Mora VS Condors

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RedneckBear

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Aug 8, 2016
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I'm looking for a comparison between a classic simple Mora Companion / Companion HD ... to Condors Scotia and Hivernant. First two in carbon steel, the last one 440C (now). Mora is a stick tang and Condor a full tang. I guess I'm looking for a general purpose knife - bushcraft, food, gardening home stuff ... I don't intent on batoning. Any comments or recommendations would be helpful. Thanks!
(PS: I kinda rephrased one existing thread OP for quickness, I hope the author doesn't mind.)
 
Condor knives offer more aesthetics and "woodsman vibes", where Moras are more modern with rather clunky sheaths (depending on model ofcourse).
If you want solid performer, I would choose Mora. Moras are kind of like Victorinox: you pretty much never find a flawed one. They have great grinds and sharp blades out of the box.

Ultimately it's apples and oranges.
 
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I think the differences of the knives you're looking at are more about blade shape and intended uses.

The Hivernant is a skinner style knife used for skinning game. A good knife to compare that to would be the Buck 103.

The Scotia is a variant of the Canadian belt knife. A good knife to compare that to would be the Grohman Canadian Belt Knife.

The better comparison to the Mora Companion would be either the Condor Woodlore or Bushcraft basic. In those lines, Condor uses 1075 whereas Mora uses 1095 or 12C27.

IMO, the Mora Companion in stainless is a nearly perfect outdoors knife for general purpose use. I prefer mine scrubbed down to a thinner convex grind (labor of love on a stone) but the combination of weight, amazing egos and use it hard and put it away wet ability is just great. While not aesthetically pleasing, the sheath and handle are amazingly functional.

I suggest getting the Companion and beating on it for a year (including sane battoning) and then deciding if you want/need a prettier knife.
 
Thank you for this summary, Pinnah! :)

I already had the Companion (carbon, not HD) and in the end I gave it to a friend. I've been using Mora Classic #1 since that (and other knives, of course).

Now I decided I'd like something ... with a full tang blade ... with a bit of a finger guard ... and with a bit old-schooly look. I prefer carbon steels (but left Condor 1075 knives behind), but in the end I kept the Hivernant, along with the Scotia.

Now I'm not sure if I should keep some of my money, forget my old-schooly desing dreams and get the Companion again ... or get one of the others. The lack of reviews is not helping though.

Thanks again! :)
 
RedneckBear said:
Okay. Do you think the 1095 line of Condor knives is of more consistent quality?
Click to expand...

I don’t think you can go wrong with Condor, they are just little bit rougher in general. The edge on my hudson bay was really poor. No biggie if you sharpen and use your blades.

I just enjoy using Mora more. Maybe it’s my Scandinavian roots. In my opinion, Mora is just much more realistic for camping.

Pair Mora knife with Mora hatchet, and maybe folding saw and it’s really hard to beat plus it’s less than hundred bucks! More money for whiskey!
 
Ah... I didn't understand that you already had those Condors.

What are you looking to improve upon compared to the Scotia particularly? IMO, that looks like a pretty proven general purpose design.

Do you have a preference on blade shape? Skinner? Drop point? Speer point?

Do you have a preference on grind? Scandi/saber flat? Convex? Full flat?

How much guard to you want?

If you want an old timey look and like full flat, the new Becker Kephart looks great.

If you want old timey and like scandi grinds but can give on full width tang, the Helle knives are beautiful to my eyes.

If you want classic styling and full width tang and you have the money, there is the Enzo Trapper and beyond that, the Bark River knives.
 
I didn't have the Condors. I had the Companion.

As for your questions:
- I'm looking for a full tang knife with old-school look (I like the shape of the Hivernant, what is attracting me to the Scotia is the 1095 steel)
- I prefer flat grind, then scandi ... don't care much about convex
- just a little guard (lol)
- I don't have too much money (lol)
- thank you for the tip, I'll go look into the Helle knives right away!
 
Ah. If you prefer flat grinds, Hella won't work for you as they are scandi, like a Mora.

If you aren't going to be batonnnig through bricks, full length tangs work well. I baton with a very old Schrade-Walden knife and it does just fine. Just back off from bad wood when you encounter it. Other than breaking a knife by battoning, I see no reason go full width exposed tang. It makes the handle cold and isn't as strong as you might think as most of them are skeletonized for better weight balance any how. That is, they look stronger but might not be.

If you like flat grinds best and like old timey looks with small guards, why not just get an old timey knife? Hit the auction site and search for Schrade, Schrade-Walden or Western fixed blades and you'll find lots of possibilities in the $30 or less category. Most of them are 1095 with really excellent heat treatment.

Most will have stacked leather washers. If they are a bit loose, slather it with SnowSeal or any other wax based leather treatment and heat it in with a hair dryer and repeat till the leather swells and tightens up.

Here is an old Schrade-Walden I modified to a pseudo-kephart style.

Schrade H-15 Modified by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
Never had a condor but I'm thinking it's a bit more refined. The mora is a sure bet Good steel either carbon or stainless. Can't go wrong with a mora. I've got 3. A Garberg, Companion and a vintage CAmora. Actually have a few companions
 
I am not much of a Mora fan although I own some and I do think they are a good value overall. On the Condors, I have the Two Rivers Skinner in 440C. It's a pretty nice knife and could be used for general purposes, but it is still a skinner. I like the Bushlore the best for a general purpose woods and garden knife. I use mine a lot around the house for digging out weeks from my yard. :D It is also great for cutting root balls or in my case often splitting plants into two pots. I think it's a good general use knife. I also have the original Bushlore with the thicker bar steel which I use pretty much strictly for work related stuff which involves cutting very abrasive materials. Otherwise, it would just sit in my knife box in favor of the current version.
 
The 440C thing was a change for 2018 on some models (cost more). I do like their 420HC overall. Have a couple of their machetes in that steel and I have no complaints.
 
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