The Condor Bushlore survival knife only came up on my radar a few months ago but I’ve been nothing short of impressed with it since adding this knife to my collection.
I’d read a few shining reviews of this knife and those reviews combined with the extremely reasonable $40 price tag sealed the deal for me. Knives in this price range can be a bit hit and miss when it comes to craftsmanship, design and manufacturing but the Condor Bushlore ticks all the right boxes and passes with flying colors.
So let’s get into the nitty-gritty and take a more in-depth look at this outstanding survival knife.
Condor Bushlore Walnut Handle Bushcraft Knife – Check out Amazon and Blade HQ for prices and delivery in your area
Bushcraft-style blades are a great option for an EDC survival knife as they are larger than a slicer blade yet more compact than the larger chopping style knives like the Gerber Bear Grylls Parang. Its size makes the Condor Bushlore survival knife capable of handling most, if not all, outdoor tasks and while it won’t chop as good as the larger knives or perform small intricate work as well as a smaller slicer blade, it’s a great all-rounder that can be utilized to perform a wide range of tasks.
And that’s why you want to have this knife in your arsenal. Its versatility is its major strength.
With a 4.5 inch blade taking up nearly half of its 9.5 inch design, this knife is well-balanced and feels great in your hand. And as illustrated in the photo below, the handle is long enough to allow you to get a good grip at the back of the knife, giving you a surprising amount of chopping force for a knife of this size. And while we’re on the subject of chopping, it’s worth mentioning the brass ring reinforced lanyard hole located at the end of the handle. This allows you to attach a lanyard to secure the knife to your wrist while performing chopping tasks. A great safety feature, especially because this blade is super sharp!
The tough Scandinavian grind 1075 carbon steel blade will stand up to light and even medium chopping work, so you shouldn’t have any trouble with damaged edges while performing this type of work. Here is a video showing the knife after a year of heavy use
When it comes to whittling and cutting, the Condor Bushlore bushcraft knife is a real pleasure to use. While coming in at 0.125 inches (3mm) thick this knife weighs a little more than some other similar knives available on the market. The 12 ounce weight of this knife makes the Bushlore feel very controllable and stable when making precision cuts and this is a major reason why this knife feels so good to work with.
Condor knives come out of the factory with a very sharp blade so they are ready for immediate use. I cleaned the blade up a little bit when I first used it and the 1075 steel only needed a few moments of stropping and it was sharp enough to shave with. For a knife this cheap, that’s really impressive!
The blade edge itself incorporates a slight curvature to help with slicing and the well-designed belly looks great and works even better.
Performing typical bushcraft tasks such as notching is a breeze with this carefully designed knife and when doing such tasks, it really becomes apparent that this knife was designed by a serious outdoors adventurer who really knows his stuff. You can thank Joe Flowers, the Bushlore’s designer for that.
Something I really like about wood-handled knives in this price range is that you can modify the wooden handle slightly to suit your grip and knife handling style without feeling like you are losing any resale value if you decide to sell it one day in the future. Although these knives feel great in the hand straight out of the box, a slight sand or trimming of the blade might make the handle feel just that little bit more comfortable in your grip.
The Condor Bushlore is made in El Salvador and I suspect this might be the reason behind the very reasonable price tag. Personally, I don’t care where a knife was made, as long as it’s a great knife. But I know others that will only use knives made in the USA and while this comes down to personal preferences, I believe a knife of the same quality, manufactured in the US would have a higher price-tag attached. The Salvadorians really know their stuff when it comes to manufacturing great knives.
In my opinion, the tip of this blade finds the perfect balance between sturdiness and control when performing more detailed work and, to my mind, this is what a great bushcraft knife should do.
Another great thing about this knife’s design is the 90 degree, totally flat spine, which makes getting sparks off this blade a breeze and will mean you’ll be cooking with fire in no time.
In terms of looks, this knife is definitely one of the cooler looking blades on the market. The only thing I didn’t like so much was the flat of the blade appears to have some kind of coating on it which doesn’t look as nice as a pure steel blade. This coating may very well be some kind of corrosion protection but I couldn’t find any information regarding this matter in any advertising material. I hope that this is the case, and if it is, it just adds to the amazing value of this knife.
And while the batoning ability of this knife is not quite up to what you would expect from a larger chopping knife, for its size, it packs an amazing punch. I’ve used this knife frequently for this task and so far the knife has shown no signs of damage whatsoever. In fact, I doubt very much you could damage this knife if you tried!
The thick leather sheath that comes standard with this knife is another nice touch and really finishes-off this top-class blade. It features two reinforced rivets, tough stitching and a belt loop that will fit all belt sizes. It looks great and is a far more quality sheath than you get with some much more expensive knives.
Importantly, the knife fits perfectly into the sheath, meaning that it’s unlikely to take in moisture or rainwater.
As with any knife that retails around the $40 mark, there are a few small drawbacks that I should mention. But keep in mind that compared to the benefits of this great knife, they really are minimal. But for the sake of thoroughness, let’s run through them quickly.
My only real criticism of the Condor Bushlore is that the fit and finish isn’t 100 percent spot on as I found a few grind marks on the spine of the blade and the scales could have been slightly more flush. In saying that, these faults are only aesthetic and this knife gets it 99 percent correct. And for just 40 bucks – you can’t beat that!
So take my advice and add this great little fixed-blade knife to your collection now.