CondorTool & Knife, Heavy Duty Kukri Knife, 10in Blade, Hardwood Handle with Sheath

Even with all the good reviews I still felt I should throw in my two cents, and also address some issues others have noted. This kukri is elegant in its simplicity. You could buy a really fancy handmade kukri with carved bone handles, multiple fullers, and a tricked out sheath to display on a shelf. But this kukri is meant to do work, no fluff here. Before you get the wrong impression, let me just say for the money I doubt there is a better deal out there, Condor put their effort where it counts.Being honest, I was expecting some mediocre fit and finish for modest price. I was actually shocked at how good the quality was when I first looked at it. I paid $65, and the knife alone is worth every penny. Not to mention the sheath is a pure bonus, but I’ll get to that later.Now for the knife details, let's break this beast down. The steel is 5/16” thick 1075 steel with a fairly good convex grind. At 1lb11oz, that heft makes short work of vines, branches, or whatever needs chopping. The edge came functionally sharp and even. Along with that my first tip, an easy way to sharpen it is by using 800 grit sandpaper and a mouse pad as backing. This knife has the thickest blade of any knife I have, but it kind of needs to be to be a good chopper. Some would say the steel isn’t perfect for a knife, and I would agree. Condor uses the same 1075 steel on a lot of their knifes, and won’t hold an fine edge super long. But, 1075 is a tough steel, this thing could hit a rock, be dropped or batoned with no worries. I would honestly like to see someone break one, it would take a lot of abuse to do so. For this particular Condor product the steel is an excellent fit.The handle is where they really spent some time getting right. The walnut handle feels great and fills my XL hands well. Wooden handles normally don’t enthuse me but this is one is nice.And the sheath, is one of the best that has come with any of my production knives. Many many many, I can’t stress this enough, knife manufacturer's really drop the ball on sheaths. Honestly, IMHO most of them just include one they know is a POS to make the lawyers happy. This sheath has nice leather that is glued, stitched, and riveted. It should be very durable, and fits the knife very well.I could go on, but I’m sure you get it. This kukri is nice. Is it perfect, nope. As a few have pointed out, it isn’t stainless steel so it will rust. And a blasted satin finish notorious facilitates rusting. I will probably polish the blade when I get bored, a fine polish really helps fight rust. Until then, I just coat it with mineral oil so I can use it to chop veggies if I want ;)The lanyard / lanyard hole ever so slightly get in my way of a perfect grip. I would replace the final brass pin with the lanyard hole to push the lanyard further back on the handle. The leather sheath is nice, but it is leather. For wet, humid or snowy environments a kydex sheath is a better choice. Once again, leather will hold moisture and rust the blade. But seriously, a little rust on a blade like this is not the end of the world.

I had a cheaper kukri and I wanted this as a nice one that I would maybe use less. Well one week my wife used it all over the yard.. and it got beat up, left outside, dirt all over, but it performed and still looks pretty darn good! I guess I’ll get another one to keep pretty..

First of all, I just want to say I love this knife for its durability and versatility, but also for its quality. I spent a lot of time shopping for kukri. I really wanted a genuine Nepalese Gurkha Kukri, but unless you get up near the $100+ range, the quality is variable, even within the same brand and product line. I went with the Condor because I felt more confident that I would get a quality product instead of just the luck of the draw, and I wasn't disappointed. I also have something to say to the multitudes of other reviewers of this knife (and other kukri's) who complained that the knife is dull when they received it. While my knife was not dull, it wasn't razor sharp; but I believe there is a good reason for that. As I mentioned earlier it is versatile, capable of making thin slices or intricate carving, as well as chopping down a stout tree. However, it is a style of knife that one needs to practice with in order to use skillfully and safely. It is heavier than most knives with a thick blade that when swung with force is capable of severing thick branches, as well as fingers, hands, feet, bones or major arteries. I believe the manufacturer is helping to protect people from injuring themselves. For those of us who still want a razor sharp blade, a few minutes of sharpening is all it will take to get it there. But if you're not a person who uses knives or machetes often, you might want to do your practicing with this knife before your shaving, if you catch my drift.

For a kukri designed in the U.S. and made in El Salvador this thing is great. It's probably the least K.L.O. (kukri like object) outside of Nepal. It is a bit thicker than a traditional kukri but is very similar to the kukries sold by Kukri House and Himalayan Imports. To be honest other than about an inch and a half difference in blade length this kukri is almost identical in performance and durability to my Himalayan Imports chiruwa ang khola. It's not as pretty but still just as rugged and functional. However, a more traditional kukri from Tora Blades has far more uses than either kukri. Mainly do to the fact that they are slightly thinner and have more distal taper in the blade. This makes them more manageable and lighter too. But for North America most of those tasks are best performed by a small bush-craft knife.Blade:The blade is 5/16 of an inch thick at the bolster and it has a nice distal taper starting at the angle on incidence. From there they manage to neck it down to 3/16 of an inch just before the tips hollow grind. The steel is 1075 German made steel with a rockwell of 54-55. This means its hard enough to hold a decent edge as well as soft enough to not chip easily when buttoning and chopping. The convex grind also increases the edges durability and prevents it from sticking while chopping. Also it's worth noting that the kukri a received wasn't as shiny as the ones I have seen pictures of online. This does not have a big affect on cutting performance other than a bit of drag. Still you could buff it if you really wanted to.Handle:The handle is comfortable in the hand but could be a bit big for some. Also some texture may be a nice touch but that's just me. Other than that the lanyard hole is in a bit of an odd place and when I first received it was rubbing my palm a bit. Simply burnishing it down with a mild steel wool solved that issue though. It was a minor annoyance but its far better than no lanyard hole at all. (I'm looking at you traditional kukri.)Sheath: (This is were I have a problem.)The sheath fits well and is made of nice thick leather with good stitching as well as rivets on the joints. There are also small leather pads covering the joints and buttons inside the sheath. That way they don't mar up the blade. This is a very nice touch. However, the belt loop is on a swivel that is almost at the balance point of the blade. This causes it to have a tendency to rotate to the side or even upside-down. Also the securing strap is connected to the same swivel joint so it has a tendency to move as well. But if the kukri is snapped in it probably wont come out on you. Still if I take the kukri out and the sheath moves I usually end up fighting a bit with the strap to get it snapped shut. If they swivel was placed higher up on the sheath or was even removed in favor of a fixed loop the issue would be resolved to some extent. But personally a lanyard ring or even just a hole on the bottom of the sheath would help a great deal.Conclusion:If you want a good rugged chopper this is it. The sheath is annoyingly flawed but is more than adequate, especial compared to most other kukri sheaths. Keep in mind it is thick and heavy so if weight is an issue for you opt for a big bush-craft knife instead. But combine this with a small bush-craft knife and a wet stone and you're ready to take on just about anything.BTW:It's worth noting that this will not make a good self defense weapon. It's a great tool but would be too awkward and heavy to defend yourself with.