Condor New 2018 Lineup

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Jan 25, 2013
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For those who care, Condor has all their new 2018 stuff posted at the bottom of their home page. Some nice stuff there as usual, though there's stuff I would have bought in the past that I won't be buying now due to the huge price increases Condor has gone with in the past couple years. Still a few I doubt I can pass up though, even with the higher prices.
http://www.condortk.com/

If you wanna see some of it in hand, the PreparedMind101 Youtube channel has an interview with Joe Flowers, where they go over and show some of the new stuff at ShotShow.
 
The Otzi Knife has my interest. I'm not usually one for wood handles, or fixed blades for EDC (tried it), but I'm fascinated by the idea that everyday carry has such a long history, and Condor is one of the companies that's just offbeat enough to pull off a good modern rendering of his knife.
 
The price increases corresponded with increases in cost of materials, additional finishing, a raise in minimum wage, and so on. You do keep on bringing that up when it wasn't that huge of a jump and there were benefits from it that customers had been begging them for for years.

Only a handful of models in the new 2018 lineup that I actually care for, really, and all of them are by Joe Flowers. Matt Graham continues to give me the impression that he doesn't understand design as a discipline. A few attractive designs that are in too high of a price bracket to be interesting to me, with some detracting factors like bulky sheaths that just make it a total no-go. But models like the Terrasaur and Ironpath look like winners.

Not sure who in their right mind thought that it would be a good idea to make a shield.
 
I really like the Cambodian machete, Amalgam, and especially the Ironpath.

Been a while since I picked up a Condor, but it looks like it's that time again.
 
There are some nice, solid, practical blades there. And then there's the Atrox, which scratches the hell out of my Mall Ninja itch.
 
I quite like the Angler, the Amalgam, and the Toki :thumbsup:

Not sure who in their right mind thought that it would be a good idea to make a shield.

Perhaps for RenFest / Re-enactment folks?
When i was a kid, I certainly made MY own shield for sword and dart-gun and roman-candle fights with friends. Typical shields were trashcan lids or snow saucers, pot-lids large and small. I took a spinning card-table top and added a handle and an arm-strap. Junior-high kids would have mock 'hoplite' battles when studying ancient Greece...
It's a pricey shield, so i would guess it is intended for 'cos-play' "adults", but I am sure there is a market out there.
 
I love the look of the Toki.
I see that knife, and I imagine a Nessmuck rolling over in bed one morning with a hangover and seeing a Santoku knife still sleeping, and saying "oh crap, what did I do?"


All kidding aside, I have no idea what the actual price will be, but that's one seriously good looking knife and sheath.


63820.jpg
 
Not sure who in their right mind thought that it would be a good idea to make a shield.

Yeah yeah... que the Youtube video of Ben in some reindeer skivvies running around the woods of Maine in "Caffiene-o-vision" with a Condor Greenland Valhalla Battle axe in one hand, and a Viking Forest Shield in the other.

That's why Condor made a shield. Because we ALL need to see that video.

Edited- for a more appropriate axe
 
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Yeah yeah... que the Youtube video of Ben in some reindeer skivvies running around the woods of Maine in "Caffiene-o-vision" with a Condor Greenland axe in one hand, and a Viking Forest Shield in the other.

That's why Condor made a shield. Because we ALL need to see that video.

^ +1

Shield and Scythe. :cool:
 
OK I promise I'll try not to monopolize the thread. last post. One thing I'd love to see more of, where I think Condor has a gap in their product line, is in blades in the 3"-4" range (especially closer to 4").

Here in CT, we can't carry a blade longer than 4 inches in length. Realistically, if it's just over 4" and you're not being an attention seeking dickhead (i.e.. playing Naked and Afraid in a state park), I don't think the cops will bother you, but I also like to have blades around the 3.5"-3.75" measurement just in case. I think that's a blade size where Condor has a bit of a gap. They have plenty of big choppers, a whole bunch of knives in the roughly 5-7" range, then again in the low-mid 4" range and to go small, there are plenty of options in the 2.5-3" range (Mayflower is nice in that range!). But what do we have for a knife of 3.5" up to just under 4"? The Neonessmuck (which is priced out as far as I'm concerned) and what else?

I'd love to see something roughly the size of Kabar's Globetrotter, Tops Scandi Trekker, ESEE RB3, etc...And yes, I realize a stupid and arbitrary law in CT shouldnt dictate a product line of a major manufacturer. I'm not that myopic.
That said, knives in that size range are actually darn handy, and are roughly my favorite size knives to carry anyway... I know I've heard it said by others as well.
 
Depending on pricing, I'd like to try out one of their Gross Messer swords.
Not a lot of this type of sword being offered, and it looks well made.
 
The price increases corresponded with increases in cost of materials, additional finishing, a raise in minimum wage, and so on. You do keep on bringing that up when it wasn't that huge of a jump and there were benefits from it that customers had been begging them for for years.

Only a handful of models in the new 2018 lineup that I actually care for, really, and all of them are by Joe Flowers. Matt Graham continues to give me the impression that he doesn't understand design as a discipline. A few attractive designs that are in too high of a price bracket to be interesting to me, with some detracting factors like bulky sheaths that just make it a total no-go. But models like the Terrasaur and Ironpath look like winners.

Not sure who in their right mind thought that it would be a good idea to make a shield.

Not that huge a jump? A 1075, wood handled blade that was $56 2 years ago is now $86. That is over a 50% increase, I consider that a fairly large jump. Couple years back, very few Condors were over $60, pretty much just the micarta ones(which have always been priced a fair bit higher than the wood handled ones). Now, almost all new condors are at least $85 for the wood handled ones, and the micarta(which they are using a lot more frequently) continues to be a fair bit above those price wise. It's not a "small jump", it literally cuts the number of products I can buy in half, and, frankly, I haven't seen any real benefits. The materials are the same, the fit and finish are pretty much the same(in fact, the worst fit and finish I've ever gotten on a Condor was their gladius, which was a release AFTER the prices went up), the sheathes are the same...what benefit did that increase bring me? The use of 1095 in other knives that I don't care about? Fine, charge more for those knives then, but don't punish the rest of us.

As for designs, yeah, Joe's stuff as a general rule appeals to me more than Matt's(I do kinda like the Bush Mondo, but I doubt the price will be something I'm willing to pay unless I can get a deal somewhere). The Ironpath was definitely one of the 2 that most jumped out to me, along with the Cambodian Machete. Those 2 I expect I'll get, even with the higher prices. I also like that huge fighting knife of Joe's, no matter how impractical it may be, though the price on that one kinda scares me(presumably the kydex sheath accounts for part of that one's price). And I've actually always wanted a fransisca, so that one actually excites me more than it should. Not a huge fan of smaller knives, so the Terrasaur doesn't really do it much for me, but I admit I've looked at that Scotia more than once.

The shield is...an odd choice. I mean, I assume it's for people who are into historical weaponry, either general collecting, or maybe they're into HEMA or renfaire cosplay, or whatever, but still. Probably meant to appeal to the same people as the swords, viking battle axes, etc I guess, though it still seems an awful iffy choice of item to produce IMO. Hell, *I* have interest in some of the swords and axes sometimes, but I never personally had any real desire for a shield...
 
Not that huge a jump? A 1075, wood handled blade that was $56 2 years ago is now $86. That is over a 50% increase, I consider that a fairly large jump. Couple years back, very few Condors were over $60, pretty much just the micarta ones(which have always been priced a fair bit higher than the wood handled ones). Now, almost all new condors are at least $85 for the wood handled ones, and the micarta(which they are using a lot more frequently) continues to be a fair bit above those price wise. It's not a "small jump", it literally cuts the number of products I can buy in half, and, frankly, I haven't seen any real benefits. The materials are the same, the fit and finish are pretty much the same(in fact, the worst fit and finish I've ever gotten on a Condor was their gladius, which was a release AFTER the prices went up), the sheathes are the same...what benefit did that increase bring me? The use of 1095 in other knives that I don't care about? Fine, charge more for those knives then, but don't punish the rest of us.

As for designs, yeah, Joe's stuff as a general rule appeals to me more than Matt's(I do kinda like the Bush Mondo, but I doubt the price will be something I'm willing to pay unless I can get a deal somewhere). The Ironpath was definitely one of the 2 that most jumped out to me, along with the Cambodian Machete. Those 2 I expect I'll get, even with the higher prices. I also like that huge fighting knife of Joe's, no matter how impractical it may be, though the price on that one kinda scares me(presumably the kydex sheath accounts for part of that one's price). And I've actually always wanted a fransisca, so that one actually excites me more than it should. Not a huge fan of smaller knives, so the Terrasaur doesn't really do it much for me, but I admit I've looked at that Scotia more than once.

The shield is...an odd choice. I mean, I assume it's for people who are into historical weaponry, either general collecting, or maybe they're into HEMA or renfaire cosplay, or whatever, but still. Probably meant to appeal to the same people as the swords, viking battle axes, etc I guess, though it still seems an awful iffy choice of item to produce IMO. Hell, *I* have interest in some of the swords and axes sometimes, but I never personally had any real desire for a shield...

Remember, you're talking to someone who has literally hundreds of Condors go through his hands on an annual basis. I hand inspect literally every Condor that comes through my shop and so I've seen the improvements in fit and finish trend over time, along with the improvements in factory edges for certain models. They still represent a strong value, just not as absurdly strong of one as they did back when they were first finding their footing and mostly selling premium versions of their standard production machetes and axes. They're not the same little underdog company they were back then.

Ignore their swords. They're garbage and will continue to be garbage until they get someone on their team who actually understands swords. They're a totally different mode of construction than machetes and they just don't know what makes a good sword. Their stuff is nowhere near historically accurate so they're not going after reenactors or people who care about that aspect in their swords, which means mostly people doing backyard cutting who want a sword because it's "kewl" and there are better options out there from Chinese and Indian producers.

The quality overall on most models is now equal to that of a low-to-mid-level custom knife. Consistency in their line is good from piece to piece within a particular model (that is to say that Bushlores are pretty consistently the same, Kepharts are consistently the same, etc.) but they vary a lot from model to model (Bushlores and Kepharts are not the same as each other in terms of edge refinement, with Kepharts being thick/coarse in the edge and the Bushlores now often being hair-shaving.)
 
The Condor Puuko has some appeal to me. Have to wait and see what the street pricing is.

Pricing viewed over a period of years shows what I consider a pretty hefty price increase. The pricing has moved me from buying one just for the heck of it (to play with) to looking much closer at the product before buying.
 
Part of the problem is that customers have consistently gone "these are great, but it'd be even better if ______" not realizing that adding _______ would increase the price. And Condor has listened and made stuff with those features, or fixing things with current models to improve them, but it increases cost as a result. I'd personally like to see a return to some more basic low-cost stuff that's lighter on construction method complexity, but maybe under the banner of their Eco-series of models. Turn it into a whole line. The Terrasaur is a good example of something that fits that approach.
 
Part of the problem is that customers have consistently gone "these are great, but it'd be even better if ______" not realizing that adding _______ would increase the price. And Condor has listened and made stuff with those features, or fixing things with current models to improve them, but it increases cost as a result. I'd personally like to see a return to some more basic low-cost stuff that's lighter on construction method complexity, but maybe under the banner of their Eco-series of models. Turn it into a whole line. The Terrasaur is a good example of something that fits that approach.

I see what you're saying. Some of what customers ask for would add cost, and some doesn't though. For example, when they started introducing 420hc to the product line instead of just 1075. and replacing some 1075 models with 420HC. I mean, is 420HC really going to cost them more to produce? It's one of the most common budget steels in the world, up there with AUS8 and 8cr13mov.

Let's take something like the Hudson Bay knife. A popular choice. two years ago it could be found in the low $40s range. Now its in the low $60s. A 50% increase. Same for a Bushlore that used to be found in the mid $30 range and now is in the mid $50s. Same materials... Is it better fit/finish? You know better than i know.

The issue I have is that Condor may be great. But when a Boomslang or Warlock runs $118, and for that price it is encroaching on ESEE Junglas territory.. Or a Solobolo runs the same cost as a Becker BK9... The Condors also lack removable scales, which seem a popular option for people who like to customize, and even just so that people can replace a broken scale if need be (not that they really break much).

I used to be a huge Condor cheerleader, but Condor seems to be pricing itself out of the market because they are now trying to directly compete with Kabar, ESEE, Ontario, etc...

Just one man's take on it. At least the Moonshiner hasn't gone up more than a couple bucks, and still represents an awesome value...
 
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