Condor Tool & Knife, Final Frontier, 4-1/2in Blade, Micarta Handle with Sheath

Condor Tool & Knife Final Frontier Knife, Black I bought my first knife 45 years ago. Over the last 45 years I’ve learned a thing or two about knives. I shave with a straight razor so I can sharpen a knife and a razor. I’ve also made a few knives both by forging and by stock removal. I still buy blanks mostly and put my own handles on them. Enough about me though who wants to hear about a one legged old veteran anyway.I like pretty things. Of course I value useful things much more. I learned in the military to do an after action report that included both the good and the bad. It’s how you improve. I bought Condor’s Final Frontier Knife because they don’t have the blanks out yet. It was a birthday present to me. I got it at about 11am and by 2pm it had made a one stick fire from seasoned oak and been used carving a wooden spatula. I’m not finished with the spatula but the fire is done and out. It shaved hair out of the box. It came with a surprisingly nice leather sheath. No complaints so far. I batoned it through the oak limbs and wasn’t kind about it. I pounded on the spine, the nice steel pommel and repeatedly stuck the tip into knots and pryed them out. Basically in it’s short life, I’ve abused it. Not a bad start for a knife that’s three hours old in my hands anyway.So what is my brief mission AAR? I don’t like the jimping. I don’t like jimping on any knife so that’s not really a fault of the Final Frontier or Condor. It had one minor spot on the handle that could use a little more sanding. It has one small touch mark on the spine from grinding. In regards to the sanding and grinding complaints, I could hand this knife to 20 people and tell them about those complaints and I’d bet not a one could find them. The only reason I mentioned them is because I’m hard pressed to find any negatives. I wish it was 1095 steel instead of 1075 but since they got the heat treat right judging by how well it held up to batoning and prying, I’d say that’s a non issue.For the positives it has a nicely sharpened blade. I’ve had more knives than I can count but never owned a knife with a scandi grind. Judging by this knife’s usefulness in processing wood for fires and carving, I’m seeing a lot more scandi grind knives in my future. The last expensive knives I’ve bought weren’t as nicely sharpened as this one out of the box. It’s rare when I pull a knife out of the box and don’t feel a need to sharpen it first thing. All I did to this one was 10 swipes each side with my strop just to make sure there were no burs. It shaved hair out of the box before I stopped it. After processing the seasoned oak for a one stick fire, it still shaved hair down the whole length of the blade. The spine was a nice 90 degree angle and threw sparks from my ferro rod to light the fire. Excellent performance and the 1075 steel held up to oak. I’ve seen more expensive knives with higher price tags fail on that test. I’ve dulled drill bits in seasoned oak. The blade shape didn’t really thrill me in the pictures. In use both carving and processing firewood, I found it to be superb. The clip point retains enough metal in the spine to keep it tough and yet allows you to make steep cuts while carving. The tip dug out small knots in seasoned oak and it’s not only still there but still sharp. Fantastic performance and maybe that goes to the durability of 1075 and the spot on heat treat that Condor managed.The micarta handle provided a secure grip with no hotspots. I really like a metal pommel on any knife. I quickly fell in love with the pommel on this one. It’s not overly heavy so the knife remains balanced in the hand. It gives a heft to the knife and makes the handle settle into your hand like a sixth finger. Wow, I’m sounding like a Condor sales rep which I assure you I am not. I just can’t believe for the low price of this knife that it could be so well thought out and perform far beyond its cost. This is my first Condor but I’ve already ordered a Bushlore and Woodlaw blank for me to put my own handles on. The Final Frontier will be heading out into my own treks into the woods for some time to come. It’s going to take a knife of many hundreds of dollars more to replace this one.So if you are in the market for a good all purpose bushcraft or outdoors knife this one is worth well more than its price. I think it’s also going to get to spend some quality time in the kitchen processing meat and veggies. That’s not a forte of the scandi grind but if it does okay, this knife may get a well earned patina over many years of daily use. If I don’t like it as a primary in the kitchen, it will still get plenty of time prepping wood for my forge, campfire and grill.The pictures show before during and after this brief review. Note the scratches on the finish next to the shaved hair. Yes it was still shaving sharp even after a round with seasoned oak. The marks on the blade wiped right off with a light coat of mineral oil as did all the ash from using the ferro rod. So the finish is durable. That said I'll probably take it off and just make sure to care for the blade as I do with all my knives!

This has quickly become my favorite bush craft knife. It lends itself to both neck carry and belt carry with ease. The grip is comfortable without any hot spots so using it for a long time even without gloves is comfortable. The texture is just enough to keep the grip from being slippery when wet. The gimping on the back of the knife is a bit aggressive and uncomfortable after a while. I took a Dremel to it and helped round out the sharp edges which makes it more usable for me without compromising the grip. The blade lends itself to a number of tasks which is nice, even fine work with the tip. The butt plate is a nice addition and can be used for small hammering tasks. The knife is full tang with three metal pass through pins that hold the micarta plates. The pass through pins can be used as lanyard holes if need be. The sheath is a nice heavy leather, but a bit loose and can stand being shrunk and molded using the hot water technique without ruining the finish.The coating on the blade is a feature I like that makes blade maintenance easier. The grind on the blade is not a full V or Scandi, but rather a compound/saber grind which I prefer. The knife did come sharp, but there was room for improvement. With just a few passes over a fine sharpening stone and a strop, the blade can be made shaving sharp. The exposed part of the blade is prone to rust, as it is a 1075 HC steel and it came with a few rust spots, but that was easily taken care of with some metal polish. I put a forced patina on the blade where it wasn't already coated which gave it a nice blued finish and will prevent further rust.All in all, this is a great knife and would recomend it for anybody looking for a bush craft knife or a versatile fixed blade.

What a great knife! It’s bigger than I expected but the size is perfect. Fills the hand really nice and for once the sheath is really pretty good. I bought way more expensive knives that come with really crappy sheaths. I’ve been looking at this for a long time and I’m really happy I finally bought it.

This knife has all the best elements you would find in a much more expensive knife, but is made to be used, not collected, at a price that is slightly unbelievable. The blade is the perfect thickness, the cutting geometry excellent, it has a true skandi grind with no secondary bevel and comes razor sharp. The sheath is not fancy but it is very useable, heavy duty leather and in no way cheap or flimsy. You should not expect micarta handle scales or full tang construction at this price but you get both of those, with a butt plate for hammering too! This is a great working knife with a long, productive life ahead of it.

I like almost everything about this knife. I love the handle, the blade thickness is perfect for its intended use, and I'm very impressed with the sheath. I strongly dislike stainless blades, which this is not, and the protective coating on this blade seems very tough and looks great. My only gripe is the blade profile. It has a slight concave edge curvature that makes the "straight" part of the blade extremely difficult to sharpen with a flat stone. I've spent a lot of time trying to straighten it with a coarse bastard file, and I've just run out of patience. I've got it sharp but the bevel is very rough-looking because every pass of the file or stone rakes the bevel against the sharp corner of the sharpener. I just don't have the skill or the right equipment to properly sharpen a blade of this shape.Photos of the knife currently pictured on Amazon show a truly straight edge, which should not present this problem.

Excelente cuchillo, el mango de micarta es muy cómodo y el acero al alto carbono cumple muy bien su trabajo. El largo del cuchillo es muy adecuado para trabajos exigentes y moderados, ya que la espiga es enteriza y viene rematada con un pomo al final, para poder usarlo de martillo en casos de emergencia. Como siempre, Cóndor es garantía de buenos cuchillos y este modelo no es la excepción

It's a beautiful knife . The leather sheath is quite nice. The retention is decent, I wouldn't recommend shaking it over your foot. Blade was super sharp and fire steel works great off the top of the knife as it is a rough material so lots of sparks. Handle is nice marcarta no rough edges and nice and comfortable in the hand.

beautiful knife to add to my collection I have been collecting Condor products for a Couple years I have Essen, Helle and KA bar knives along many others but for the money I sill try to get every knife and machetes and axe that Condor makes