I've recently been told of a company from El Salvador called, 'Condor Tool and Knife'. from what I've been able to gather they make very basic but very rugged equipment that would be of interest to preppers and the like. I have been researching entrenching tools for a while and while looking into 'Condor" found one that looks rather interesting. It's called the Claw and is Available at Amazon and eBay. Does anyone have any experience with products from this company? If I decided to purchase a "claw'', would anyone be interested in a review? I know some folks are touchy about non-U.S. manufacturers.
ABOUT CONDOR TOOL & KNIFE... CONDOR Tool and Knife traces its proud history back to 1787, the year Gebr. Weyersberg Company was founded in Solingen Germany. The quality of the swords, military knives, agricultural tools and household cutlery that they manufactured made Solingen the cutlery capital of the world. Over the generations, the world’s largest manufacturer of swords and knives found it necessary to expand its operations to other countries to better serve its customers. In 1964 the company built a new plant in Santa Ana, El Salvador and filled it with state of the art German equipment. Some of the original local employees who were sent back to Solingen for extensive training forty-six years ago are still working in the factory today turning out the finest quality machetes, shovels and other hand tools. Condor Tool & Knife’s parent company, Imacasa was formed in the 1980’s when the company decided to sell the Central and South America operations to local investors. Today, they are one of the largest machete manufacturers in the world operating 24 hours, 7 days a week to fill an increasing worldwide demand of its products. In 2004 Imacasa decided to develop a first quality line of knives and tools for the North American and European outdoor markets. Condor Tool & Knife was born. Ebay store and line of blades/tools: Condor Kumunga Knife w Leather Sheath CTK238-10.2HC items in The Sharpest Store On The Web store on eBay!
You'll find their products to be good working tools.Carbon steel that takes and holds an edge very well for the price.Not boutique stuff just good everyday tools if you,like me, need to outfit on a budget.
I decided to order and did so. Purchased @ Amazon for $32.00 and change. I'm looking forward to testing it out before the ground freezes which will be PDQ here.
I borrowed the Condor "Inca Knife" (I think that's what it was called) from my father in law for a day long hunt while on leave. It was a great knife. Sharp as heck, light, and handled well. I think Sportsman's Wharehouse sales them.
The Inca knife/machette looks like a pretty useful bushwhacking tool. 10" of blade is a pretty good length for North American brush work. I always got whooped slashing a machette around. Then some Navy CB told me it was all technique. After the end of 10 hours clearing a surveying line for a jungle trail/road I decided that I didn't care. I wasn't going to chop jungle anymore and I didn't. I've heard nothing but glowing reports about Condor products so far. I recently ordered a 'Bushlore' knife and am waiting for it to arrive. I don't care about upscale gear as long as it does what it's meant to and does it well. I just can't afford the pretty stuff and if I could, my philosophy about consumerism just won't allow it. I got the Condor "Claw" folding shovel via UPS a while back but got so busy in the woods with hunting and all that I didn't take the time to test it out. It weighs in at a little under 3 lbs which is more than my issue tri-fold and so it's a bit heavy for BOB gear. I will say though that this is one sturdy piece of steel! The edge will need to be taken down a smidge since I won't be digging so much that it will happen by natural abrasion like on my other dirt tools. The Chi-Com shovel is shown being used to parry blows and this one also has the knuckle room (my inner Ninja couldn't resist) any other martial arts uses are up to the individual imagination but it looks like it'd be mean. The business end looks like it will penetrate the hardest and rockiest soil. The other end of the blade, which I assume is the 'hoe' referred to in some of the literature would certainly do the job, as well as being an excellent trencher for around a shelter or for clearing the area around a fire pit. I don't like the absence of a root saw so when I wet grind it I'll sharpen an edge with a good ax type of bevel.The handle is a decent length and appears to be ash or some other light, yet dense wood. I don't know what they have available in El Salvadore but this wood is sturdy. One final note: If anyone has an idea what the cut-out is in so many of the Condor products (there's one in the Inca too) let me know. My wife asked and I told her it was a bottle opener just because she always expects an answer and that was the first thing that came to mind.
Product Details Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply. ASIN: B001EIAM5U Product Features Handle: Ash 30 inch Blade Material: 1075 HIGH CARBON STEEL Blade Finish: Epoxy Black Powder Coating Item model number: 61703
The Condor Bushlore arrived the other day and like any other kid I just had to try it out. This is what I think:Purchased through Amazon for $30.35 with free shipping. The Condor Bushlore knife is a rough copy of one that Ray Mears had custom made by a smith in Sweden. The pattern seems to be ubiquitous in ‘bush craft’ knives made by other companies. I purchased this knife to replace a Helle ‘Symphoni’ which was a pretty darn good woods knife, but just not thick enough for my taste. My wife had been eyeballing the Helle because of its curly birch handle anyway, so I saw my chance and she happily approved the purchase. The blade length is 4 5/16” with a thickness of 1/8”. It has a Rockwell Hardness of 56-58, a blasted satin finish and an overall length of 9 5/16”. One side of the blade is stamped “El Salvador” and the other with the company name. Both stampings are modest in size. The grind resembles the much vaunted ‘Scandi’ or Scandinavian type and runs about 3/8” wide. The grind goes nearly all the way from the tip to the handle where it leaves a ricasso of about 3/16”. It has a drop point profile that very nearly resembles a spear point so the point is at the center of the blade. The knife has a full tang, which is a must for me. The very dense and dark colored wood used for the scales is simply described as, “hardwood” in the catalogue. The scales are attached with two 3/16” brass pins and has a brass lined lanyard hole 1/4” from the end. The sheath was a disappointment though, but not because of any defect. I was a little let down that there was absolutely no reason to make a new one, which I often do when I acquire a knife. The leather on the sheath is heavy and the welt is thick enough to more than accommodate the blade and protect the stitching, which is tight and runs between 4 and 5 stitches per inch. The coffee colored leather is riveted top and bottom with good quality, silver colored rivets, not the cheap ones with the hole in the back. The sheath is stamped with a Condor logo about the size of a thumbprint and holds the knife in a solid handle by friction. This last feature is important to me because I prefer not to have a retaining strap on what I call my “handy” knives. I like being able to simply reach for it and pull it out. For that reason I prefer to have a sheath that is form fitted, tight, and deep enough to hold at least the lower third of the handle, that ensures the knife won’t fall out on its own, the Bushlore’s sheath goes up the handle about half way. The Condor Bushlore knife is made of 1075 carbon steel, which seems to be a standard offering in the Condor line and came out of the box, literally, shaving sharp. That’s no real feat nowadays since I’ve seen $8.00 Pakistani “survival” knives do the same. This one though, unlike the Pakistani and Chinese offerings, held an edge. After carving out a spoon, a figure four trapping trigger, half a dozen fuzz sticks and batoning several pieces of 3” ash the edge was still sharp enough to do more. It only took a few strokes on an Arkansas fine stone to return it to shaving sharp. The edge, after examination with a 20X magnifying lens, appeared to take the use and abuse without bending, chipping, or cracking. All in all, I’ve got to say that I’m very pleased with this knife. It’s a solid tool and I’d be comfortable with it anywhere. While this knife is a straightforward affair without any fancy embellishments, I’d gladly take it, over some other knives that I’ve owned and used that cost four and five times as much. As far as the company is concerned, there is a post in the forums elsewhere, describing its location, history &c. An item of great interest to me with any company I do business with is consumer relations and from my experience, CTK is very responsive. For example, I had a concern about their Claw Shovel that I purchased and was contacted within hours, via an email from Condor’s National Sales Manager, Richard Jones, who requested my shipping address so they could ship me a replacement. The improvements that Condor has made over the years to this specific knife are in direct response to concerns expressed by the “Bushcrafting community” ( boy I hate that word ‘community’ but it’s so useful), such as fit and finish of the scales. More impressive to me though, they changed both the grind of the blade and its thickness, in response to customer input. Just a final note, this company is not going to stay in the bush-leagues, if you’ll pardon the pun. I suspect that as word travels, they will gain a well-deserved reputation for quality products, then prices will go up with demand, just like a lot of other companies have done. I intend to keep them on my buy-from list and avoid the price hikes.
