Condor Machetes and Bushcraft Knives

What Condor makes for hunters and campers

On this site, Condor covers two product types: machetes and fixed-blade knives. Condor's own catalog goes wider, with throwing tools, axes, tactical and martial arts gear; none of those are in the grid on this page.

Inside the two types, the grid sorts out like this:

• Traditional machetes: golok, parang, bolo, kukri and the long El Salvador pattern
• Military-pattern machetes: named after the armies and pilots that carried them
• Bushcraft knives: Bushlore, Kephart, Terrasaur and a long row of others
• Big camp knives: the Hudson Bay and its smaller sibling
• Small and neck knives: short blades for carving and light camp work

The grid above filters by type and changes as listings come and go. So I'll write about the patterns and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed this week. Most specs in the grid come from Amazon listings, and the grid marks those values. Where I give a weight or thickness here, it's from Condor's own product page.

Lineup notes: the Condor machete

Condor golok machete

The Golok is the machete people ask about by name. Condor's page lists a 14.5-inch blade in 1075 high carbon steel, 0.2 inch thick, with a convex grind, a black epoxy powder coat, a walnut handle and a welted leather sheath. It weighs 30.7 ounces, per the maker, and it's credited to designer Joe Flowers.

The maker says it combines Latin machete utility with a Malaysian golok influence. In shop terms: a short, stout blade that carries its weight forward. Condor pitches it for chopping, trail clearing and camp work, and says a distal taper and a skeletonized handle keep the weight down. (Distal taper means the blade gets thinner toward the tip.)

Parangs: long, village and bushcraft

The grid has three parangs, and they're three different tools.

• Parang, 17.5 inches: the maker calls it a larger take on the traditional Borneo parang, 0.24 inch thick, walnut scales, 33.9 ounces
• Village Parang, 12 inches: 0.2 inch thick, walnut handle with three rivets, 33.5 ounces; the maker calls it a chopper for branches and wood
• Bushcraft Parang, 13 inches: its specs in the grid come from the listing

Notice the Village Parang. It's shorter than the long Parang by more than 5 inches and weighs almost the same. That's a short, heavy chopper. The long one spreads its weight over more blade for reach. Same family name, different job.

El Salvador machete

The El Salvador is the long, thin one. The Micarta-handled version on Condor's page lists an 18-inch blade, only 0.12 inch thick, a convex grind, a powder coat and a leather sheath, at 31.5 ounces. The maker says the pattern is inspired by Salvadoran agricultural workers and that the blade stays flexible enough for daily use.

Thin and long is a field-work blade. It's for brush, grass and light growth, swung fast. Here's the thing: a thin blade that flexes is doing its job. Don't pry with it.

Kukri, bolo and the rest

The K-Tact Kukri is the short, thick end of the line: a 10-inch blade, 0.24 inch thick, Micarta handle, Kydex sheath with a leather belt loop, 32.4 ounces, per the maker. A kukri's blade bends forward, a shape built around chopping.

The Engineer Bolo is a 15-inch bolo pattern in high carbon steel with a walnut handle, per its listing. The Warlock and the Jungolo round out the traditional shapes, with their specs from their listings.

The military patterns

Then there's the history-class shelf: the Australian Army, German Aviator and Argyll Scottish machetes, plus a Mountain Pass with a canvas Micarta handle. The listings give walnut handles on most of them and blade lengths in the middle of the line.

Danny wanted to know if the Australian Army outranks the German Aviator. I told him they're both walnut-handled privates, and the Argyll is the one in a kilt.

How to choose a Condor machete

My opinion: pick the thickness, then the length

My one opinion on this page: choose a machete by thickness before length. The maker's own numbers show why. The El Salvador is 0.12 inch thick and meant to flex through brush. The Golok and Village Parang are 0.2 inch. The long Parang and the K-Tact Kukri are 0.24, twice the El Salvador. A thin blade is quick and light in grass and vines. A thick blade holds up to chopping wood, and it weighs about the same as the long thin one in a shorter package.

Then length for the swing you've got

Longer blades reach further and need room to swing. On a narrow trail or inside a thicket, a 10 or 12-inch blade is easier to control than an 18. Measure the space you work in, not the blade you like the look of. The machete page covers lengths across brands.

Then handle and sheath

Walnut, Micarta and polypropylene all show up. Condor's care article says Micarta and synthetic handles wipe clean with a damp cloth and mild soap, while wood handles want a light coat of oil every few months. The sheaths are mostly welted leather, with Kydex or polymer on some models. Leather needs conditioner now and then; that's the trade for the look.

Lineup notes: Condor bushcraft knives

Bushlore and Mini Bushlore

The Bushlore is the knife that leads Condor's bushcraft row. Per the maker: a 4.3-inch blade in 1075 steel, 0.12 inch thick, a scandi grind, full tang, walnut handle and welted leather sheath, at 6.07 ounces, designed by Joe Flowers. The maker says the scandi edge gives cutting precision and easy field maintenance.

A scandi grind is one wide flat bevel down to the edge, with no secondary bevel. You sharpen it by laying that flat on the stone. The Mini Bushlore is the 3-inch version with the same grind, per the maker. The Bushlore Camp Knife in the grid is a sibling with listing specs.

Kephart

The Kephart is a 4.5-inch, full-flat-ground knife with a secondary bevel and a walnut handle, per the maker, pitched for carving, camp utility and food prep. A flat grind with a second bevel slices well and sharpens like most kitchen knives. That's the main difference from the scandi Bushlore.

Terrasaur, Pictus, Wayfinder and the 1095 group

A group of Condor bushcraft knives list 1095 steel instead of 1075: the Terrasaur, Otzi, Blue River, Pictus, Pangui, Wayfinder and Bisonte. Both are carbon steels. The Terrasaur, per the maker, has a 4.2-inch scandi blade, a polypropylene handle and a polypropylene sheath with a leather belt loop, and its page mentions a lifetime warranty from Condor.

The rest of the row (Woodlaw, Swamp Romper, Primitive Sequoia and Mountain, Selknam, Cavelore, Plan A, SBK, Bushcraft Bliss, Lost Roman, Sigrun Seax, Atrox) splits by grind and handle in the grid: scandi, flat or convex, on walnut, hickory or Micarta. On Condor's own pages, convex grinds go with the chopping blades, scandi grinds with carving and easy field sharpening, and flat grinds with slicing and food prep. The bushcraft knife page covers grinds across brands.

Hudson Bay knives

The Hudson Bay is the big camp knife. Per the maker: an 8.4-inch blade, 0.2 inch thick, full flat grind with a second bevel, walnut handle, welted leather sheath, 20.5 ounces. Condor says it's inspired by frontier knives of fur trappers and suits splitting wood and processing game. The Mini Hudson Bay in the grid has a shorter blade per its listing. Big camp knives across brands are on the camping knife page.

How to choose a Condor knife

Pick by the work. Carving and fire prep point to a scandi grind. Food and game point to a flat grind. Splitting wood points to a bigger blade, like the Hudson Bay the maker pitches for it. Then pick the length: small knives in the 3-inch range for neck or pocket carry, 4 to 5 inches for general camp work, the Hudson Bay when you want one blade that does some chopping. The fixed blade knife page and hunting knife page cover the same choices across brands.

Care for carbon steel and leather

Every Condor blade in the grid that names its steel lists a carbon steel, so care is not optional. Condor's maintenance article says high-carbon steel rusts if moisture stays on it. Its routine, in short:

• Dry the blade completely after cleaning
• Oil it lightly with mineral oil, food-grade if you prep food with it
• Oil more often in humid weather; about once a month for knives in regular use
• Rust spots: a rust eraser or fine sandpaper, then clean, dry and oil
• Leather sheaths: a little conditioner, and air-dry a wet sheath before the blade goes back in
• Wood handles: a damp cloth, no soaking, and a light coat of linseed or tung oil every few months

For sharpening, Condor's article suggests about 20 degrees per side for most of its knives, coarse grit to reshape and fine grit to refine, then a strop. Follow the maker's angle for its own blades. Store knives dry, in their sheaths, away from extreme heat and cold. Never put a carbon blade away wet in a leather sheath; that's how rust starts where you can't see it.

Safety with machetes and knives

The American Knife & Tool Institute's first rule is to cut away from your body and away from anyone else. It also says a sharp blade is a safer blade, because it takes less force. With a machete, give yourself a full swing's clearance and know where everyone around you is standing. Sheath the blade before you walk anywhere. Knife and machete carry rules vary by state, so check your state's rules.

Who's behind Condor

Condor Tool & Knife's own blog traces the company to the Weyersberg company, founded in Solingen, Germany, in 1787. It says the business moved to Santa Ana, El Salvador, became Imacasa, and that Condor emerged under the same roof. Many of its product pages credit Joe Flowers as designer. I couldn't verify a country of manufacture on the product pages themselves, or full warranty terms for every model, so I've left those out.

Write the pattern, the length and the thickness on the sheath tag. Three numbers, and you'll know which blade to grab in the dark of the truck bed.