Condor Knife & Tool owners: Give an honest opinion

Ok--the Golok (you were right--we mean the Golok Machete) would do well for that sort of circumstance. I just wanted to elaborate on what the design was and wasn't suited for. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I wouldn't consider the Golok light, personally. And it's not as good a choice of targets like grasses or lush vegetation as some other models. However it does wonderfully on the medium targets that make up the bulk of what one is often tackling. I'd say it'll split wood no problem--just make sure you don't tackle pieces that are too large for it to handle. It's a very nice chopper, especially for the money.
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Well the other knife i carry is a Mukti as seen here:

http://www.thekhukurihouse.com/catalog/product.php?id=323731fe4d5

Its a little over 4 pounds so compared to it, its light.

The mukti can be used as basically a hand axe and i recently was cutting up some substantial fire wood rounds with it but the Golok really wont split anything over thigh sized without batoning.
 
Hello, does anyone know if the stainless condor machetes are better than/as good as/worse than the 1075 ones? Why would that be?
 
Ser Knoob said:
Hello, does anyone know if the stainless condor machetes are better than/as good as/worse than the 1075 ones? Why would that be?
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High carbon steel is usually stronger than stainless as well as more durable but stainless steel wont rust. Condor's 1075 is a fantastic steel, im very impressed by it.
 
theAntihero said:
Well the other knife i carry is a Mukti as seen here:

http://www.thekhukurihouse.com/catalog/product.php?id=323731fe4d5

Its a little over 4 pounds so compared to it, its light.

The mukti can be used as basically a hand axe and i recently was cutting up some substantial fire wood rounds with it but the Golok really wont split anything over thigh sized without batoning.
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Honestly I can't think of many circumstances when you'd ever need to split something that big while out in the woods! Though, as you mentioned, batoning would still get you through it. And yeah--compared to a kukri the Golok is light, but it's heavy for a machete its size. :)

Ser Knoob said:
Hello, does anyone know if the stainless condor machetes are better than/as good as/worse than the 1075 ones? Why would that be?
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I consider their 420HC stainless to be equal to their 1075, but with the added benefit of improved corrosion resistance. Very good stuff, and they're one of the only companies making stainless machetes that I trust.
 
I have a Condor TRT on order. It's not a knife, but it's made from 1075 steel, as is most/all of their lineup. I'll report my findings when I get it.
 
I've beaten the hell out of things with my Golok, and it's still going strong.
My brother even let certifiable idiots use his, and after getting rid of the dings and nicks from rocks and stuff, it was good to go again.
Good chopping performance for the price.:thumbup:
 
MajorLonghorn said:
I have a Condor TRT on order. It's not a knife, but it's made from 1075 steel, as is most/all of their lineup. I'll report my findings when I get it.
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You may find that beveling the back-spike will be handy. I've been doing that on all of them that come in to aid target penetration.

For the record I've got 4 each of the Pack Golok and Village Parang on the way right now. That's all I could get my paws on, but I'll post pics and opinions when they land. :)
 
In the mail friday I received a Condor T&K Hudson Bay Knife.

I got this knife to use a cheaper backwoods beater for use in situations where I wouldn't want to risk losing or damaging one of my irreplaceable H.I. Khukris or Camillus Beckers.

Overall I'm impressed with it. Fit and finish are pretty good; much better than I was expecting. There's a place on the edge where the grinds are a little off. I think it might have been caused by the machine they used to apply the faux forged finish. It's only maybe a millimeter or so off and doesn't bother me. I have blades more warped than that which perform fine.

The "dimpling" on the blade as some call it... doesn't look forged to me. It has the appearance of pitting one would find underneath thick rust scales after using a wire brush to remove the rust. I kinda like it.

The knife was sort-of-sharp out of the box. Didn't take me long to make it razor sharp. Edge retention seems to be good. Heat treat seems to be good. It's one heck of a stout knife for sure. The edge bevels are convexed and more like the edge on a khukri or axe.But they're not too blunt. It slices fine but truly excels as a chopper.

I think it's well worth the $30 I paid for it, and more.

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I would have bought a Bark River Hudson Bay a few years back, but EVERY TIME Bark River makes a knife I really like, they stop making it, so I'm no longer going to consider them for any business from me.:mad:
 
Thanks Wolf. Great combo.

I have 2 of the Kepharts and 1 came dull with bad grinds that I'm still trying to work on. It is getting better, but has been a great deal of work. It's handle, however, was remarkably nice in fit and finish. This one my wife then stole and patina-arted. :) That forced me to get another. It's blade was considerably better. If you don't mind a little work, these are welll worth the price and really a great value.

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I can't for the life of understand why anyone would NOT give an honest opinion. I mean if a knife sucks, feel apart, handle broke, why would anyone lie and say its a great knife? Oh wait... I know why its cause it cost so much. Yes I understand that some people feel the need to defend purchases that have cost them lots of money. I never really understood this as well. Just cause you bought it doesn't mean you can't hate it.

Anyway this fanboy phenomena, is not to likely to apply to condor knives, because they simply don't cost much. So I would say that most opinions on Condor are going to be pretty much honest.

My oppinion of Condor knives is they are a huge bang for the buck. I have 5 of them, my bushcraft is the only one that I was a bit dissapointed in "out of box" sharpness. That was soon remedied though and now I really like the knife, as I do all my other Condors.
 
I own four: Hudson's Bay, engineer bolo, Nesmuck, and a tiny neck knife for edc. If anything they put too much into the knives. They all have heavy blades, sharp edges, and superior cases. At the price, close your eyes, point to the catalog and buy whatever your finger is on, and you'll probably like it.
 
The engineer bolo is really freekin heavy. The sweet spot is just forward of the belly, and it'll crush its way through, if nothing else. A fella on YouTube points out it's great for cutting a large pizza, with just one rocking of the blade.
 
I'd prefer the Engineer Bolo if it was in 1/8" or less stock, but as-is it's a real brute! Great heavy-duty chopper if you have good endurance.
 
I've had two condor knives, first one being their nessmuk style skinner and their 5" bushy.

The nessmuk came sharp and very basic in form but practical in function, with an absolutley lovely thick black sheath! I don't do alot of skinning or hunting and aquired the knife unused in a trade for a hat :) I like to fiddle and modify my tools and I thought the sand blasted powder coating on the blade was unusual and pointless, so I sanded it off and gave the blade a patina. I also filed the bevels back and convexed it so it would bite wood better.

Here's my mock-up nessmuk trio, consisting of the condor nessmuk an opinel #7 and a cleaned up cold steel trail hawk tomahawk. (saw some dudes taking pictures like this so naturaly I had to do the same :p )

kseta9.jpg



The 5" bushy however was a bit dissapointing, for the £35 ($60ish) it cost me new it didn't meet my expectations. Yes it was solid enough and fit for function but I'd rather by three mora knives that are made better for that price. I thought that black blade coating looked cheap and tacky, and it had no blade tip, something that is pretty important in a 'bushcraft' knife. The sheath was also not as good as I was hoping for, as mentioned the previous condor knife had a sheath worthy of the price of the knife but this one has a thinner brown one that wasn't particularly great. I did like the blade shape and simple handle, but not enough to keep it so I sent it back.


I've heard lots of good reviews though, and a few 'meh' ones. The hudson bay looks nice and tradtional, I may get one if I can afford it sometime and their machetes have always taken my fancy!
 
The Nessmuk and Bushcraft Basic use the exact same sheath so it sounds like you got a real bum one. Also, dang that's a high price! Though I understand pricing in the UK for knives tends to be a little inflated.
 
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