About the native preference for smooth handles: Most of them use the one knife for everything, including food prep...and it's much easier to wash blood and fish guts off of a smooth handle. BTW, a good parang has a decent amount of " rocker" to it, like a good chef's knife so works well for food prep on a cutting board. Kind of the do all kitchen/camp knife.
FYI for those who don't know this, but duku actually means parang in the region of malaysia, where this style of knife originates. This style is called duku chandong, or you could say parang chandong. Just to clarify, so people don't get used to saying stuff like "duku parang", which literally means "parang parang"
Haha, I didn't realize, even though I watched Malaysian video today on Parang making. Bidor, the company with the crossed sword emblem, makes them out of spring steel, but when they heat, and pound them to shape, the metal looses it's properties, and is filled with rough pits right down the wall of the blades they make.It's obvious they don't dress their machines hammers, and are doing a lot of damage to the finish. Condor takes a little more care, but they are still rough with grinders as they knock them out by the hundreds. I'm soon to buy another Condor Joe Flowers designed Parang to add to the Mini Parang, so I guess that makes it parang, parang indeed. Duku, duku all the way :-D
While I work for Condor and design for them, Bidor is nothing to shake a stick at. Their finish may be primitive but their methods are spot on, and for 5160 Spring steel with a differential heat treatmeant, I'm still a fan.
Tadej is 100% right. (I'm the designer). I named it after the Duku area. We wanted to call it chandong but it didn't sit well with marketing, so I was hoping Duku would at least show some homage. I realize now though, that its actually Duku Parang, like Bo Staff (basically staff staff in Japanese) and Puukko Knife (knife knife). Cool. I'm glad you chimed in. - Joe Flowers
Am iban from Sarawak..we used this "Duku Chandong" as what our ancestors did..originated from our tribe the "Duku Chandong"..the handle is not what the original according to our tribe, our handle more easy to hold and with comfort...Ray Meryer also used this..
love that Duku Parang, looks like a good all around camp blade. man that spine threw sparks like a volcano lol....... Condor is definately putting some quality stuff out there for a reasonable price.
looking to buy this or the Eco Parang based on your videos, is the Duku worth the extra $? looks like it might be slightly better for precision stuff with how the handle tapers down.
Duku Chandong originates from Malaysia. Gained worldwide popularity when Ray Mears used it duruing his filming in Borneo. The original duku are made from 5160 carbon steel and comes with a rat tail tang and wooden handle.
Good review, the blade does look pretty sweet and just the right size. too big its too hard to do those fine tasks, but that looks like it can do alot if need be.
I have one, made it sharp as hell, modded the sheath to lefty mode, used a azwelki belt loop and kydex part for a new belt loop, in lefty mode, drops it down a bit and i trust it more than the stock belt loop, the leather sheath itself is great. love this blade. so cool, someday soon I will post a little video on my channel so you can see what I am talking about. oh also used blue lock tight on all the azwelki parts so nothing would come loose. almost acts as a dangler on a thin leather belt.
it looks to me like the best one tool option out there!(price and capabilities) calling a 10.5" blade 'small' is kind of weird seeing as how it's longer than a BK9... Thanks BB
Great video kris. Swayed my decision. I'm gettin one. I love ur vids. Always look at ur channel first when I wanna buy a knife because u do such great and very thorough reviews.
Where do you get these razor sharp condors! I have bought 3 (kephart, village parang, and hivernant) in the last year or so and none of them have been sharp, I am not knocking condor it just seems like most I have seen on youtube are razors and mine have been dull a crap.Thanks for the great videos.
most of the traditional asian parang doesn't hard enough. they use cheap material and only do the simple hardening process The parang maker mostly make it based on experience. They don't do the tampering process which is very important.
PREPAREDMIND101 hey chris not trying to sound like a butt but if jessica is apart of the channel i would like to see her do some of the tasks as well! i love your channel though bro you're awesome! (those bloopers though hahahaha)
Great job, Chris. Love Condor quality products. Looks like Mini Duku and Eco Parang have same blade geometry, different handles. True? Which do you prefer?
on your amazon page you have the specs and prices all messed up may want to check that out looks like you have the Pick and stats for the 15inch one with the pricing for mini and other way around for the mini
Qryther Chris annotated the video at that point stating he misspoke. On that front though, it would not be hard to cover this handle with leather if you would prefer that.
Qryther No problem. He might have added it to the video after you'd already watched it. **shrugs** I personally like to leather wrap a lot of handles on my own knives/swords/machetes. I think it usually gives them just the right amount of grippieness (without over doing it) and provides a little bit of cushioning as well. 8-)
The smooth handles have their place. I like them better but i tend to use more of a pinch grip where you flick your wrist and let the blade pivot in your hand. I find it makes it easier to get some work done with large blades. Joe flower explains it better in one of his machete 101 video.
Chris, the reason you look so clumsy when doing the different cuts, is because you are rushing it. Slow down, do it properly, you will look better for it. And learn how to do firesteel properly: hold the knife in place above the tinder, pull the steel back.
Yeah, I noticed they aren't very sharp, but I have an Anysharp Pro in my kitchen, and ran the blade through several times made it sharp enough to cut paper. I can't find my honing oil stone to finish the process though. Good blade though! Nice construction, and heafty weight. Would split a zombie skull easiIy in half! Was a good review yes, very helpful.
I love that film man, just love it. The massage you deliver is so strong, you 2 are such a god team, it is just nice to see a cople working together on one thing. thank you very much for puting this out hear . I wish you a nice weekend and fun for the next projekt, all the best from Germanya Your Tribe
Chris, a question... if you wrap that wooden handle with a wrap, in a rain storm, won't that wrap absorb moisture? As opposed to having a well oiled wood grip that will not? Seems to me to be the case. Your thoughts? Thanks. Great review!!
PREPAREDMIND101 I disagree..... well oiled leather will repel water quite well. I know this to be a fact from my own custom leather sheaths...and jackets. I really do like this Parang. But I've seen some real negative reviews about that sheath as far as retention and very poor quality stitching coming loose, etc.
I've never had a problem with Condor leather. But you know me, factory sheaths are just placeholders. As far as the handle, any number of wood treatments before wrapping would make it impervious to water.
+Charles Larson I like to heat up hard wax and soak it into the wood... the wood or leather absorbs it when liquid then it hardens... then you can polish it and get a smooth waterproof finish
JUST bought one, arrived today! This has to be one of the best designed compact machetes on the market. It has good weight to it, so excellent for chopping, you can see the quality in this thing! The blade they didn't sharpen to razor sharp that would probably only dull if the edge were too fine, but it was a bit too dull for me, so sharpened it up within an hour of owning it. The sheath is very thick leather, and blade has a tight spot half way in, so it won't fall out. It has the right length that won't catch your knee, but I do note the lack of lower sheath eyelet to be able to strap it to your leg, however also note if I did do that anyway, I wouldn't be able to easily point the sheath foward to grab the handle with my right crossed arm, so not too concerned. It doesn't interfere with archery, and handy as backup once you've stayed your bow. Guys, this design is what you need, even if you don't need it, just get it, and have it on hand for survival, and defence sake. I'm going to get the full sized Condor Duku Parang machete soon, because the two blades serve different purposes, and I'm pround to simply own them! I can see the mini being my most used though, and grabbed one now because they are in high demand. Thanks for the video here. I found it helpful after reading reviews on which are best to buy. I'm 100% certain I made the right choice.
Edit, I've held onto this things for a couple of days now, and because of the high price tag attached to an inflated product from the US, I find the finish quality almost poor for export purposes. Mine has two mig weld marks that fill in two dents probably caused by the hammering machines whilst the metal was hot, and soft. When they blackened the blade, it failed to cover the weld marks. Unhappy with the rough ground finish, I am going to get a fine metal sanding disk on my own grinder, and polish the blade right back to smooth metal, and apply Super Blue, and Gun Oil. I am soon to purchase the Longer Duku Parang, and will do the same to it. I also think the blade's edge being convex, requires a little more taper for smoother blade action, and reduced shock upon impact. They are what they are, and I feel the build quality is something you can count on for survival situations, but won't take kindly to ground strikes, where small rocks, or stone may be prevalent. The steel could be harder.
Or you can send pictures of the marks to our facebook page and get a return. 100% Satisfaction guarantee. You can send an email to my youtube name atgmaildotcom too.
bushcraftglobal Shipping is probably more than the Duku is worth. I don't think the weld marks would affect the integrity of the blade, it's just two shiny 4mm wide dots on the broad part of the blade left my well, as you say, unsatisfied with the finish, particularly since it was around the $150AU mark. This is why export standards need to be vigilant with. It's not worth sending back, left a customer a little unsatisfied, whom then writes about it. It won't stop me buying the Condor Duku (Large) though! They are good machetes, and I really like their design.
cyclist01222 Give her some time to learn first and her screen time will gradually increase into doing entire reviews herself. She's new to bushcraft and being in front of and behind the camera. More than half the time of our first weekend working together was off camera training.She knows how to cut, slice and chop but she's learning the bushcrafty stuff. Nobody can learn and perform everything their first day. She's doing stuff in some of the upcoming videos we've already shot. There's a lot to learn.
There are multiple ferro rod techniques. I HAVE done it once or twice before... If I was actually trying to light a fire and not just test the sharpness of the spine in both directions, I also would have built a proper tinder bundle.
Just received this bad boy..ist step was a leather lanyard...truth be told this is a solid tool made with good steel. Love the wooden handle awsome fit. And I have no doubt you park it between somethings head lights or into fire wood..you get the picture
Looks like a very promising tool, Chris. Wonder how it stacks up against the pack Golock? Sincere question, since I am considering one or the other. Also, really love the Gauntlet idea. Keep up the honest reviews!
Looks like a great tool there. I've really been impressed with the tools coming out of Condor over the years. Chris, how would this Parang compare to Condor's Village Parang (because I already have one of those)?
It's actually a shit edge, I have to re-grind the convex blade to more of a taper onto it so it penetrates, and doesn't jolt the wrist so much. The blade is only 1075 High Carbon Steel, and needs to be harder than that for this design heavy blade. The factory edge is dull. The entire blade needs reworks before proud ownership status can be achieved.