Condor Bushcraft Basic 5 OR Blackjack Grunt?

T

the kid

Joined
May 5, 2008
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I'm looking for a knife to fool around around the house and my focus is on batoning.
I have a small patch of wood behind the house and plan to nick some dry wood and baton it just for fun and for a fire. I could use my axe but I think a knife could be more fun. :cool:

I will also use it to cut smaller twigs/branches of plants I cut/chop off to fit in the garbage container. I used my Mora for that but although I liked it, the knife not so much. Chips, rolls, what not.


I can get each one shipped to my house for around $40, which one do you think would suit my needs best?

Also, I'm talking about the Asian made Blackjack Grunt which I read was 10Cr17 but I see them listed on Ebay as 5Cr17. Any comments on that?

Edit.
Everyone likes pictures

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Condor Bushcraft basic 5

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Blackjack Grunt
 
Grunt.

You can beat that thing like a rented mule. Just work on the edge first....it's sloppy "out of the box."

It's a lot of convexed knife for the price.
 
I have the Condor, you might have to re-work the edge. It's an affordable knife, not the best.

Plastic handles are cheap, easy to make, that's what makes many knives affordable, and cheap sheaths.

Save your money, and get something better, unless you enjoy modifying new knives.
 
Don't know about the Blackjack, but the Condor is 1075 steel. Tough stuff. Not real hard, but tough. It does take some work on the edge to get it right. It looks convex in the pics, but the edge grind (the shiny part) is only an approximation of convex. If you like playing with modding your knives, the Condor offers more opportunity, since the handles are a hard wood.
 
I would certainly get the Condor. Straight forward gimmickless design, full tang construction and carbon steel go well with what you're thinking.
 
If your focus is on batoning I'd consider the larger (8 and 1/2' blade) Condor Hudson Bay with the same full tang 1075 steel and wood handle. Also good for chopping. Not much more expensive than the Bushcraft Basic 5.
 
KeithAM said:
If your focus is on batoning I'd consider the larger (8 and 1/2' blade) Condor Hudson Bay with the same full tang 1075 steel and wood handle. Also good for chopping. Not much more expensive than the Bushcraft Basic 5.
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I live in Europe so I have to get my knives from Ebay if I don't want to pay $40 for shipping and it's not on there.

I also had something a bit smaller in mind, would be great if Condor made a knife in between the Bushcraft and Hudson Bay (with wood handles)
 
the kid said:
I live in Europe so I have to get my knives from Ebay if I don't want to pay $40 for shipping and it's not on there.

I also had something a bit smaller in mind, would be great if Condor made a knife in between the Bushcraft and Hudson Bay (with wood handles)
Click to expand...

I understand. Maybe some day Conder will have dealers in Europe. There are lots of great Scandi knives in your neck of the woods--Helle, Kellum, etc. I'd probably be looking at those.
 
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the kid said:
I live in Europe so I have to get my knives from Ebay if I don't want to pay $40 for shipping and it's not on there.

I also had something a bit smaller in mind, would be great if Condor made a knife in between the Bushcraft and Hudson Bay (with wood handles)
Click to expand...

You can buy some Condor products from at least 2 UK knife shops that I know of.... Hiennie and Moonraker..... and because you're buying within the EU you won't have to pay import tax.
 
I only have the Grunt, but I really like it. The sheath is crap, but at this price point what can you expect? The steel is definitely 10Cr17, so basically a Chinese version of 440C. And maybe you check out wolfster.de if German isn't a problem for you (no English version). Everything over 25 € gets free shipping to the Netherlands. Unfortunately the Grunt is out of stock at the moment, but this is the knife I'd get. The blade is really versatile and has enough weight for small chopping tasks and the convey grind is great for splitting wood.
 
Thanks everybody, I'll go with the Condor Bushcraft.

I know of the European webshops (Heinnie, Wolfster) but those are waaaaaaaaaaay to expensive.
While a Condor costs $34 incl shipping to you Americans I have to pay $58 incl shipping in Europe.

I refuse to pay almost double so that's why I shop on Ebay (or US webshops if I'm lucky with shipping)
 
KeithAM said:
I understand. Maybe some day Conder will have dealers in Europe. There are lots of great Scandi knives in your neck of the woods--Helle, Kellum, etc. I'd probably be looking at those.
Click to expand...

Those are similar to Mora's right?
I don't like Mora's to fragile and awkward looking.
Although they are very good at actually cutting stuff.
 
They are superficially similar to Moras. Look at Ragweedforge for a good selection.
 
I have the original made in Japan Grunt and it's a great knife. The handle is a dense kinda rubber similar in feel to what Scrapyard knives use, not sure if the new versions are different !
 
Both are "decent" knives but I'd go with the Condor based purely on the traditional looks and company it should be a great gateway knife into the bushcraft world.
 
whetrock said:
Both are "decent" knives but I'd go with the Condor based purely on the traditional looks and company it should be a great gateway knife into the bushcraft world.
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I already ordered one and feel it was the right choice.
Cool oldskool looks plus wooden handles. I also like the company.
 
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