Condor Huron Review

Condor Tool & Knife Company specializes in producing high-quality knives, spears, axes, shovels, swords and other accessories like survival, hunting, and fishing gear. Headquartered in El Salvador, the company also produces everyday carry knives, kitchen knives, martial arts and training equipment, tactical, outdoor, and throwing knives.

Condor Huron is a fixed-blade knife with a 5.75” 1095 high carbon drop point natural finish blade. The handle is made from walnut wood with copper wrapping extending up to 5.75”. The knife comes with a Kydex leather sheath.

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Condor Huron Prices
		Check Price at Blade HQ
		Check Price at Chicago Knife Works

The Condor Huron has a curved belly for versatile cutting and slicing. The edge of the knife is hand finished and honed to razor sharpness. The drop point flat edge with a black stock thickness of 0.08” is ideal for making sharp and precise cuts. The blade spine is approximately 0.121”, which makes it roughly a mid-tier to large holding knife.

The flat edge of the blade along the rear profile is visible with the grind lines, but the 1.38”, which should have been the cutting edge, is not there. The remainder of the blade is sharpened, but since it is hand-sharpened, so it lacks the factory edge. The sharpening angle is also a bit shallow, and signs of scuffing on the main bevel grind is visible. The blade does not come sharp out of the box as it should.

1095 on Candor Huron is a hard carbon steel blade, with a 0.95% carbon content that also reduces the amount of wear that a blade will experience over its life. Its machinability is 45%, and offers great edge retention. It is also relatively easy to sharpen, but has low corrosion resistance and is prone to quick rusting. These features made 1095 a good steel for outdoor usage.

There is also no jimping along the spine and no stop pin along the back end of the blade. That makes it uncomfortable to hold. But there is a beak at the blade side that protects your finger from sliding off to the blade. It also has no sharpening choil at the bottom, not a forward finger choil for a comfortable grip.

The 5.75” blade length is pretty reasonable for an everyday carry knife. It is easier to carry in the sheath and is capable of performing outdoor tasks.

The Condor Huron features a walnut handle with copper wrapping, and provides a comfortable secure grip. They are too straight-grained, but shaped to match the full tang, which means there are no gaps between the scales and the full extended tang. The twisted wire wrap is well-done, and adds to the ergonomics of the handle. It appears to be pretty even. The wire wraps are placed inside the grooves that are strategically placed at the top and bottom of the handle, so that it covers the hand from top and bottom. There are also no gaps between the wire and the handle.

The brass pine, or the screws, were too soft. As a result, the wood was removed slightly below the brass pins level. The surface finish on the brass pins is also not very smooth. Small and fine scratches were visible in the brass. However, you can use a piece of sandpaper to make the finish better, and it will be good as new. The tube for the thong hole is also brass and nicely beveled to prevent excessive wear on thong material. However, it is not super-polished either.

Although the handle profile looks straight, it has subtle curves for the knuckles to rest comfortably on the scales. You can also grip it tightly, thanks to the wire cords, for extended use.

The knife feels lightweight in the hand at 4.44 oz. even with the walnut, copper wiring, and brass pins. The pins also add to the textural contour of the handle, which further elevates the grip. However, it is not as flexible as the various plastic materials used for the knife scales. If the wood gets chipped, it may show sharp edges, which can cut the hand. The blade is however, perfectly placed full tang, and does not move.

The sheath of Condor Huron is made from brown Kydex leather of sturdy construction. It weighs about 7 oz. without the knife with even stitches and sanding. The edges are smoothly shaped and not burnished.

However, it lacks drainage holes on the sides, which can also be used for added strapping. It also comes with a single strap that you can use to strap the knife onto your belt or backpack. It does not come with a handle loop though. The knife automatically ‘locks’ in place once you slide it in. That means that the leather comes in contact with the edge, but does not impact its retention.

The knife can feel a bit too tight inside the leather sheath, and you may have to put leather oil inside and outside the sheath to condition the leather. It loosens up a little, but still remains tight enough to lock the knife in place. The leather stamping along one edge is not even. No attention was paid to the vertical and horizontal spacing when making the sheath.

It also means that the sheath is not configured for one-hand opening. You would need one hand to hold the sheath and the other to pull out the knife, even if it is strapped to your belt.

The Condor Huron is made as an outdoor survival knife, but we started testing it small by cutting paper. It did the job well, and was razor sharp. It cut small and large pieces of paper without any hassle.

Next, we tried chopping off a piece of wood by slicing wood chips with it. It worked great along the softer outer edges of the wood, but as we moved in to the tougher part, the blade did not show the same results.

However, the knife remained clean throughout, without the need to clean the grind lines or the handle. The grip was also pretty comfortable throughout.

The Cordon Huron did not work as smoothly on the piece of wood as was expected. It gave way easily, and only sliced small chips of wood.

As we kept working on the wood, we realized that we cannot choke up the knife. Neither the thumb nor the index finger would remain on the spine of the blade, which put more pressure under the thumb as we kept working. The handle should accommodate different holds for a comfortable grip, but the Huron did not allow us to. Limiting the types of holds also affected the performance and end result.

Condor Large Huron vs Condor Huron

The Condor Large Huron is the large fixed-blade knife version of the Condor Huron, with two wired strands of copper wire instead of one on the Condor Huron. Both the knives share the same properties, except the size dimensions and price. The Large Huron is only slightly costlier than the Condor Huron.

The Large Huron weighs 2 ounces more and is 0.25” larger than Condor Huron. There is not much difference between the two knives, but if you prefer a larger knife, then Condor Large Huron should be your best bet.

Condor Large Huron vs Cold Steel SRK

Cordon Large Huron and Cold Steel SRK are both fixed-blade, considerably large knives for outdoor usage. But the SRK comes with a 6” blade rather than 5.75” on the Large Huron. Although the blade stock thickness on Large Huron is lesser than that on SRK, the SRK is a much better slicer and chopper than the Huron. Although you cannot perform detail work with the SRK, it comes sharp out of the box without the need to sharpen it.

The SRK comes with VG10 San Mai blade, while the Huron features 1095 steel. Both fall under the same price range, but perform differently. SRK’s handle is kraton, which is more flexible and durable than the walnut handle on Huron. The SRK is more a rescue and survival knife, while the Huron is an outdoor activities knife.

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Cold Steel SRK Prices
		Check Price at Blade HQ
		Check Price at Chicago Knife Works

The Condor Large Huron is a fixed-blade outdoor knife with 1095 steel blade and walnut handle with copper wires. Although its blade is thin, it is not able to make sharp cuts and was not sharp out of the box. It also lacked a factory edge, jimping along the spine and a sharpening choil.

The handle is smoothly contoured, lightweight and comfortable, but you cannot choke up the knife to place your index finger or thumb. It is a full tang knife with a perfectly straight blade.

The kydex leather sheath lacks multiple belt loops and handle strap. It locks the knife inside itself and can only be pulled out with two hands.

Overall, the knife was good, but not as good as you would expect a bushcraft knife.