My condor failed me:(

A

arijer

Joined
Jul 13, 2009
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I know I don't post here often, but I do like to get out on the trail. A couple of weeks ago I went out with the kids to the trail behind our house here in central fl. I took my Condor Bolo 420 HC stainless machete with me. We came up on a log and I figured I would give the blade a little work out and teach the kids how to handle a blade. Im pretty sure it was a fallen pine. Well needless to say the blade snapped in 3 pieces on the first swing. It's not a new blade and it's been my user for a while, but I now ordered a carbon 14 inch el Salvador from 42blades. I think I will let the stainless stuff rest for a while. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1308754311.954157.jpg
Has anyone else had issues with the 420 line of machetes?
I beat the snot out of my Ontario and now my el Salvador but they r 1095 and 1075 carbon
I should have take pics of the log when it happened but I didn't think about it then.
 
I haven't had any problems with my personal stainless Condors (the Viking and Bush Knife are my two most-used choppers, in fact!) but occasionally I've heard of machetes--stainless OR carbon--giving up the ghost. Contact Rick Jones and Condor and he'll send you a new one. ;):thumbup:
 
I snapped my Golok awhile back. It was replaced under the warranty, and I have been chopping with it ever since.


That's a crazy break, looks like it may have flown a bit.
 
I don't think stainless belongs on an impact tool. Most don't have the toughness for it. Stick with carbon and you'll be fine. Even carbon steel needs to be soft and springy in a machete.

If you want something fancier, try cpm 3v. That stuff is tough.
 
Sorry to see that.
Most of the carbon machetes have a black coating, or something on them to help prevent rust. Even if a machete gets some rust, so what, just oil the blade, sharpen it, or deal with it. The machete will still work with some rust, staining, or patina.
The main attribute gained by having the carbon steel will be toughness.

I'd rather have a rusty machete, than a stainless jigsaw puzzle.
 
Oh don't misunderstand
1) I have no issues with condor
2) I know I I wanted they would replace it

It's more of a question on just the stainless bs carbon

Yeah that a freaky break and yes the pieces flew in different directions
Luckily not at me or the kids lol
 
I think that a stainless machete by any other maker is typically rubbish, but it's not impossible to do! I can honestly say that I'm impressed by the stainless Condors. Though I've seen the occasional failure, it's been with no more frequency than the carbon models. I say this mostly for the sake of discussion, as it's a topic that interests me! :p
 
Thats a very strange way for a blade to fragment, if it snapped at the hilt then it suck but still "normal" (in terms of breakage) but shattering in 3 pieces in a simple impact is just odd for 420HC.

Thanks for showing it, maybe Joe or another Condor rep will comment later. :)
 
I've used a stainless bolo pretty hard, and it hasn't failed me yet. I've also used the Viking for sometime, which also hasn't failed me. Contact Condor, they will get a new one to you. Sucks that it failed, but they do stand behind their product.
 
Sorry to see that. My 12" bolo has now eaten quite a bit of elm and oak and hasn't suffered anything. I did need to tune the sweet spot a little bit after whacking my way through wrist size/seasoned oak pieces to make a night's firewood. I've also put my thinner ESEE lite machete through a lot of wood in the past year and half or so. That one is so thin that you can see the metal flexing around knots when batoning, but it never seems worse for wear. Good luck on the next purchase and hopefully Condor responds to you on a warranty claim.
 
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Just a update.

I truly believe it was just a faulty blade. Probably something was bad in the steel to begin with. so it fractured. No one was hurt. As for replacing it, i already did with the El Salvador 14 for 42 Blades. Its not a Bolo shape but man what a sweet size and 1/8 inch thick.... some heavy duty machete without being a huge heavy chopper.

No worries. I just felt i finally needed to post here and it was related to going to the outdoors. lol. Next time it will be a trip report with good pics i hope...
 
Yesh--that 14" is a beast for a short machete, isn't it? Glad you're enjoying it! :D:thumbup: Seriously, though, even if you have no plans on requesting a replacement under warranty at least send them the pics and a description. It's handy for the manufacturer so they can help prevent it happening to others in the future! :)
 
Ive always worried about choppers made from stainless
Ive seen people use some as their regular choppers with no problems ... but Ive seen some snap too I seen carbon steel choppers get bent and buckled , and some edges chip out but never snap under normal or even abusive use
I have never seen a blade break as dramatically as yours seems to have done tho

I think Ill stick to good old rustable high carbon personally
 
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