Condor Tool & Knife Survival Machete with Walnut Handle

I finally got a chance to use my new Golok. Great tool. Cuts small brush/limbs, weeds and vines. Bulbous handle makes you feel secure swinging this and for most use blade speed is your best friend. A major plus for this is the cost of the machete. You can find cheaper machetes out there, but this is thick enough to be a serious tool. The blade steel is of a quality that likewise is befitting a serious tool. As a user, you want a tool that is constructed of a hard enough material that it stays sharp, but tough enough to not break. A similar tradeoff on costs. Buy a quality tool, but not one that costs so much you won't use it. This Condor hits that sweet spot for me. (I give that advice especially for myself!) I love my quality Spyderco knives but often reach for a cheapie when I'm going to do "real" work. My first day's use included some sprout trimming. For that, I want to cut close to the ground. I'm not going to use my Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri with Kraton Handle that way for doing everyday chores! Yep, I hit the dirt, even some rocks. All in a day's work for this. Just like I'd use a hoe or shovel. I'll nick the blade. It sharpens easily enough. There is some concern for how narrow this blade is down near the handle. Condor has done a nice job of tapering the blade thickness. I measured the width of the blade, estimating the center of the sharpened bevel back to the spine. Nearest the handle my Golok is 1 inch wide and 0.24 inches thick. Out near the tip, I got 1.75 wide and 0.115 thick. My point was to try and figure the weight distribution by calculating the cross sectional area of the blade at a couple of points. (Near midpoint of blade, the figures are 1.38" by 0.165") Calculated cross sectional areas were, starting nearest handle were 0.23 in^2, 0.23 in^2 and 0.20 in^2. Again you face compromise. Heavier near the tip gives greater cutting power. But a thinner blade cuts more easily. What I found is the blade is actually heavier back near the handle, but not by much. The greater thickness helps avoid bending blade, of course. Oh, yes, I spray my Golok with WD 40 or whatever is handy. It'll get rusty soon enough, but it's still new, so I want to delay my neglect for until next time. I like this tool!

My Golok just arrived via UPS and all I can say is wow. I purchased a piece of property early this year that has very dense undergrowth consisting largely of briars and small saplings. I knew I was going to need a bush knife of some sort so I went the cheap route and picked up your basic $10 off the shelf machete from a local big box store. Big mistake. The thing was flimsy, dull and wouldn't cut wet paper. I couldn't even begin to beat my way through the underbrush. Being the person I am I started researching and ended up deciding on the Golok style bush knife. This style is highly regarded in the survivalist community for it's ruggedness and versatility. From clearing brush to chopping down small trees to batoning wood, this knife will handle all with ease. Once I started trying to decide on the actual knife to purchase the Condor really caught my attention. I'm a bit of a knife junkie anyway so seeing that this was carbon steel I immediately knew that this would be able to take and hold an edge. The hardwood handle looked to be top quality as did the leather sheath so the decision to purchase this was easy. The knife arrived from BUDK Catalog three business days after placing my order so no disappointments there. It was nicely packaged with the blade wrapped in parchment and the entire knife in a plastic bag. One thing I expected was for the blade to be liberally oiled being carbon steel but it wasn't. Considering the black finish on either side of the blade leaving only the edge and spine exposed I suppose it's not a big deal. Everything was clean and shiny so I won't fault them for that. The blade itself arrived honed to a razor edge. Being 1/4" thick at the handle you would expect this to be pretty heavy, and while it does have a heft to it does't feel cumbersome. The bulbous handle adds some counterweight to the blade and overall it's pretty well balanced with the point of balance being 2 3/4" from the end of the handle. Not bad for a 14 1/4" blade, which is what mine measured. Since these are made by hand expect some variance in blade length. My initial impression is that they put just as much quality and attention to detail in the sheath as they did the knife. It's made using leather that's slightly over 1/8"thick and riveted in the corners. The belt loop pivots and the rivet is covered internally to prevent it from scratching the blade. Typically I'm a "buy it once" kind of guy and and will gladly pay a little more for quality. My first impression of this knife is that this will be with me for years to come and maybe even end up in the hands of a grandchild one day. The proof is in the pudding though so I still need to take out and abuse it. I'll add to my review once I've had that chance.

Etwas teuer, ansonsten nichts zu beanstanden.

WOOOOOW !! FABULOSO. Y MUY BUEN DETALLE DE LA PATINA.

This is a beefy, sharp tool with a high quality leather sheath - I have no doubt that this will last me the rest of my life. Arrived on time, pretty sharp (a few strokes on a sharpening stone brought it right up to "hospital trip" sharp) and incredibly solid.

Fits very well in the hand cam incredibly Sharp as always Condor leather sheath is very well made the dangler Style is very comfortable bites into wood like butter

Ich habe auch 2 günstigere Macheten (jaja, wer billig kauft) und wenn man diese ordentlich schleift kann durchaus auch was anfangen damit. Aber kein Vergleich zu dieser hier - DAS ist ein richtig hochwertiges Werkzeug. Sehr gute Balance, aber nicht unbedingt leicht. Dadurch bekommt man viel Wucht auf die Schläge - 3-4cm Äste sind mit einem Schlag ab. Länge ist für meinen Geschmack optimal. Die Schneide kommt nicht rasiermesserscharf und das Holz am Griff habe ich nachgeölt. Die Lederscheide ist jedoch hervorragend und sehr praxisgerecht - die Jungs von Condor wissen was sie da bauen. Was ich jedoch nicht verstehen kann ist wie man sie zu Hause liegen lassen kann - das Teil schreit förmlich danach zur Tat zu schreiten! :-)