COLD STEEL Kobun Plain Edge 5.5" Japanese AUS8A Stainless Steel American Tanto Shape Fixed Blade Tactical Hunting Knife, Ergonomic Kray-Ex Handle, Secure-Ex Sheath

This is a great knife. Its blade is not too thick like the typical Cold Steel blades, but is just right. In my hand, I feel it is the right amount of weight, not over heavy duty, and the thin blade make it a nimble, and sharp knife. The blade is 5.5", long enough to easily slide things, but not too long to scare people. I also felt this knife is more solid built than the Mora's I have and I like it much better than Mora knives. And it is very pleasing to my eyes! This is a knife I would use and worth to collect.

The blade: AUS8 in a enlosed full tang (handle goes over tang). Satain finish of decent thickness. It has clean lines and stock sharpness on par with cold steel knives. The Handle: cold steels standard rubber handle. It has checkering similar to that seen on gun grips on its sides. On the front and back there is cross line grooves. The knife provides good grip. People complain about it being small, but its supposed to be a conceal carry boot knife. The handle is a good balance between size and concealment. The Sheath: Good basic kydex sheath with sturdy clip. If your carrying IWB (inside waist band) if you want the blade edge down as is proper. If you want OWB (outside waist band) It will be on the left. The clip holds solid enough for a quick draw of the knife and the sheath stays put. Overall: Its a hell of a deal at $30, but of I paid cold steels retail of $60 it would be average. Thank you Amazon... The blade is a good tool that I use for carry so it is easier to live by cold steels "never unarmed" motto. I know lots of people who open carry their larger knives. I have an ontario SP-50 that is 15 inches. It looks fierce, but people can see it. And as often as people made a point to clear my path it was just as frequent it would attract a bad element. The Kobun carries tight to my hip and the handle is just below my ribs on my right when I IWB carry. Some people say they carry below the navel, but I find that on my hip when its in line with my arm i can cover it slightly (it does show a bit when wearing just a t shirt) and being in line with my arm when I walk the grab is quicker. I know some people say they carry blade up and attempt a japanese style sword draw, but after 6 years of Military Japanese sword training I can say this is not practical with a small knife. This knife is nothing like a traditional japanese tanto that a samurai used and bayonets or daggers were issued by the military in WW2 japan. A smart user should treat this knife system like a pistol with a thumb break holster. Practace, draw smooth going straight up and out. I keep the tip pointed center mass as any smart knife fighter will. I would advise people to keep this knife tight to the body at rib level with elbows in. Final Word: The knife is a very concealable self defnse tool. When considering the $30 tag its worth it to have something that will increase your odds of living in a self defense situation. Once you get used to the feel of it in carry (takes a day or two) you can take it anywhere. The best tool is no good unless you have it on you at all times so that its leverage can be applied when needed. It would not be an ideal woodscraft blade or a survival knife. But if you carry it everywhere and have it in such a situation your odds will be worlds better having a passable fixed blade than a $10 folding knife. Simply put its a $30 knife that could save your life. Provided you train your skills, always remember to carry, and develop a self preservation mind set.

For the price point ($30-$35), this knife is nothing short of awesome. If it was $50, I’d call it 4 stars, for $100 I’d give it 3, but for $30, I’d give it 6/5 stars if I could. It’s very light, nimble, and usable. The blade is thin (1/8”), but not thin enough to feel cheap. It’s not a “Japan level” good Cold Steel, but it’s a solid knife. It’s a Taiwan cold steel, one of their “junk knives”, made of AUS-8 steel, which means it’s about the quality of a SOG or Gerber production knife. I own a Cold Steel San Mai iii Recon Tanto, which is a big, serious knife, worth every bit of the $115-$135 you’d pay for it. You’ll pay $50-$60 for a SOG seal pup or SOG tsunami, for the same thickness of the same steel as the Kobun, with a junk sheath. The secure-ex sheath is good quality. The retention is great, maybe too good. If you try to use the metal clip that comes with it (junk!!!!!!!), the sheath will come with the knife if you try to draw it. My knife came with the newer shesth that only has holes on one side, not both. If you buy this knife, buy a tek-lok, tek lok mini, or a spyderco G Clip to go with it. I’ve had one kobun for several years. It holds an edge well for breaking down boxes, gutting and skinning deer, and other basic knife uses. With minimal upkeep on a spyderco sharpmaker (a must have for any owner of goood blades) mine stays shaving sharp all the time. The handle is too thin for my big hands. I remedied it with a paracord wrap. The cord wrap is done with OD green paracord with the inside strands pulled out, called a “flat wrap”. It’s done by wrapping it as simply as it looks, then pulling both ends through the lanyard hole and burning them together into a “knob” so they can’t pull back through. The grippy rubber handle keeps them perfectly in place with no adhesive, even with hard use. I recently bought a second one to mount 2 opposing sheaths to one large tek lok. Mounting them together required trimming the pointy ends of the sheath off with a dremel, which didn’t hurt the sheaths functionality at all. The double sheath is totally impractical, and totally unecessary but also totally awesome. See my pictures. BUY THIS KNIFE!!!!!!

Couteau de lancer avec une bonne prise en main. Il est léger et bien affûté. Le fourreau tient bien à la ceinture et pour le dégainer il comprend un cran de sécurité en sa qualité certifié secure-ex. En bref il ne me quitte plus.

Faca impecável e maravilhosa! Me surpreendi com a sua estrutura, acabamento e principalmente o fio. Com certeza será uma faca extemamente útil para mim. E não é querendo dizer nada, mas essa faca marca presença e com certeza chama a atenção, então não saia mostrando ela por aí!

Years ago I bought the Recon Tanto as a security knife. However I never use it because it's too big for my purpose. Plus you have to wear a belt and it hangs down. This is 100% absolutely perfect. I can wear it inside my pants or inside of a belt. It lays nice and flat and you can even put it inside your pants if you're wearing sweatpants, that's how lightweight it is. Mine was extremely sharp out of the Box. The only thing I didn't like about it was the silver belt clip but when I opened up the box it was black which was exactly what I wanted.

Cooles Messer ohne Schnickschnack. Habe es nun schon einige Monate im Gebrauch. Der Stahl ist nicht einfach zu schärfen, aber wenn man's drauf hat, bekommt man ein Knife, das auch lange die Schärfe eines Rasiermessers behält! Die aus hartem Kunststoff gemachte Scheide finde ich ebenfalls sehr gelungen, da das Messer darin (mit dem gummierten Griff) "einrastet" und so absolut sicher getragen werden kann (Secure-Ex), auch "kopfüber", was gegen Verlust oder Verletzungen schützt. Darüberhinaus sind ein mit Schrauben versetzbarer Metallclip und mehrere zusätzliche Ösen zur Befestigung dran. Klare Kaufempfehlung.

刃をながめるだけで満足｡手に持った感触も良い｡