Condor Tool & Knife Golok Heavy Duty Machete with Leather Sheath - 1075 High Carbon Steel - Hand Crafted Leather Sheath - Tactical Machete - 0.2in Thick - 14.5in Blade - 30.7oz

I've been swinging machetes for around 25 years now. I've been through various brands. Some of them I've given up on and others just didn't hold up through the years. This is by far the best I have ever owned.This machete arrived brand new and in retail packaging. It was boxed up and packaged very well. The machete was wrapped in plastic and not even inserted in the sheath. The sheath is separately wrapped in plastic and everything was inside the factory box.I've heard and read so many good things about Condor machetes. After deciding on this Golok for it's size and shape, I found that what everyone is saying is absolutely true. This will be the last machete I will be needing in this size. If I ever do get another machete it will be another Condor, and only because I might want one of their larger sizes.The machete is sharp right out of the box. It is a good size for throwing in a backpack or clearing limbs out of a trail. I have been using it a lot in both of those scenarios. The handle is still very firmly attached to the blade. No loose handle like you would find with cheaper machetes. The blade is thick and solid. You aren't going to shake the blade and make that metal warbling sound that you can with cheap machetes.I like the design of the handle. The curved design with the bigger and thicker end keeps the machete in place in my hand throughout use. It is very comfortable to hold and use throughout the day. My hand is not fatigued after an extended period of use.The leather sheath is the best I have ever seen. It is so well constructed. This is definitely worth every penny. I can't stand the cheap nylon sheath that you typically get with a machete. This leather sheath gets used a lot. It's either protecting the blade from cutting stuff in my backpack or allowing me to carry on my side. I don't put the sheath on my side if I'm going to be doing a lot of sitting, it does swivel and allow you to sit, but for me it is mostly when I'm going to be out in the woods.One day I left the machete in the floorboard of my car overnight and into the next day. We had a very cold night and a hot day. The temperature fluctuation caused moisture to build up on the metal and retain in the leather sheath. When I pulled the machete out it had a little bit of rust at the edge of the blade. A little sanding and the rust is gone. This was my fault. I'm not used to the leather and metal combination . I won't be leaving it in a place where the temperature will fluctuate rapidly. My car may have had a little moisture in the floorboard as well.I'm not an expert at sharpening things. This edge is one of the easiest edges to work with for me. I have a puck with some honing oil that I use on all yard equipment. I've been using the puck on this machete and can keep it very sharp. Like I said, I'm no expert and can still keep a good edge on it.If you are reading this without an edit then the machete is still working fine and everything is holding up well. If anything changes I will update this review. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

UPDATE (OCT 2015):So I've been using this machete for over 3 years and I'm even more convinced now just how outstanding Condor's products are. I own a couple of Condor knives but this one I've owned the longest and put it through the most abuse. Everything from splitting bullets to killing Rattlesnakes to chopping down one-foot thick trees, just to see how the machete would perform. And yes, I know there are more effective tools out there to chop down a tree but I wanted a challenge. However it turned out to be not much of a challenge after all. Overall I used the machete at least once a week in the great Pacific Northwest wilderness for the past three years and I have never been let down by Condor's superior reliability and design of this machete.As far as the sheath goes, It's very nice with thick leather and a premium feel to it. And the part that attaches to the belt swivels freely from the rest of the sheath which is nice for when you're moving around with the machete on your side. But all it took to break it was forgetting a couple of times that it was on my side while getting in my car. At first the hinge got a bit loose until it finally broke off. I contacted Condor about this and without hesitation they simply sent me a brand new sheath to replace the one with the broken hinge. This is awesome customer service and a company that truly stands behind its products. My original 5 star review remains 5 stars. I highly recommend this to anybody looking for a robust and high quality machete for doing actual work with and not just to look nice.ORIGINAL REVIEW (AUG 2012):I bought this machete in the spring after the handle in my cold steel latin machete broke. The golok feels very good in my hand and the bulb on the handle is very functional and keeps the large knife from slipping from my grasp. The steel is very high quality and is very thick compared to the cold steel latin machete. It chops like a boss; the thickest log I chopped with it was an 11 inch pine and the blade was still able to shave the surface of my finger nail.... (stayed very sharp). Overall I put it through a lot of use and abuse and it is holding up. I take it with me on every mountain and hike and I got used to the weight of it. May I add that you do have to take care of the blade because it rusts if it gets wet. It happened to me after a trip to camp muir(10,200 ft.) at Mt. Rainier and the knife got soaked from me glissading down the snow field, a day after which the edge of the blade got a thin layer of rust. But it wasn't anything 5 minutes of polishing couldn't fix. Overall buy this machete if you want it. You will realize how much more you should have wanted it after you use it.