Condor Hudson Bay - initial impressions

[A.L.]

Finally, finally it is mine!
Simple frontier pattern (?) knife that has always appealed me. No jewelry, but the simplistic beauty! Unfortunately I haven't gotten the change to test this yet as I just got it.
Sharpness out of the box is allright, slices paper. Small imperfections in the blade can be seen such as very minor dents, but nothing that littlebit of sandpaper and mousepad can't handle. Can't really complain since this is such affordable knife!

Sheath is open ended and is very well made! Retention is good sofar, but we'll see how it works after loosening.

Swiveling beltloop

Nicely beefy leather is used! :thumbup:

Handle looks quite blocky, but is actually very very comfortable. Rounded nicely! :thumbup: Spine and exposed tang is not coated, just the sides of the blade

Size was just a bit smaller than I thought..

Size comparison with Fällkniven F1 and Mora Clipper

Thickness comparison with F1

All in all very satisfied with this one, should make me a happy camper when I get the change camp next time! This screams of uncoating and patina, but I'll keep it like this for a while atleast.
I reckon this also would make great camp citchen knife due the blade shape.

 

[Stringfellow Hawke]

Great timing. I was just looking at these online yesterday.

Thanks for putting this up.

 

[A.L.]

No problem.
So you think you'll be getting one?

 

[t1mpani]

I would add a lanyard hole (and probably will when I get mine) but overall it looks like a nicely put together camp knife. Where'd you find it? Knifecenter just has pre-orders right now.

 

[A.L.]

I ordered through local retailer. I don't know how they did it.

 

[Stringfellow Hawke]

No problem.
So you think you'll be getting one?

I think so. Your pics put me over the edge.:thumbup:

I'm waiting on an email to inform me that they are back in stock.

Is your sheath dark brown or black?

 

[sodak]

Nice knife! What steel do they use?

 

[A.L.]

Is your sheath dark brown or black?

Brown, as you can see from the pics.

Nice knife! What steel do they use?

1075 carbon.

 

[1066vik]

I've been waiting for these to start hitting the shelves - thanks for the pics!

 

[PayetteRucker]

yellow mustard does wonders when it comes to patinaing Condor's 1075. I stripped my Rodan down handles and all, did a jute wrap with a leather wrap on top. Turned out great.

 

[pilgrimuk]

yellow mustard does wonders when it comes to patinaing Condor's 1075. I stripped my Rodan down handles and all, did a jute wrap with a leather wrap on top. Turned out great.

Pic's PLEASE sounds VERY nice!

atb, John

 

[idaho]

Very nice knife. Looks like great allrounder for outdoor, farmwork etc.
And looks like it is going to work for years and years.

 

[JNieporte]

Nice photos and detail :thumbup:

I got mine about three weeks ago, and they're very well-made.

Mine had a few gouges in the butts and the handles were uncoated, which concerns me. I don't want to go off-topic, but I've left a link to my brief post about the Husdon Bay here... http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8693090&postcount=23

 

[cramsey3006]

yellow mustard does wonders when it comes to patinaing Condor's 1075. I stripped my Rodan down handles and all, did a jute wrap with a leather wrap on top. Turned out great.

I'd like to see a picture of that.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I, too, would like to see what that looks like. If you removed the handle that must have been a fair bit of work! I know Joezilla ended up removing the handle from one in order to customize it and he said he had to spend a few hours with a hacksaw and cold chisels.

 

[A.L.]

I myself like to use lime. Thing is that it can also remove patina, but when you wipe the blade with limed paper, it will start to get really nice patina.

 

[tholiver]

Looks good!
But in the pic it looks like the blade thickness dramatically thins about an inch out from the grip.
Are they both like that or is it just the one?
For me the blade thickness is one of the selling points of the HBK, i'm hoping the thinning out seen above is just an individual anomaly. I don't see an advantage to the tang being thicker in the handle area than it is the blade area. It is a chopper after all weight in the blade makes more sense.

Perhaps thats just variation in these two examples of the HBK?
I just received two Condor Bushlores this week which i am very pleased with, however there are some noticeable variation between the two regarding actual blade length and width (where the cutting edge begins).
Regardless these knives are a great deal, my plan was to mod one and keep one stock anyway so it worked out ok for me.
I'll still be getting a Golok and possibly a HBK soon, the parang and the Kukri look good too!
As an aside the Condor Bushlore sheath is nice and fits my Spyderco Bushcraft knife very well, even works with my Enzo Trapper (but the Enzo rides very deep).

 

[sodak]

I just might have to try one of these, I especially like the steel and grind they chose.

 

[Splat]

That looks like a helluva bargain! Good luck with it. BTW, looks like www.goinggear.com has them, though I'm not 100% on that and I've never bought from them.

 

[A.L.]

Sorry for the slight necro, but here's photo of the stripped condor with patina added in case you are curious:

I like it this way better. Makes it appear more "natural".

Also used the knife for littlebit of prop before the uncoating.