Condor Sport Knives
CONDOR SPORT KNIVES – HOFFMAN DESIGN
“For a knife designer, outdoor knives are the big league. Compared to the multiperformance objectives of an outdoor knife, designing something to slice tomatoes is profoundly simple.
You don’t carry several knives in the outdoors, but you can face a dozen different kinds of cutting jobs on any hunt or fishing trip. Some of those jobs require the precision of a scalpel. Others, the bone shearing strength of a cleaver or axe. The first job is finding shapes that make a single knife versatile. The second job is strength.
A blizzard can change a weekend deer hunt into two weeks of raw survival. No matter what the primary reasons were for choosing a particular knife, unplanned circumstances may convert it to your primary survival tool. The knife that doesn’t break may mean the difference between life and tragedy. In designing the Condor knives, the challenge dealt with the shape of the entire knife. I had to stop thinking of the blade and the handle as separate parts, in order to see them as one flowing unit. My design objective was to make it possible for the user to change the grip, and instantly attain the length of the blade, cutting angle, and the amount of power or precision desired – with comfort and safety. I believe the result is a collection of knives that deliver unique versatility and outstanding field performance.
As for strength, there are no compromises with this line. Fixed bladed models all feature full contoured tang construction, with massive side mounted stainless bolsters and butts. No glues. No epoxy. No solder. Just heavy steel pins and rivets, solidly anchored – the way the strongest custom knives are built. Condor folders have full brass liners – a natural lubricant against the rotating steel blade, stout side-mounted bolsters and butts, welded pivot pin, tempered lockbar, heavy duty spring and scales of the toughest linen/resin high pressure laminate.
To assure the finest edge holding capability, Condor blades are sculptured from AUS 8A High Carbon Stainless and hardened to Rockwell C57-60.
For strength, balance, and field performance, I invite you to compare Condor knives to any other knives in the world today, custom or production.”
From Phil Hoffman, award winning designer and president of Hoffman design (excerpted from Condor’s 1984 catalog)
