Impulse Buy: Condor Bushlore

CoyotePhysics

CoyotePhysics

Joined
Jul 14, 2010
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330
Have you ever walked into a store not intending to buy a knife and walked out with a new blade? Well it happened to me a few hours ago. I have to give credit where credit is due. We were walking past the knife counter and my wife spotted the Condors and said that they looked nice, so we stopped and had someone pull a Bushlore for us. Last time I looked at a Bushlore the blades were super thick, so it cooled my desire for one, but the new models are more to my liking. I couldn't hand it back over, so I had to buy it.

Now if there is one thing that Condors aren't good at it is sitting quietly in a drawer, so I had to give this guy a quick breaking-in.

Task 1. Seing if it meets Kirby's approval.
BushloreKirby2.jpg


He licked it, so I guess that means it passed
BushloreKirby.jpg


Task 2. Checking the dimensions.
BushloreRuler.jpg


The blade measures in just a hair under 1/8" thick.
BushloreSpine.jpg


Note the quality of the leather sheath that came with the knife.
BushloreSheath.jpg


Task 2. Testing the edge. Right out of the box the edge felt good, but not great. Less than a minute on a strop was all that it took to get it shaving sharp. (No photographic evidence is provided for this task... It bothers my wife that I have bald patches on my calf.)

Task 3. Building a figure 4 trap. Time to see what happens when the blade meets wood. I must say that I am impressed. The grind makes tasks like this a breeze.
Bushloretrap.jpg


Task 4, Building a Fire: The only wood that I have around the house that is not green is some pine (and rosewood, but I'm not burning that!), so breaking it down was no problem. In a few minutes a single piece of wood was turned into sufficient pile of tinder and kindling to get a fire started with a ferro-rod.
BushloreKindling.jpg


I'm not a fan of using the spine of a blade to strike a spark, and I usually have a box-cutter in my kit to do the job, but I wanted to see how the Condor would perform. It definately made the sparks fly.
CondorFire.jpg


I have to say that I'm impressed. The Bushlore is getting paired up with the Golok as my go-to woods combo.
BushloreGolok.jpg


That is if I can get them back from Kirby!
BushloreTaken.jpg
 
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Great post! I had already wanted a Bushlore, but now I need one.

Did they happen to have a micarta handle version in stock? I'm still debating which one to pull the trigger on knowing the micarta Bushlore is near twice the price.
 
They only had the wood-handled version at the store I was in, but I would have bought the wood-version anyway. Obviously I don't have much experience with the Bushlore, but I've found that the handle on the Golok gives a very positive grip and only needs to be wiped down periodically with linseed oil to keep it looking new.
 
I have the old version bushlore which the edge doesnt extend all the way to the handle and is a bit thicker. Love love that knife. Had to get it resharpened and now has a wicked sharp scandi grind, and is one of my absolute favorite bushcraft knives. 10/10
 
I have an original one, but just got the new version 2 weeks ago.

Amazing knife for the price!
 
mogmz said:
Great post! I had already wanted a Bushlore, but now I need one.

Did they happen to have a micarta handle version in stock? I'm still debating which one to pull the trigger on knowing the micarta Bushlore is near twice the price.
Click to expand...

It's totally worth it--the regular Bushlore is awesome, but the micarta one is just plain sexy. The scales REALLY add a lot to the knife.
 
Mrs. CP deserved some flowers after spotting and encouraging (not just endorsing) the purchase of the Bushlore, so we went to Tony Grove today. If you don’t know about this spot check out the Forrest Service’s page about it.

We enjoyed the day and brought home plenty of pictures home, so I thought I would share a few. To start with is a view we had from our picnic spot, with a little homey touch thrown in.
TGBushlore2.jpg


This picture is a sample of just how many flowers this area has. If you are like me and have minimal photographic ability, come here and nature will make you pictures look good.
TGSunnyField.jpg


Here is a close-up of a blossom. I don’t know what type of flower it is, but there were thousands of them.
TGWhiteBlossom.jpg


If you are too manly to enjoy flowers, you can still enjoy the views of some rocky ledges.
TGRockyRidge.jpg


These are Douglas Fir cones, they are very distinctive due to the “mouse tail” features on them. If you are wondering, the Blue Bell and cones are lying as I found them.
TGBlueBellFirCone.jpg


One more Picture of the Bushlore. If you look closely you’ll see that it’s not just people that enjoy the flowers here.
TGBushlore1.jpg


I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I enjoyed taking them.
CP
 
Alann45 said:
Enjoyable story and nice pics. Thanks

What's important is Kirby liked it. :D

(I assume he liked it, even though he didn't chew on it.)
Click to expand...

He's past his chewing stage or I might have been hesitant to let him inspect it. He once ate a stuffed toy we gave him -literaly, it was gone, we had no idea what happened to it for a few days before it "showed up" again. He is very direct about things that he doesn't like though, and I have a biology book to prove it. He's become a licker. Once I came home and a jacket that I had left on the couch was completely soaked because he had spent the day "aproving of" it. He did chew of one of the buttons, but it could have been worse.

"Well, if you leave something on my couch, its your fault if anything happens to it" -Kirby-
KirbyInside.jpg


Here is a close-up of the bee in the picture with the Bushlore, He is a bit blurry because he didn't have time to pause for the picture. Even though it was the weekend he still had to work.
DSC00973.jpg
 
If you think it makes you uncomfortable imagine how it makes him feel. We pull it out every time he goes on a date:D.
 
OK, Day 3 and I still haven't put the Bushlore down. I think I made some people nervous at church today:D.

I'm still breaking her in though, and there is one task that I think is absolutely vital for any woods knife to assist with.
KILLING time.

Honestly, If i'm ever stuck in the woods hoping that help arrives before my poptarts run out I'm going to be doing a whole lot of whittling. I've been on a Woodspirit kick lately, and although I usually prefer smaller blades for woodcarving (my stockman if I'm in the woods or a Flexcut at home) I thought that it would be interesting to see what I could do with just the Bushcraft. Let me say that it did not dissapoint. In fact I was floored with how well suited it was to the task. I'm by no means an expert carver, so don't expect a museum piece. Rather, look at the pictures as an example of what the Bushcraft is capable of.

Carving with Bushcraft for scale
BushloreWoodspirit.jpg


Detail of carving
WoodspiritDetail.jpg
 
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I've had one for a month now, its great.
The supplied sheath is good, but I can't resist making a custom one, as I'm going to be carrying this knife a lot.
 
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