The author used
the blade to process
small branches and
baton through them
for straight edges.
With fresh wood, this
process was easy.W
hile camping in the
backwoods, I tend to find
myself thinking of the old
survivalists who may have wandered
into forgotten areas to construct
extravagant shelters, or explored
caves in the countryside, hoping not
to encounter a bear. Even farther
back, the earliest discovery of steel
led to the ability to create a durable
tool and weapon that could be used
in ways never previously considered.Part of the excitement of hiking,
camping, and bushcraft today is the
constant learning. Everything we learn
now was once mastered by someone
else in the past. It’s one of the reasons
I like knives with classic designs.Fortunately for me, and many like
me, there are many knife designs that
herald themselves back to the last
100 years — such as the Condor Tool
& Knife Cavelore — and they are all
extraordinarily interesting.People devote a significant piece of their
lives to learning about the old ways and
making it part of their everyday habit.
Using the Cavelore only helps to foster
thoughts of the survivalists before us
who helped fill the pool of knowledge
we all draw from today.The Knife
The 4.31-inch blade of the Cavelore
looks every bit the part of a hand-
forged knife. While it might just beaesthetic, it fits the theme incredibly
well. The forging pattern can be seen
travelling up the tang and ending
somewhere under the handle scales.
The Scandi edge peeks out from the
forged façade into an even, mirrored
finish of 1095 high-carbon steel — which
is a positive step away from the 1075.The scales are burnt American hickory.
While they are burnt, they are not
stabilized and are susceptible to
moisture and temperature changes. But
the lack of unnecessary plastics makes
the handle feel more natural and lighter
weight than most stabilized variations.
These are finished with a brass-colored
wire, which wraps around the scales
near the beginning of the grip tang and“THE SCANDI EDGE PEEKS OUT
FROM THE FORGED FAÇADE INTO
AN EVEN, MIRRORED FINISH OF
1095 HIGH-CARBON STEEL ...”
56 KNIVES ILLUSTRATED • JULY/AUGUST 2019 knivesillustrated.com