My first Condor knives

G

gardenrambo

Joined
Jan 21, 2014
Messages
211
Today I received the Rodan and the Crotalus, still waiting for the Boomslang. Because I haven't heard too many good things about Condor's quality control I decided to be really pedantic when inspecting the knives.

First thing I noticed on the Crotalus was that the scales aren't shaped identically which doesn't bother me because the handle feels very comfortable.

The Blade seems to be lightly bend to one side. It's barely noticeable with the naked eye but by putting a ruler against the sides of the blade I could see that there was a small gap between ruler and blade on one side, nothing dramatic though.

When I looked at the edge I noticed that the grind was uneven and that there was a tiny bit of rust which could easily be removed.

On the Rodan I noticed that the edge had a small chip and that the tip was very blunt and ground more roundly than on pics and videos of the blade.

As the knives aren't going to sit on the shelf I can live with those flaws.
Unfortunately I can't put them into work as my arm is put in plaster at the moment
Does anybody have similar experiences with their condor knives?
 
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Yeah, I also have a condor rodan, the tip was blunt as yours, the place where the handle ends and the choil begins had some rubber flash that hurt the finger when using. I fixed both problems and so far the knife is usable.

My fidelis came with a very uneven grind and took me some time to reprofile to a sharp edge. Regarding the sheaths in both cases they were extremely well done
 
I got my Crotalus yesterday. It is a great knife. Mine lays perfectly flat on my marble table top (both sides). It is EXTREMELY sharp out of the box. The palm swells are just about perfect. I bought it for the convex edge. This is one tough knife. It should take a beating. I will be replacing the sheath soon. That thin kydex or plastic scares me with such a sharp blade. It doesn't go in the sheath very smooth- the blade has to be angled right. :thumbdn: Overall, it is a "best buy" in my opinion.

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The Crotalus looks like a great knife. I believe I have handled it yet. I don't care for the Rodan. It is along the same lines as the BK-2 and I don't care for pry bars much and the Rodan's handle is too light for balance.

I have many Condor blades and have generally been pretty pleased with them. The original Woodslore was overbuilt and they thinned the steel down now. I have the current version too. I have not found the Kephart to be of much use in the woods, but it makes a good steak knife. I do like the sheath. It fits the BK-16 nicely.

Their machetes are excellent overall. I have more than a couple and use them.
 
BK2

10 1/2" OL
5 1/4" blade
.25 thick
1095 Cro Van steel
1 pound

Crotalus

10 3/4" OL
5 1/2" blade
5mm thick
1075 high carbon steel
.98 pound

Rodan

10 1/2" OL
5 1/4" blade
3/16 thick
1075 high carbon steel
.80 pound

Not that much difference in these three.
 
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