Condor Tool Knife Village Parang Machete 12in Blade Hardwood Handle with Sheath

This is my first Condor product but won't be my last for sure. Blade is nice and straight, grind is even. The fit of handle to the tang is excellent, no gaps at all and finished very well. Shape of the handle gives plenty of leverage on swings to allow the weight to do the work. Edge was nice and sharp out of the box. I know a parang is supposed to have three areas of the blade for different uses but I ground down about 1.5 inches of the edge closest to the handle then wrapped that area in leather to allow me to "choke up" a bit on my grip for more control when needed, works perfect. Handle is finished pretty well but was a little slick so I wrapped it in some athletic tape. Took it out the day after I got it to my unruly, end of season garden. Brussels sprout stalks can be quite thick and tough but this parang went through like they weren't there. It's really more of a hatchet dressed up like a knife. Too short, thick and heavy for light grasses and such but that's not what it's made for, get a machete for that. Limbing, batoning and splitting should be no problem at all. For me anyway it's a bit large and heavy to hang on a belt but for my uses I wouldn't be anyhow. The sheath is awesome. Thick quality leather with great even stitching, heavy duty. Worth twice what I paid. If you have it in your head that this is some third world produced piece of junk, get over it.

All right just to some it up this BEAST is perfect my wife and I we are in Twin city’s Minnesota By the riots that happened because of the death of George Floyd so to be safe I wanted a great knife for self defense when we go to get food and just whatever so I needed a chopper and a slicer in a compact but butch ass blade and for where I live to haha I’m in the woods but no one I mean no one even messed with me or my family when I strapped this beautiful monster on me . it is absolutely beautiful I was looking At the blade in the sun light and it is much more then advertised . It starts off with the hammerd blade that is so nice and rugged and smooth if you know what I mean very smooth to the touch unlike some cheep blades that try to make such a blade . And then in the light you can actually see layers in the blade like true Damascus steal . It’s a thick blade and dives down to a great edge that you can really work with to get razor sharp. it already has a hair shaving edge on the blade . I could not believe it to get that kinda steal for the price of 80$ Don’t even think about it get this beautiful hand crafted chopper that came from heaven and hell . And one other thing keep it lubed with wd40 or some good gun oil it will rust a little if you are out in the woods over night with the condensation with temperature drops.

I bought this simply for fun. Thought is was a cool blade and it is. Blade is nice and thick. Came with a reasonable edge, but I of course made it better. I did take this camping figuring I could use it for making some firewood. It worked decently but the handle is a bit too slick and it may be that I may just not know how to hold it properly, but with a blade of this size and weight, one needs a good hold on it. I may add something too the handle to improve upon that. Other than that, I like it a lot. Great blade for the money and I really like the high quality sheath it came with.

The first thing I noticed when I recieved this fine tool was the excellent craftsmanship that went into it. It is a full tanged blade of a high carbon steel that can be easily sharpened to a keen razor sharpness. This is the best blade I've ever encountered yet, and I've owned several good machetes in my 71 years.The only improvement I could suggest about this machete is to add a hand guard, the handle is constructed of high quality oil finished hardwood that could become slippery from perspiration. The handle shape conforms well to the hand which prevents the tool from sliding backwards out of your hand, however the shape does also invite potential hand slippage towards the blade.Handling such a sharp blade caused me a little concern, so I glued a !/2 inch strip of brown dyed leather to the base of the handle to act as a hand guard. I also added a leather wrist strap through the eye hole to keep it secured to my wrist, while chopping. The blade edge will shave hair after just a little honing on a hard Arkansas stone, and stropped on the sheath a few passes. This is a really finely constructed tool, and a good Machete/meat cleaver.

This is an awesome instrument. It's beautiful. I give it only 4 stars for three reasons. 1. It comes with a.pretty good edge but needed some work. With a little effort I put a great edge on it, then chopped a couple palm trees down. It's a great chopper. 2. The sheath is made of great leather, but it's difficult to extract the blade. I made a sheath of PVC pipe that is better for me. 3. It is a bit heavy. The weight helps it sink a deep bite when chopping, but it is tiring over time. Regardless, I love it. I love the full tang and wood handle. It's a classy piece. I'm proud of it.Postscript 2 years later - 1. Takes a little effort to put an edge, but holds an edge. 2. I put 3 in 1 oil after use and no major rust. 3, Grip is a little slippery when sweaty, but the big ball helps. 4. Leather sheath is cumbersome. I made one out of flattened PVC pipe and it slips in easily. Much better. 5. I bought this because of the wood full tang grip, but the blade is thick. A better cutter might be the Bushhcraft or Eco parangs with the plastic handles.

Only a strop and it's a razor. Has a nice grip and good weight. Well worth the price.

Very happy with the machete, performs beautifully.