Condor primitive bush knife

F

Fuori

Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Messages
628
I've been watching Alone on History and saw that the guy from Utah has this knife. In looking around I found a video from Shot Show where Matt Graham shows a new 2016 carbon version. The original version was stainless, so not as prone to rusting. Is the new steel an upgrade or downgrade with that in mind?
 
Neither most likely. Just different.

The carbon steel should take a better edge and hold it longer, assuming a decent heat treat and the stainless of course requires less care.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Just depends on your priorities. I'd probably opt for the carbon.
 
The carbon steel is 1070 i believe. Hardened to 50-55. Not sure but that seems soft to me (like machete). Maybe someone who knows more about steels will post more info.
 
Condor's site says it's, "3 mm -1075 HIGH CARBON STEEL"

I generally lean towards carbon, but if it's not that great at least the SS won't rust.
 
Spameater12003 said:
The carbon steel is 1070 i believe. Hardened to 50-55. Not sure but that seems soft to me (like machete). Maybe someone who knows more about steels will post more info.
Click to expand...

Condor always uses 1075 for their carbon steel stuff, and they do on this one as well.
 
Fuori said:
I've been watching Alone on History and saw that the guy from Utah has this knife. In looking around I found a video from Shot Show where Matt Graham shows a new 2016 carbon version. The original version was stainless, so not as prone to rusting. Is the new steel an upgrade or downgrade with that in mind?
Click to expand...

I would think its a trade off.

My sense is that steels like 420HC and 12C27 have more in common than are different.

In the 58 Rc range, where Buck, Opinel and Mora take this class of stainless, I can't tell the difference from 1095 of the same hardness.

In the 56 Rc range, where Case and Victorinox take theirs, I find that the softer Rc leaves the stainless more gummy and prone to sharpen to a stubborn burr. Softer 10XX seems to hone up much more cleanly for me.

In the 54Rc range, where Victorinox used to take their blades, this difference is much more pronounced.

Cleaner honing vs no rust.
 
pinnah said:
I would think its a trade off.

My sense is that steels like 420HC and 12C27 have more in common than are different.

In the 58 Rc range, where Buck, Opinel and Mora take this class of stainless, I can't tell the difference from 1095 of the same hardness.

In the 56 Rc range, where Case and Victorinox take theirs, I find that the softer Rc leaves the stainless more gummy and prone to sharpen to a stubborn burr. Softer 10XX seems to hone up much more cleanly for me.

In the 54Rc range, where Victorinox used to take their blades, this difference is much more pronounced.

Cleaner honing vs no rust.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I understand where the Condor would fall in that if it's only 50-55. It seems really soft.

What about the 1075? I worry it's not that great of a carbon and it will rust more easily.
 
Last edited:
I dig this knife design & I think I'll end up buying one....I don't think I've seen this yet in 1075, only the 420HC. It's neither an up or downgrade, rather, it's the other option...Democrat or Republican, etc. Both steels can make decent user knives as long as it's a solid design & a HT that highlights whatever performance attributes the maker is trying to get out of the knife.

1075 & 420HC represent relatively simple & low-cost carbon & stainless options respectively. I tend to go stainless over carbon because the stainless gives me the edge holding, the ease of maintenance, & more than enough toughness when compared to a carbon option - but hey, to each his own...that's why Condor gave the other option - I imagine this is a popular design for them & the purists were clamoring for their old school simple carbon option. A lot of guys out there will simply never go with a stainless steel for this kind of outdoors application as they're convinced it'll chip/break on them in use, & there's an image thing with stainless steels too - it can be seen as the wimpy/girlish option while carbon is the man's steel. While I believe the modern stainless steels - my favorites being the newer & more complex CPMs or Elmax or the like - completely disprove this notion, & they provide a knife that doesn't need to be babied to keep it from eating itself alive, & an edge that will seemingly last forever. OK, sorry, to each his own - in this case, I'm sure that Condor is providing their customers with two great options in 1075 & 420HC - I'd take one in either steel happily!
 
I like the ease of maintenance with the stainless that you mentioned, but I own a Condor with a wooden handle and it puts me off a bit. It feels slippery at times.
 
Fuori,

I would expect the 420HC version to be harder to hone due to its propensity to form burrs at lower Rc values. I would expect the 1075 to hone up more cleanly.
 
If I put a patina on the 1075 would it close the rust resistance gap with the 420?
 
More time to say more. I use carbon steel in wet New England. I generally don't get rust and if I do, it's on pocket knives when hiking in the rain. Very surface and easily removed. Generally a good patina solves much of it. But for jungle use or use near salt water, stainless would be better by a long measure
 
I don't mind surface rust at all because like you said it's easily removed. If that's all I'll have to deal with it sounds like it could be a good compromise if I blue it with vinegar.
 
The PBK arrived and it's a really nice knife that feels good in my hand. My only issue is they messed up the grind and the edge doesn't really start until about 1/2 inch above the handle. How hard is that going to be to fix since it's a convex edge? Would I be better off exchanging it or will I probably get something the same if not worse?
 
Fuori said:
The PBK arrived and it's a really nice knife that feels good in my hand. My only issue is they messed up the grind and the edge doesn't really start until about 1/2 inch above the handle. How hard is that going to be to fix since it's a convex edge? Would I be better off exchanging it or will I probably get something the same if not worse?
Click to expand...


Mine was like that too. A couple of hours with some carborundum stones, and the whole blade is shaving sharp now.
 
What you're describing is where the edge normally starts on that model.
 
What you're describing is where the edge normally starts on that model.
Click to expand...

Really? The sides don't seem like they are ground evenly. Almost like they tried to sharpen it, but are too used to doing machetes. Well, it makes me happy I don't have to try to reprofile a convex grind.

In other news I've already cut a few slits in the sheath when putting the PBK back in. I try to squeeze the sides when removing it, but I still end up with bits of leather all over the blade. It seems like I'm damaging it both ways.
 
Last edited:
No I mean that it normally starts about 1/2" up from the top of the handle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top