Condor Tool and Knives

I use one of their Hudson bay knives. Pretty darn good for the money. I really like the pattern a lot! I use it every day in the kitchen. I have stripped the coating and done a forced patina. I bought. Two. One was a bit nicer in the finish.

I am glad they are changing the knife to be a bare/rustic finish. It will save me a step next time.
 
I just received a Condor "sharpfinger". I like the design alot. The leather sheath it came with is of very good quality. The knife looks good and feels great in the hand. It seems to be a bit thick for a good skinner considering its diminutive length, but I guess that should add to its robustness in case it is tasked with harder chores than just slicing. It is made of 420 high carbon stainless, which I am hoping is great for ease of care, or perhaps I should say in case of neglect. The thick blade goes from a full flat grind from the spine for about 2/3 the width of the blade transitioning to what I guess is a convex grind for remaining 1/3 of the blade to the edge. This is where the problem comes in. The secondary grinds are way off in relation to each other and the edge is fairly blunt. It has more of an edge meant for a cleaver (probably aroound 30 degress either side or 60 degrees inclusinve) that would be hard to try and skin anything with. I began trying to correct this with a wicked edge sharpener that holds the flats of the blade perpendicular and this is what led me to consider it a bad grind from the factory. The scratched area indicating where the stone comes into contact with the blade is twice as wide on one side when compared to the other, which seems to be indicative of the geometry of the secondary grind that makes up the final edge being off by a substantial margin, considering that the sharpener should be holding the flats perfectly perpendicular. I can say that the 420hc ss seems to be hardened well, as it is taking a long time to hand grind a new edge, even with coarse diamond hones on the wicked edge.
 
I second the praise on the Hudson Bay knife. Much better balance than I expected from a knife that size, and excellent edge retention. I was whacking away at a hickory shaft to shape as a walking stick, and the edge held up well.
 
Love my condor golok. I use it to trim big bushes/hedges, and deal with up to 5" thick hard wood.
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My nephew got my first Greenland Pattern Hatchet. He has used it for over a month and has been very happy with its balance and the way it cuts. He carries it while canoe camping. He has been impressed with the quality for the price.
 
I have handled the Greenland and a few other of the larger axes and have to say the fit and finish on the axes exceeds their machetes. Their handles are a beautiful deep rich walnut and the handle stipling is fantastic. The faux-forged finish also looks really nice, and the convex edge was just as good as their machetes. That said I've never put one to wood.
 
The handles on the axes are American hickory and no longer feature the acid-etched patterning or handle stippling. Sounds like you're talking about the 2010/earlier models? :)
 
I have several of their machetes and they are all top notch. The edges come sharp but they tend to need the shoulders knocked off for a better profile. I also have the tactical hawk and I love it! Used it to process wood and it works well considering it's not really a woods axe. I can dig w/ it and chop through a car door which I'm sure will come up A LOT...
 
Sorry, I meant hickory 42... it's definitely one of the older models, they have been sitting in the Army Navy store for two years now. Guy still wants MSRP plus for them. Kinda funny how they have 3 counters full of china made MTECH knives but when they try to sell you the real thing they are completely dufus about it. There's a 42 dollar carbon Bolo in there too... but yeah the handles are stained a really dark consistant brown and have the textured grip, which works very well. I'm going to pick up the Michigan Double Bit in the future, after all the Kellys, Helkos etc. on the wish list are taken care of.
 
The head in that woodtrekker review is more nicely forged than my .85 kg Wetterlings. Much more uniform F and F and a more nicely shaped edge on the bit.
 
That edge is way too thick for anything but splitting kindling.
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Also no poll to speak off.
 
From what I hear, they've altered the geometry as of a month ago.
 
Growing pains... one thing you can give Imacasa, although they do usually learn the hard way with slight flaws in their initial batches, they are great about refining their designs to meet customer needs. It's great having advocates like Joe and FortyTwo in house because they can take the complaints directly to the factory. The only downside is you don't know which batch you will be buying from because of the wide variety and stock of all the Condor retailers.
 
Yeah that's why I try to specify major updates in my product descriptions. The original Scout Hatchet is a great kindling tool and would still be able to do double duty for chopping though it's not perfect. In fact, I'm probably going to take the one original release Scout Hatchet I have off the site and give it to my dad as a next-to-the-stove hatchet. Guess their target market wasn't a fan though. :)
 
got one of their Nessmuks I reground right from the gett goo and convexed it in to my edge ... knife performs with no issues w/ edge retention at all.
it is my yard knife ... for landscaping around the estate.
Picked up a Woodworkers axe this morning... 34 dollars at a brick/mortar store.
inspection of it... it is perfect. grain is straight and head is on straight. nice edge and it stropped in sharp for me
plan on killing some wood with it in the morning.
for the money it seems to be a VERY NICE axe ... now to get that 20 inch double bit axe...
 
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