Second a Sapien.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------About a month ago, on a whim , I purchased a Condor Mini-Bushlore. I was favorably impressed, did a little review here, and ended up giving it to my son. My boy loves that knife, and he wanted another full tang, carbon steel knife about the same size as his Buck 102 to use as a Bushcraft knife.
I ,of course, said sure and we looked into the Condor offerings. (Since my boy's tastes in knives changes more than his underwear I ain't about to shell out big bucks)
Enter the Sapien. Ad copy and specs..
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The Sapien is designed with the every day outdoor knife user in mind. It takes the desirable features of many smaller survival knives and combines them into one ergonomic package, a full tang round handled work horse that can be used all day with no wear and tear to the hand! The Sapien comes with a quality dark brown leather sheath, and is sure to please the owner.
Specifications
Code: 60007
Stock : CTK239-4HC
Blade Length: 4"
Blade Thickness: 1/8"
Overall Length: 8-1/4"
Blade Material: 1075 High Carbon Steel
Blade Finish: Epoxy Black Powder Coating
Sheath: Handcrafted Welted Leather
Weight: 0.38 lbs.
Made in El Salvador
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It arrived on Friday. I guess we got the size right. Matches up well with his 102.
Out of the box was a drastic difference than my experience with the mini-bushlore however. The knife was extremely dull, to cut butter I'd have to baton it. The grind is very thick, and uneven.
It took a while by hand but I was finally able to get it to draw cut newspaper and scrape arm hair.
The grind is still very thick, and fine work suffers due to it. Notching is able to be done, but it is harder and less clean than I like.
I didn't even bother to take photos of the "curls" I was able to eek out of this knife.
Batoning a small branch is doable...
Drilling works..
The handle, as the ad copy suggests , is awesome. Very comfortable.
Since this knife is only like $27, it wasn't worth sending back.I don't really expect perfection in this price range. Just wish more attention had been given to grinding the edge. I still have a few days to work on the edge before I have my son, so I am sure I can get a little better performance out of it.
Would I buy another Condor product? Maybe. I seem to be 1/1 right now.
Last edited by dayhiker; 06-18-2011 at 05:40 PM.