Condor Tool & Knife Outdoor Machete with Walnut Handle

I have purchased less expensive machetes but many are not heat treated or have lower grade steel. This has 1075 carbon steel. There are others that make 1085 and 1095 Steel but they cost even more. This is a well made one, and I consider this the bare minimum for a usable machete. I use my machetes to trim brush, saplings, and tall weeds. I also use it like an ax to chop off branches. We live on just under 8 acres so we have a lot of foliage, trees, etc. This design is based out of Malaysia where their brush is much thicker. The blade has three main segments: forend for skinning animals, the mid segment for chopping and the rear for carving. The grip is a hardwood with a flared out square bottom that tapers towards the top of the grip. Because of the balance, I hold this past the flared bottom for more control. This has a black coating which protects against blinding glare when working in the sun. The edge is exposed. Balance is excellent and I have great control. It is always best to swing in an arc or direction that moves away from the other hand, your face, and body. This is not designed for a novice, as it can likely and severely injure you. A bounce back or a chop that comes towards you can have deleterious and disastrous effects. For a machete, this is as heavy as they come. It is very durable with respect to the blade and edge. I have used it to chop and cut with ease. An unintentional glancing blow at a boulder, and it dented the edge, slightly. Lesser blades would have been rendered useless, broken, or badly bent. This has a leather sheath with two brass snaps. Because of the flared fore end, it would be difficult to make a design that would fit with just one snap. The sheath has a nice belt loop which swivels on a button. It is comfortable and keeps the machete out of the way when walking around the property. Because this has no sharp point, it is more of a chopper, slasher and cutter, as opposed to a stabbing type of blade. If you need to stab, then it is best to go with a baring, Bowie, Tanto or Latin style machete. Overall, I'm very pleased with the design. It's tough and it is a great chopper/hacker.

First, let me state my history with machetes. I live in 9 acres of jungle in Hawaii. I own multiple different types, styles, and weights of machetes and have logged many hundreds of hours using them to perform duties like making trails, clearing brush, and removing trees. This machete is my favorite. It has enough heft and thickness to the blade to easily take down 4-5 inch hardwood limbs or trunks. Straight from the factory it was sharp enough to clear smaller problems like uluhe ferns. I have a great machete sharpener which restores this blade to kitchen-knife sharpness in three pulls. If you would miss your target and carelessly strike your shin or companion with this machete, somebody will be going to the emergency room for stitches. This is a serious machete for professionals. I have read some reviews that complained about the thickness or weight of this unit, and I think they don't appreciate the type of user this machete was made for. I waited several months to write this review to see how the steel holds up. There are no nicks or pitting on the blade edge from use or sharpening. If you are a serious connoisseur of a working blade, the quality and value of this cannot be beat. It has the versatility for larger brush and enough sharpness for the thinner problems, making it great for mixed uses. If you have no thick brush in your machete needs, or are not an experienced user, you might want to look for something with a thinner blade or less heft, but for me, its perfect. If you need a machete that has the blade edge for light work but also enough thickness and heft to do the job of a hatchet or small axe, and have the experience to use it safely, THIS is the machete for you. Update: I've had this machete for a few years now and the blade is still in awesome condition. It has a pit or two where I got careless and hit a rock or something but so far this tool has far exceeded my expectations. A few months ago my wife borrowed this machete and lost it and I was seriously bummed. I came here to order a replacement and they were out (they have since come back in stock). I felt almost like I had lost an old friend. A few weeks later I found it out in the yard in a stump. I could tell it had been in the weather but it cleaned right up.

This is my third Condor purchase, they are a little expensive for machetes, true, but they are half the price of Traditional Filipino Weapons. They are thick bladed, full tang, high carbon steel, well forged and well honed (at least all mine have been). I still sharpen mine regularly using ceramic rods, but anyone who buys an edged weapon and thinks they will never have to sharpen it, is fooling themselves. The black protective coating is very tough, though not infallible; I split an old, very hard 1" thick hardwood board down the center with my Golok, not realizing there was an old nail in the center, the machete had no problem cleaving the nail, there was no blade damage (though I did have to re-sharpen), but the black coating chipped a little on both sides where the two halves of the nail scraped by. I am thankful Condor uses a coating, since the blades are good quality, high-carbon steel, they can rust. On to my complaint, and it's not a minor one to some people: the finish of the handle was terrible in comparison to my other two. I realize that their knives are hand sanded on a sanding belt, and it appears the worker was new to sanding handles (just a theory); the handle was poorly chosen wood from a heavily knotted piece, the sanding was uneven at best, and the butt of the handle were burnt black where the sander hits the end-grain (a common problem with hardwood). The brass rivets also have some burrs due to the poor sanding. It's not a problem for me, I will hand sand it for a few hours until it's immaculate then refinish it; the knotty hardwood will look beautiful when I am finished. I will post some pics. This experience confirms what others have said about quality control, Condor needs more. By the way: I love the open-top sheath with this one, so much more that the traditional sheath with the Golok, but the lower snap strap is unnecessary, I keep it unsnapped and the strap turned 90 degrees behind the sheath, out of my way. I wore this thing about 10 hours on Saturday, working in the yard, very, very comfortable carry!

This full tang machete is a beast and well worth the price as long as you don't want a fast blade. On the blade: Blade thickness goes from .20 by handle, 017 midway down the 17 1/4" blade to .14 by tip. Told you it was a beast. My file skipped so it looks well hardens and will keep an edge. Came sharp with very fine grinding marks, much finer than I expected. Blade was easy to clean up, I used with 200 then 400 grit, could go finer but didn't need to. Should be easy to make to extremely sharp. Balance point is 4" above handle on the 17.25" blade so this isn't a fast machete but you wouldn't expect it due to the blade thickness. You could thin the blade to make it faster but then it wouldn't be a beast anymore. On the handle: As I said above, it's full tang through the handle. Nicely finished hard wood, used some shock sheen and conditioner but really didn't need to. 3 very smooth, good size and flush rivets attaches handle to blade, very study, no burrs. Large lanyard brass fitting. Handle diameter is small at the front, good fit with gloves otherwise you may want to wrap. This is why I gave it 4 stars for ergonomics. On the sheath: 2 sturdy size snaps on substantial leather straps. Looks like good quality leather, well stitched and riveted. Gave it a coating with Neats Foot oil, very little needed on outside, more obviously on inside. Overall this machete is rock solid, holds a sharp edge and cuts great. Just be prepared to get a work out.

This is a very effective machete. Not too heavy but it still packs a punch due to the heavy front end. The hardwood handle is much nicer than I ever imagined. I am a carpenter and wood worker and this is some species of walnut or pecan. These people obviously know their business. There is not even a hairline gap anywhere that wood, brass and steel join, and the whole grip is well finished and finely sanded. Thick brass rivets, brass lanyard hole and ,Full tang construction. Thick high carbon steel with an extremely sharp blade. It may look thin at the base...but you will have a hard time breaking..or even bending it. Last but not least, the black finish is not paint. It is either baked or annealed on to the sides of the blade, I don't know, but it is on to stay! That I can tell you. It may sound stupid, but the extremely well made leather sheath is worth the $50.00 by itself. I am buying another one for the second pack. If I left anything out please feel free to message me. I am putting this Parang to many tests.

! C'mon, Condor! You guys make the best stuff at your price point, but that older parang was perfect. Please bring it back and I'll buy one tomorrow. This was a phenomenal blade. You'd never find anything of comparable quality and size for less than three times its cost. But you screwed it up. Now it's on a par with kershaw's 18" and that sort of blade. I gave it three stars because I have actually purchased two of these, and the new one is way thinner. The first one I got was a quarter inch wide all the way to the end. I was so impressed! It was the toughest working blade in my collection, including swords from Cheness and Cold steel, to name a few. In fact, I was so impressed that I gave it to my best friend who is a real aficionado and works in the woods. He was thrilled and I ordered a new one. When the new one came, I noted that it was lighter. When I unboxed it, it was obvious that the folks at Condor Had made a grevious error. The blade thickness in the handle was the same, but it immediately tapered to a thin profile. This knife is literally a third as thick as the old one, maybe less. The old one would have taken so much more lateral stress than I could muster, no problem. This one... Not so much. That being said, it's still a great knife. The thinner profile is better suited to slashing succulent plants but still tough enough to chop some on the heavier materials. If you bought one of these a year ago, don't expect the same on your second go-round.

My second machete. The first one was a big-box POS that lasted about a day and was so flimsy that it was dangerous to use. After much research, got this one. Absolutely no regrets. The blade is about 1/4" thick and has a substantial feel to it. Was sharp out of the box. I cleared a small area with 4 years of growth, with trees up to 2" requiring no more than 2 strokes. I'm out of shape, but was surprisingly not sore the next day. I let the blade do the work. I don't think this is intended for vine and brier removal or maybe there's a technique to it but with the weight at the end, the flexible vines tended to absorb the swing unless i really put some speed into it. The tang goes through the handle to the end, very well constructed. I was using gloves, but the wooden handle felt secure; if it were wet i would think about some grip tape or something. I was able to use it single and double-handed (to chop through a 8" tree) with ease. The sheath is really nice and durable leather. It has a belt-loop and due to the unique shape of the blade, requires two button clips to secure it; but the very end is fully encased and i didn't have any concerns about it falling out. Best tool i've purchased in a long time.

Thanks a lot reviewers, you really let me down on this purchase. Yes, I agree with most that this is a well-made quality built machete but it has all the subtlety and finesse of a lawn mower blade in the hand. Poor design, poorly weighted and the blade is too ridged and too thick to be effective. The force from every strike is directed back into your hand and wrist. Very good way to get tendinitis in a short period of time. The Latin thin blade style machete is a superior design and my Condor Eco-Survivor outperforms this in every way even chopping 2-3 in caliper trees with half the energy input. It may be that this parang machete is a creation intended for the American market because it looks cool but I can’t believe anyone who is serious about clearing land would think this is a good choice.