Condor Tool & Knife Indigenous Puukko Knife - 1095 High Carbon Steel - Hand Crafted Welted Leather Sheath - Polynesian and Sami Designed Walnut Handle - 3.9in Blade - 4.6oz (3mm)

This is the third Condor knife I have purchased, and as expected, it meets or exceeds the standards I have seen for all of their products. It came sharp enough to shave the hair on my arm, just like the machete I bought a few years ago. Everyone remarks on the leather sheath, which is good looking and durable. This knife is really high quality, and fits perfectly in my hand. It’s well balanced, and all I could ask for in an outdoor / bushcraft / survival knife. I love the blade profile, not too curved, not too straight. Just right

So this is basically a functional reproduction of the Hudson Bay knife distributed by the Hudson Bay fur trade company to its trappers in the 18th and 19th century. You might have seen a version in the 2015 film the Revenant used by Tom Hardy’s character. Very likely a precursor to the Bowie knife. Condor did an amazing job on this reproduction. It has a very primitive aesthetic to it. No flashiness, just a no nonsense workhorse. Neither too large or small. It was designed as both a camp and hunting knife. Mine came super sharp and has kept its edge during the last few months of chopping light firewood, chopping meat, and skinning both medium and large game. It has a full tang that fits fully through the wood grip as advertised. Due to the blade being high carbon steel, you want to keep it oiled. Despite having a thick strong heavy blade for hardy jobs it has no problem managing more culinary tasks. A joy to sharpen as well. Not much wear and tear to report. It comes with a very nice leather sheath that is neither too tight or too loose. Even though this knife will be durable to outlast me I will definitely be picking up a spare in the coming months.

Let me start off by saying this is a great knife at a great price. It needed some work to get it where I wanted it to be, but I usually sharpen all my knives pretty much on the first day. I have bought very few knives that I couldn't improve at least a bit. If you buy knives to use them you are probably in the same boat as me. This is my 3rd Hudson Bay. The other two I bought when they first came out and they were awesome, but got traded away. So I spent a couple of years missing them so I ordered this one. The old ones had convex edges on them, this one has a more traditional grind. It came out of the box fairly sharp, but with wonky grinds. A few hours on the stones fixed it right up and it is shaving sharp. A lot of people would ding it for needing work to be right, but at this price point and the fact that it is a hard use knife this doesn't bother me at all. If it was a 150-200 dollar knife I would expect better, but would probably still take them to the stones to get it where I want it to be. The sheath is great, I make custom sheaths and this knife will probably get one, but it doesn't need one. If I had to depend on one knife for heavy work this one would definitely be in the running. It will chop down small trees, process fire wood, quarter a deer, and probably kill a bear if need be. I hope I never have to use it against a bear, but you never know.

Beast of a knife. Its a woods cleaver. Pretty faithful reproduction of the iconic frontiersman knife. If your into reenactment or just want a knife that can handle bushcraft or make you feel like Daniel Boone this is it. Beautiful walnut handles with brass pins. 8 3/4 inch long blade. 2 inch height overall length of 13 1/4. Comes with a very nice leather sheath. You dont need to upgrade another sheath. Beautiful in its simplicity. This knife would excell at chopping and batoning. This knife could be the one tool option. Spine is sharp and throws good spark. If youve watched the movie the revenant with Leonardo DiCaprio you'll notice this knife. Makes you want to put on a coon skin cap and hit the woods. Matter of fact i think i will. Get one you wont be disappointed.

I can’t comment on the HB’s long term use because I haven’t had it long, but I will give you my evaluation so far. I got this because I like trade knives of the 19th century and this, while not an exact copy, is pretty close in some ways. It’s also a much bigger knife than anything I have until you get into choppers like kukris. Honestly, when I took it out of the box, I thought “Hmm, maybe this was a mistake,” because it is so heavy, and once again, it is BIG. But mine is finished very nicely, the grind is even, and the handle’s wood is sanded nicely and is flush with the tang so I took it outside and did some chopping and carving - not a ton, but enough to realize that there are really times when a big knife is a joy to work with. I am used to using knives with a 4 inch blade or so in the woods (Moras, that sort of thing), and they are much more precise than this big honker. BUT...the big honker can cut through knots and sprouts like nobody’s business and it does still carve feathersticks if you want to do that with it. I was surprised by how easy it was to use, actually. The grind is what I would call a soft convex. The Moras or other equivalent smaller knives will always outperform a big knife like this for precision work, but that’s not what you get this for. It’s like comparing a Triumph Spitfire to a Dodge Viper, if you’re into sports cars. Heck, maybe even a diesel powered back loader! At any rate, I’d say the HB is certainly the big boy on the block, the one you call when you need some muscle; the knife’s momentum really works for you, and not just in chopping - it helps in cutting, too. A couple of thumbs up for the sheath, too. It’s very well done, with good quality, heavy leather. I would prefer that it had a lower top and some sort of retaining strap than just trusting to the pressure fit it uses. This type of sheath is historically correct (except for the swiveling belt loop, which I don’t think a lot of voyageurs would have had, but they might have appreciated it) but because only about an inch and a half of the handle pokes out it is not the quickest to remove from the sheath, and you do want to push it all the way in so that it stays there. It stays in when turned upside down, but I’d still feel better with a strap on the handle. Still, as I said, the sheath is very well made. This is my only Condor knife so I can’t judge the company’s range of products, but I have decided that I quite like this knife.

This knife is the best knife I have ever purchased. It exceeded my expectations in almost every way. It is very thick the whole length of the blade and it has a satisfying weight in your hand but not enough to make you reach for a smaller blade. The nickname "Woods Cleaver" is a perfect representation of what this knife is. The story I was told about this knife design is that it was developed as a backcountry workhorse for the frontier and it quickly grew in popularity as a trade item with natives and an all around awesome life that people trusted their lives on. The legend goes that Bowie saw someone with one of these and loved it, but they parted ways and he couldn't find a knife like it so he found the closest knife maker and described it to the knife maker who made the legendary bowie knife. Pros: -Very durable, probably the most durable fixed blade I have ever seen. -Easy to sharpen and holds a edge. -Very well balanced to the point where its extra weight is actually a bonus because it does the work for you. -This thing can split wood almost as good as a hatchet and it batons like the wood is butter. You can throw your hatchet away if you get this knife. Cons: This knife can do anything but it isn't as proficient for fine tasks as a small knife like a Mora. -Firesticks are difficult but possible if you have a sharp edge. -This knife does not come sharp, you will have to work it a little. -It is not pretty but it has some charm. -Forget about carving besides the basic shelter making stuff. -Made in El Salvador and Condor has had problems in the past with quality control. However at this price you are paying for good steel and a good design. If these knifes were made in the USA and were perfect they would cost 4 times as much. Every knife I have purchased from condor has been great quality with this being the first one that wasn't razor sharp.

---Original Review--- I have been using this knife around the campsite for a while now and feel like I can give an honest review. I should point out that I wear 2XL gloves and find this handle to be a tiny bit small but what it lacks in that department the handle is smooth enough to transition around and might need some modification if you have smaller hands or a weak grip. The sheath is well made out of leather however the belt hanger has the leather shaved down and glued together before pinned to the main body. I haven't had issues with it yet however I am paranoid about actually hanging it off the belt so I attach it to the outside of my pack. While the blade is a little front heavy and could have been balanced better by taking some metal off through a grove or reshaping the width a little it isn't uncomfortable to use. You can use it baton very well as it is just long enough but no too long to be functional as a camp knife. My wife thought it was a little heavy for a kitchen knife but I think it feels about right for the abuse I give blades. The grind on the blade is functional but could have been better, after a little time with my stone it was perfect for what I use it for, as an all purpose camp knife. The blade has the ability to hack off branches quite well as well as cut up apples or meat. The design of the blade also allows someone with very large hands to choke up on the blade and use it for fine tasks, this just won't be possible for someone with smaller hands. My wife still uses it to cut up squash as no other blade in the kitchen can take the abuse of this large heavy blade. Overall I loved the blade but am waiting to see how the belt loop holds up to abuse, I might be concerned for no reason. I will update if it breaks and adjust the rating, but until then its a 5 star. ---UPDATE--- I recently was processing a deer and used this knife as my normal one was left at home. the entire blade length that came into contact with bone shattered, I uploaded a few pictures in an attempt to capture this. I have seen good blades chip when it was cold, however this was not the case as I have used this knife in the bitter cold many times to baton firewood; while processing the deer we were in a heated garage. Some might feel it unfair that I reduce the stars or used processing a wild animal as the litmus test, however I believe a knife of this type should be used in survival situations and general farm/ranch use AND not become destroyed in the field. I use to recommend this knife to family and friends however I can't any longer. I want to give this a lower star review however I received 6 good years out of this knife around the campsite and only now able to test the edge on bone this way...it just doesn't seem fair to give it 1 or 2 star after that amount of time and for the price point of the knife. I might be harder on my knifes than others so you might not find my review fair and get many more years of use out of this knife with no failures...however I feel if you are looking for serious knife that will survive DON'T get this one; if you want a medium use knife that works well in the kitchen and campsite, get this knife.

My first experience with Condor, definitely not my last!! I saw a review with a defective blade, had some type of crease or crack in it. I took a chance anyway. I think that person was unlucky & got a bad one that slipped through. I love my Hudson Bay knife, I like everything about it. Tough, durable walnut scales, that look great too, carbon steel blade, also looks awesome. I really like things that are brand new & highly functional yet look 100 years old. Condor nailed that with this knife. Also the best sheath I've ever gotten with a knife, regardless of price. The sheath is easily worth the purchase price all by itself. I liked this so much, I looked at all their stuff & I got a Condor double bit Michigan axe to go along with it, which I also love. If you are looking at this knife, my recommendation would be to buy it!! Also, it has a really decent edge out of the box, I'd give it 8 out of 10, it arrived sharper than 95% of the knives I buy. Highest recommendation thanks.