Condor Bushlore Knife Review

The Condor Bushlore Knife is one that I have carried in my pack for about two years now.  In fact, I ended up buying a second Bushlore from Ben at Baryonyxknife.com a few days ago...  more on this a little later.  The Bushlore is a knife that has been reviewed countless number of times, so I don't expect to add much to what has already been written.  However, I write this review to not only express my satisfaction and why I recommend this knife, but to also to describe how to avoid some of the pitfalls that accompany this blade. Whenever, I go out into the woods (even on a short day hike) I always carry my Enzo Trapper with Micarta scales on my belt, but the Condor Bushlore always accompanies me inside my pack.  This knife has proven, for me, to be a very versatile blade capable of a variety of tasks from batoning wood, prepping firewood (ie. making feather sticks), and for preparing foods.  The blade has the ability to get a super sharp edge and I have found with proper care and utilization the edge retention on this knife is excellent.  The more I use this knife the more I like it.  Here are it's basic specifications having been made in El Salvador:

Full Tang Construction
1075 High Carbon Steel Blade
4 5/16" Blade Length
1/8" Blade Thickness
Hardwood Handle-Walnut
9 5/16" Overall Length
Quality Leather Sheath

The thing that has caused me to be impressed with this knife is the cost to value ratio.  I would rate this knife to be an excellent value for what you receive in the box.  If you've done any amount of research on this knife you will have read that most folks consider the sheath to be of such high quality that it alone is worth the purchase of the knife.  I wouldn't call the Bushlore a beater knife, yet it has been designed to be a workhorse and to accept abuse (within reason). It's a knife that you don't have to be concerned about when your out in the woods.  While I'm definitely one to keep track of my gear in the woods, if my Condor Bushlore was somehow lost, I wouldn't be as concerned compared to losing a more expensive knife. I've had my Bushlore out in a pouring rain with little opportunity to keep it dry to avoid potentially rusting the blade, yet, this wasn't a concern for me since I paid about $30 for it at the time.  Even so, I found that the blade withstood the moisture pretty well and it has always cleaned up nicely.  From the pictures above you can tell that that there doesn't appear to be consistency in the color of the handle material.  The more rosewood colored handle was the first knife that I acquired.  Both handles were stripped, sanded and re-finished with multiple light coats of boiled linseed oil.  I read somewhere that when boiled linseed oil was used to finish gun stocks, that light coats of oil was put on the wood in the following manner:  1 coat everyday for a week; 1 coat every week for a month; 1 coat every month for a year; and, 1 coat every year for life.  The key to putting on boiled linseed oil is super thin coats and letting it dry between applications so that the coatings don't become gummy.  I've used boiled linseed oil on all of my wood handles and the results turn out very nice.  This is a knife that looks good; I hate to say it, but all of my knives have to have a high aesthetic value; it must perform well and look good.  The Bushlore definitely falls into this category.

Now, some of the things to be aware of...  When I purchased the Bushlore back in June 2011, the folks at Condor had made a change to the Bushlore design.  The knife previous to the current design was much thicker and the useable edge on the knife was shorter.  It seemed that there may have been some quality issues with making the transition on the knife.  While the heat treatment on the blade was acceptable, the knife edge was not ground properly so that the blade was not sharp along the edge closer to the handle. I spent a lot of time and energy getting the full edge to be acceptable.  This knife is now super crazy sharp, is easy to maintain and a joy to use.  While we are on the subject of the edge, the Bushlore does not have a true Scandi grind; rather, it has a secondary micro-edge.  It's important to recognize this in order to get the edge to it's sharpest potential.  The handle also came very rough, but that was easily solved by stripping and sanding.  The other thing that I find on the first knife compared to my newest Bushlore is that the tang extends a wee bit past the handle material.  While this doesn't impact the comfort or practical use of the knife, some folks may find this unacceptable.  I suppose when I first purchased the knife I didn't have very high expectations of the quality. The good news is that on the second knife I purchased (dark brown handle) was from Ben at BaryonyxKnife.com.  The advantage of doing this is that Ben inspects every knife that he sells to insure that you are receiving a knife that meets his expectation ultimately for your satisfaction.  You can also request what he calls a "Special Grade" Bushlore where the blade has been thinned and the factory edge is refined.  When I received my Bushlore, I was very impressed with the quality; it simply looked better and came much sharper than my first purchase; and it was sharp along the entire edge. After a few strokes on a leather strop this knife was super crazy sharp.

Sharp enough to make paper curl.  These
 cuts were made against the grain using
the old Bushlore.

The overall fit and finish of this knife was superb compared to the first Bushlore.  So there is a real advantage to purchasing a knife from someone who provides this type of service.  For only a little more than what you would purchase the knife from Amazon or another dealer, you get the peace of mind knowing that you're going to get a knife that has been looked at and will be ready for service.  By the way, I have no financial interest in the Baryonyx Knife Co.; my only interest is getting quality gear at a reasonable price and knowing where they can be found. So my bottom line is that the Condor Bushlore may be considered a budget bushcraft knife and may only be a Woodlore clone, however, it is not a budget blade.  There is genuine value and performance in this piece of equipment that will not disappoint even the most hardcore bushcraft or knife enthusiast. ~Keep it Sharp.