Condor Golok - Impressions

T

tychoseven

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Aug 9, 2005
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Received my Condor Golok Friday after an agonizing week of waiting :D. I haven't been so excited about a blade in forever. Unfortunately it isn't what I'm looking for, but here are my thoughts.

:thumbup: The Good:
Fit-and-finish is excellent. The black coating on the blade is evenly applied, bevels are highly polished, profile is likewise clean and even without any noticeable dips/bumps. There's a nice "CONDOR" logo etched/stamped into the spine above the ricasso. The handle scales are evenly shaped and thick; too thick for me, but better that than too thin. The "ball" of the handle is a superb feature, it locks your hand in and is very comfortable. Heat treatments seems to be very good after a bit of testing. Overall a very nice package.

:thumbdn: The Bad:
The bevels are not evenly ground, both left-to-right and profile-wise. If you hold the blade sideways so that the edge and spine are horizontal in the same plane, you can see dips in the edge. Functionally, it's not a big deal and eventually those waves will sharpen out, but I noticed.

:confused: My Subjective Experience:
I received the blade Friday about noon and proceeded to cut grasses, saplings, and chop wrist-thick dry cherry branches. After about 30 minutes I decided I had to do something about the handle, so I spent the rest of the afternoon rasping, sanding, and oiling the handle. Much better!

I didn't find my first day's chopping encouraging. The golok is well balanced, but IMHO too well balanced. Considering its size and weight I thought its chopping power should be greater. So much of that weight is in the handle it makes the golok agile, but hit a bit light for a 14" blade. The other part of this is the grind, which does indeed prevent wedging, but at the cost of penetration. I found the golok prone to glancing even after an hour sharpening on the waterstones. Certainly my technique is not flawless, but I don't have this problem with any of my other blades; though to be fair the next largest knife I own has a 10" blade. Last night I was considering taking the blade to the belt grinder and giving it a convex sabre grind. However that would mean lightening the handle area as well, which I wanted to do anyway, but was unsure if I wanted to dive into that process so soon. I thought I would give the golok a chance to prove itself, and perhaps after a few hours of use I would come to appreciate it for what it was.

Today I took the golok out and chopped for about 10 minutes on some cherry and acacia before I felt something poke me in the hand. The first pin had worked itself out the right side about 1/4"! I went back to the garage and drifted out the pin easily. I tried the other two pins and they also drifted out with little effort. At this point I could lift the front of the scales a bit, so I knew they weren't glued well, and went ahead and drilled out the lanyard tube. The scales were glued well back at the ball, and I had to slide a putty knife under the scales to separate them. Everything came apart cleanly except for the lanyard tube.

The tang is indeed skeletonized, but more material could be removed and I figured this was as good a time as any. However it seems the tang is also hardened and I couldn't get any drill bits to bite. No problem, I have a diamond blade for my hacksaw, it'll just take longer.

But then I sat to ponder. Is it worthwhile for me to invest who knows how many hours of work in an effort to make the golok into something it isn't? Seems to me like a false economy. But I do have a much clearer idea of what I'm looking for in a woods knife of this size, so I consider it a learning experience. Condor makes a good product (adhesive application aside), it simply isn't the type of product that I'm looking for.

And so, the search for my perfect blade continues.
 
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Hmm... thanks for your detailed report. Sorry your quest is not fulfilled. It sucks to have to buy more knives.
 
I have not used my golok too much yet; just clearing some saplings around the property and some fire prep. I agree that it doesn't bite quite as deeply as I would have expected, but it's adequate. I am hoping that some technique improvement will help. I have not experienced the same construction issues. I will have to spend more time with it before I can tell if it will be my ideal big woods tool. I do think I prefer it to my hatchet, though.
 
The issues you encountered with the handle of your golok isn't normal, and I'd suggest getting in tough with Rick Jones at Condor about the issue. In the event that you don't want it replaced, they'll offer a complete refund for you.

As far as hitting on the light side for its size, this is because it tries to balance between knife-like and machete-like use. For a dedicated heavy chopper I'd suggest other models from their line. :)
 
42B,

Thanks for the contact info! I dunno if I want to go through that whole return process, because re-handling the blade is such a minor problem and I can easily fix it myself. Ideally it shouldn't happen, but to me it's not a big deal. Perhaps somebody will pick it up and re-handle it in micarta or something...that would be cool.

As far as balancing is concerned, I'd say the tool does what it's designed to do. It certainly splits the difference between knife and machete well, and feels very lively in the hand. What really turns me off is that it's so heavy; I wouldn't mind the reduced chopping power if it were lighter. I'm not bashing Condor here, it's just my preference is for something else.
 
It is a good chopper for what I bought it for. That is, machete work with the benefit of being able to chop. It is not the best chopper, especially for the size, but if you want that heavy duty chopper, you won't get the machete work with the blade.
 
tychoseven said:
42B,

Thanks for the contact info! I dunno if I want to go through that whole return process, because re-handling the blade is such a minor problem and I can easily fix it myself. Ideally it shouldn't happen, but to me it's not a big deal. Perhaps somebody will pick it up and re-handle it in micarta or something...that would be cool.

As far as balancing is concerned, I'd say the tool does what it's designed to do. It certainly splits the difference between knife and machete well, and feels very lively in the hand. What really turns me off is that it's so heavy; I wouldn't mind the reduced chopping power if it were lighter. I'm not bashing Condor here, it's just my preference is for something else.
Click to expand...

I'd at least let them know what happened--that way they can work on correcting it in the future! :)
 
Bummer about the pins drifting - but one thing you might try when chopping, change your grip.
I found the 1st gen Golok to be a very efficient chopper when holding it by the ball - 2 fingers in front, most of the ball resting in the palm of my hand, and 2 fingers behind. (use lanyard)
start the swing with a "loose" grip and then grip it tight right before it hits (causes the blade to snap forward just a little harder right before impact)
 
Very interesting read and thanks for your detailed thoughts. Maybe the 15.5" condor bolo machete would be more up to your speed for chopping. I have the 12" model and given its blade height towards the tip, this thing surprised me at what it could do on hardwoods. I imagine the 15" version would be very satisfactory in how it handles chopping tasks. I did end up sanding the grips of mine to fit my hand though. The plastic handles are tough as heck. Can't ever see breaking them or having them come apart on their own.
 
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