CondorTool & Knife Mini Duku Machete Knife with 10.5in Blade - Heavy Duty Camping Machete with Sheath - Hand-Crafted Leather Sheath & Walnut Handle - High Carbon or Stainless Steel - 18.5oz

I only got this to try it out, I didn't expect much of it, but it has become my go to blade. I haven't been satisfied with some of the other blades I got from Condor, the larger 17" parang and HD Kukri are just disappointing, they are badly designed and just wont work very well, no matter how I try to tweak them. This tool has been fantastic though. The construction is solid and quality, the handle is perfectly shaped, wide and smooth with a nice swell at the butt and a grommeted lanyard hole. Rivets are flush and polished, full tang is flush with the scales. The blade is very conveniently sized to carry but has plenty of chopping power, once it is properly sharpened it will go through 1" hardwood branches almost effortlessly, but is small enough to use as a knife in a pinch. The edge is flat enough to be easily worked on, and the blade profile facilitates holding the correct angle. It will take a razor sharp edge without any trouble at all. Like you can literally shave hairs with it, and cut yourself if you bump the blade. It isn't the hardest steel, it comes off easily sharpening, but it seems to be well heat treated and holds a good edge even for prolonged work. And repairing the edge is super easy. The point is even useful, and the size an weight makes it handy in close quarters or to keep in a vehicle or pack. The sheath is well made, quality and utilitarian, heavy leather, stitched with strong thread and riveted at each each of the stitch and at the point. The blade literally drops into it, and the retention is secure. The pivoting belt loop fails badly on the kukri (the blade is too top heavy and it spins on your belt), but it works perfectly in this case. Like literally the only complaint I can make is that from the box the shoulder of the handle is cut off flat, at 90deg. This forms a wide, flat shoulder that catches on the sheath when you try to return it. I suspect that with a little use the sheath would break in and this wouldn't be an issue, but I just went ahead and trimmed the wood back slightly to a more rounded shape, and that totally solved the problem. So I didn't expect much from this blade but it has been my go to for months now. It's just a tool that works as it should. Which is more than I can say for some other blades on

Used this to cut our bananas off and chop down the limb since they only fruit once. It was very easy to cut the leaves and limbs with this tool. Just a quick swipe or repeated chopping motions on thicker areas.It is also great from trimming unwanted branches from bushes or trees. I don't have to take out our electric trimmer or chain saw. The blade makes short work of most of the trimming I need to do around the garden.This will be great on camping trips as well. The blade is a perfect length for my needs and is not too long.I wash it with soap and water when done and oil it with a little avocado oil and wipe it down and put it in the sheath which is has a belt loop and is made of leather. The only thing I would wish for is a retention strap as if you hold it upside down and shake it, it will come out. This is not something you want to drop on your foot!

This is a beautiful knife and an exceptional chopper. Mine didn't come super sharp but it wasn't far from it. I rolled the edge slightly chopping vines intertwined in a chain link fence, but it was as good as new after a few strokes with a butcher's steel to align it. It can cut unsupported vines and and branches up to at least pinky size, the largest I needed to cut back today, with one swipe. I was able to cut bigger than thumb size dry hackberry branches with one whack against a log. The sheath is a pouch style that contains the blade and half the handle made from thick welted, sewn and riveted dark brown leather. It has the typical condor pivoting belt loop. I wish condor would put a washer under the head of the rivet on either side. It seems like a potential failure point if the leather stretches. There is no retention other than friction and not much of that either. There is barely enough friction to keep the knife from falling when the sheath is held upside down. A very gentle shake will dislodge it. I knew about the pouch style sheath from researching this knife before I bought it so I don't feel it's fair to lower my rating because of it. The Condor mini duku wears and draws from the sheath well when worn on my left hip cross draw style. I had to raise my arm at an awkward and uncomfortable angle to draw the machete from my right hip due to its size. A potential solution to this would be to wear it lower on one's leg gunslinger style using a second belt. I added a lanyard loop to the handle for comfort and safety and a strap to the sheath to tie the lanyard off to as a form of sheath retention when it's not on my hip.I've beat the heck out of this knife around the yard and processing wood while camping. The only thing that happened is that one of the brass handle pins drifted slightly. I drifted it back with a mallet then flared the ends slightly by peening them.