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The Condor Lobo is One of Many Julio Diez Collaborations This Year

July 19, 2021

Julio Diez, custom knife and sheath maker, has once again partnered with Condor Tool & Knife for a production fixed blade release. This one is called the Lobo, and it comes spec’d for all the various cutting chores of a hardcore bush knife.

You don’t have to be a survival guru to see what the Lobo wants to be used for: clearing brush, chopping wood, and other macro camping/outdoor jobs. It is, indeed, a machete in the fullest sense, but it fill that role in its own way with a blade that deviates from the classic straight machete. The Lobo has a slight recurve that turns most of its cutting edge into belly – and a blade length of 12 inches means that that’s a lot of belly.

Obviously chopping tools like this one need to prioritize different traits than our slick and stylish EDC folders. Things that might be undesirable in other knife genres are necessary here. Thus the Lobo’s flat grind intentionally leaves a lot of meat behind the edge, and its 1075 steel (a recurring character in Condor’s lineup) pump up its resiliency and impact resistance, at the cost of stain resistance and edge retention.

The Lobo’s handle has an exaggerated, flared-out pommel and a short but significant finger guard; these elements work in tandem to keep the users hand in place during the swings and shocks of outdoor work. Black and white gray G-10 scales have been a running theme among the Diez/Condor collabs, and they’re present here on the Lobo too, laid over a full tang construction. The Lobo weighs 24.34 oz. and comes with a full-sized Kydex sheath, made for belt carry.

The Lobo in its Kydex sheath

Diez is a renaissance man when it comes to his custom work, turning out a massive variety of custom sheaths for various production company knives in addition to creating fixed blades of his own. His is a familiar name in the Condor lineup, but 2021 was his biggest collaboration year yet, with three other Condor knives released this year in addition to the Lobo.

Knife in Featured Image: Condor Tool & Knife Lobo Machete

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