kumunga are.
 
^^^^lol! Ain't the internet great?

Thanks for the scoop! Dfarmer makes a mean one I've been drooling over...thought this might be a way to get my feet wet.
 
Barongs are interesting in that they're one of the few chopper classes that demonstrate what I call a "mezzo-balance." The sweet spot is further down the blade than on most choppers (its "belly" is very "full" so to speak), and this is what provides the balanced compromise between being able to handle both vegetation and wood. You can tackle thorns with the barong and not scratch up your knuckles because of the fast tip. This is more important (if you have to face brambles frequently) than the extra chopping power afforded by a tip-weighted design. You might have to stand a bit closer when chopping dense wood, but you're not as likely to injure your hand by chopping a log as compared to thorny plants.
 
hmmmm...I was wondering where the sweet spot is as I studied the photo on your website.
 
It's essentially the region surrounding the broadest spot on the blade. Widest part marked in red. Effective sweet spot circled in green. :)

CTKBarongMacheteSweetSpot.jpg
 
Last edited:
jayinhk said:
Wow, that looks pretty interesting. Do the Condor machetes come sharp?
Click to expand...

All of the ones I have handled have. I am sure 42 can give you an idea of what % does, as he deals them, but at SMKW all of the ones I handled were definitely sharp when I was there.
 
I like it. There was plenty of steel on mine so I put a handle on it.

attachment.php
 
Favorite in the condor line, i put bicycle tube on the handle for more grip. Would make a good boar hunting knife imo. Showed it to my cousins who hunt boar in hawaii and almost lost it to them.

ron_m80 - i like what you did with your handle, is that the original sanded down?
 
jayinhk said:
Wow, that looks pretty interesting. Do the Condor machetes come sharp?
Click to expand...

I'd say that about 90% of them come suitably sharp--at least paper slicing. Out of that 90% I'd say that about a third of them are dry-shaving sharp (or 30% of the total number) :)
 
dakine said:
ron_m80 - i like what you did with your handle, is that the original sanded down?
Click to expand...

No. I used a block of Micarta from AKS, milled out the center, ground down the tang, welded on a threaded end, and epoxied it all together with an aluminum spacer.

It actually was alot of work.
 
ron_m80 said:
No. I used a block of Micarta from AKS, milled out the center, ground down the tang, welded on a threaded end, and epoxied it all together with an aluminum spacer.

It actually was alot of work.
Click to expand...

Wowza! That IS a lot of work! Came out great, though, so it looks like it was time well spent!
 
I have to say my Barong has been my go to chopper for months now. Once I got used to the sweet spot being basically centered on the blade, I started using it much more. It is the equal of my kukri machete for chopping, though that is likely largely due to the much thinner edge profile I put on it. Still plenty durable, and as a bonus, it throws well too.
 
I think it'd look nice with the handle of the Speed Bowie. Pretty close to a traditional handle form. Maybe if they did an 18" one... :)

SpeedBarong.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top