CIMA -1 Upgraded Version Black Knife Full-Tang Outdoor Survival Fixed Blade Hunting Knife

I have a LOT and I mean a LOT of "bush-craft" worthy knives. I use my knives, they are not for buying and then sitting in a box. Prior to this knife I was using a Rat 3 which is one fantastic knife for the money and will still get a lot of use from me. As I am not a knife snob, I have found WAY too many knives that are reasonably priced that will do as much as their more expensive counterparts if not more. I can say you will not be disappointed with this knife. It is one hell of a bargain for what you get.When comparing to the OKC Rat 3 this CIMA is a much thicker blade (slightly longer also) The fit and finish of this knife were top notch. It came extremely sharp and so far has held its edge very well. I can honestly say, and it is hard for me to say as I am an OKC and TOPS fan boy. Love their knives and have never had an issue with any of their items. But I can say... for the money and what you get with this CIMA. It is hands down a knife that one should own. The only cons of this knife is the metal plate \ belt loop on the sheath. Just makes the sheath too heavy, noisey and it would be prone to rusting. I will make a replacement loop out of mesh or leather.BTW, the sheath holds the knife tight and you have to give a good pull to get the knife out. So CIMA seems to have fixed the issue from earlier sheaths. The metal plate is held on with 4 screws.I will buy about 6 more of these knives to give as gifts this Xmas. For the guys that will buy only "made in America knives" good for you, but your missing out on a great knife for the money. I am glad I do not have an ounce of knife snob in me. (only thing worse than a knife snob is a gun snob!!!)

The knife is as many reviewers have already said...solid and well crafted. Fit and finish of the handle scales is excellent, came out of the box shaving sharp with a good angle. I do wish it came in 1095, but I've carried a lot of Cr/MOV blades and it's not a bad steel at all. Holds edges well and relatively easy to sharpen.The Kydex sheath fits beautifully, requires a firm pull to disengage, and carries with no rattles or movement at all.I prefer a dangle sheath so that the knife rides below my pack strap, so I modded the sheath as shown in the photo. The top of the metal clip is just shy of 1.25 inches, so a 1.5 inch nylon keeper and 1.5 inch nylon strapping material fit perfectly. Two snaps provide a secure fastening to my belt, and the bit of leather I added to the end of the strap makes it easier to grip when removing it at the end of the day.I added the paracord to the sheath to increase the security of my grip on the sheath when pulling the blade. Because the handle scales are not exactly beautiful I'm going to wrap the handle with tennis racket grip tape so that my hand won't slip there either.I've carried this knife/sheath setup for a number of hours on trail and am pleased with its performance. It rides well on the hip and unsheathing/sheathing the blade is easy and safe. The knife does exactly what I expect it to do, and after cutting a bunch of briars, assorted vines, and birch saplings, as well as whittling on some seasoned oak, the edge is just as keen as when brand new.

Haven't had a chance to really use it in the woods yet but I'm very impressed so far. The handles are a much smoother micarta than what comes on OKC RAT or ESEE knives so it doesn't quite have the grip of them but the blade feels very strong and thick and the edge out of the box was incredible! It will easily roll hair right off your arm and leave a smooth, down to the skin patch! I do REALLY like the jimping and the choil because it lets you choke way up on the blade for really fine, detail work. This upgraded version has a surprisingly very nice kydex sheath instead of the injection molded plastic one. It still has the God awful HUGE metal spring clip on the back but that is a very easy remedy since it's just held on with 4 screws. I plan on replacing it with either a pair of belt loops or a tek lok clip. I did manage to do a few small feather sticks in my backyard and it worked VERY well due to how sharp the edge is and how much control you have on it using the choil and jimping. The edge was still razor sharp after a few feather sticks which isn't anything really special really since that's very minor work but it's good to see on a barely $20 knife from china.For the money it would honestly be very, VERY hard to beat this knife. I'm a huge fan of $15 Mora's and love them to death and have them in every vehicle, bags and just all over the place but I will say that this knife is about 99% as sharp (probably sharper than an out of the box, non touched up Mora) as my Mora's and is a LOT beefier with it's much thicker blade and full tang. This thing will probably take a much harder beating than a Mora could handle.

Its an incredible value. This knife feels great in your hand and is the perfect size for general Bushcraft use. It's pretty thick so it's got some weight to it, which improves the overall feel and balance. It came razor sharp and the upgraded K-sheath is definitely worth the extra couple of bucks. It's sort of a hybrid between the excellent high end Esee 3/Rat 3 and Rat 4 versions without the high end price. What I mean is the blade is closer to the Esee 3/Rat 3 and the handle is more of a Rat 4. Speaking of the handle, it comes with a set of nice linen micarta scales. They are comfortable and comparable to some of my higher priced knives. Sure the steel you get isn't a premium steel, but it cuts well and sharpens easily and is 1/4 of the price.Some won't like that it's a budget brand made in China, but I'm not one to pay for a name just because it better known especially when I plan to beat the crap out of it anyway. The fact it comes with a Kydex sheath that solidly clicks and locks into place at this price point is amazing. An aftermarket Kydex sheath alone would sell for same as this whole package costs.Of course there are few downfalls. It's got a black mystery coated 7cr17mov blade, the sheath has a slight rattle, and the included paracord lanyard is too short. For $25 bucks though it's an easy purchase decision. You can abuse it, throw it, baton it, chop it, slice it, or plain lose it and have no worries.