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!!!!!!

What can I really say about this knife? I already own several Cold Steel products, as well as many other brands of knives. I purchase based on quality and functionality, and have collected many, many fine pieces over the years. I've also purchased several pieces of garbage while exploring the wares of brands I'd never had experiences with. This Kobun Cold Steel knife is certainly not one of those garbage pieces. When I purchased it, I expected to get another quality Cold Steel blade, and I was not disappointed. It was razor sharp out of the box, and like my other CS knives, a minute stroping the blade made it scary-sharp; almost as sharp as my Cold Steel SRK Black Kraton Handle and Cold Steel Pendleton Hunter Kraton Handle (Secure-Ex Sheath) . It is also very well balanced, much like my SRK. At first, I was a little worried that the thinness of the blade would affect the overall quality of the knife, but it absolutely doesn't. The AUS-8 steel this knife if made from is strong even with a blade this thin; it flexed very little with my hands. I also have no doubt as to edge retention on this knife, as I've had quite a bit of experience with this type of steel. The handle fits well in the hand, despite being a little thinner than I'm used to with many of my other knives, and the Kraton-rubber handle has a very good grip. Overall, I'm very pleased that I purchased this knife. The strength of the steel, its sharpness, its balance, all are excellent with this Kobun knife. The sheath that comes with the knife is well made, and knife and sheath are slender enough to place as a boot knife, or to place on your belt. You could almost forget that it is there, as it rides very comfortably in either place. The sheath also does not allow the blade rattle, nor does it allow the knife to fall out if it is turned upside down. It fits very securely. So...why four stars, and not five? It has nothing to do with the knife's quality. The only thing that would have made me rate this knife with five stars would be if it had been made from a better grade of steel, like VG-1 stainless or SK5 high carbon. HOWEVER, AUS-8 steel really IS a good quality steel. With the price of this knife and its overall quality, I would recommend this blade to anyone.

Sheath A+, Blade lenth-balance-sharpness A+, Handle grip and feel=B This is THE BEST tanto you can buy for the money Period! We will see how she holds up to some fierce cutting...I only bought this as a throwaway being that it was only $20 something with free shipping. But holy cow this is a nice knife at a fraction of others cost. No complaints here... but I have been a cold steel fan since the 1980's and sold them at my fathers sports stores for years. (He sold the biz in 2001)....and the price of tea in China is.... lol. Am I biased? Don't think so. Cold steels San Mai III outperforms my old trusty custom Buck 110 folder skinning out moose for years. I spend a lot of time in the Alaskan outback hunting and fishing. For the record this knife is NOT S-Mai steel but it looks to be AUS-8 to me...respectable. UPDATE FEB 2014: Have purchased others the price has gone up $10 since I first wrote my reviews way back when. Still a great value. I have one in the boat, trailer, quad, both cars,(be careful of your local laws there) gave one to a friend for his airplane... my kids scoutmaster has one lashed to his pack...limitless possibilities. The knife was easily sharpened on a Lansky to keep it ship shape sharp after much use and abuse... On another note: A great way to "stash" these knives for easy grabbing is to purchase a strong magnet used to pick up keys dropped in water or the like... Ive found the 50# rated ones seem to keep the knife stable from bouncing around in the vehicle and you can "screw mount" the magnet anywhere under dash, beside seat, on the side of the center console, above the inside of a closet door, etc. then just "attach" knife in sheath to magnet and ready to go at a moments notice...

This thing is SWEET!!! First I must say I'm a little bit partial to the tanto design not for functionality so much as for its strikingly good looks. I own a Kabar 8" Tanto which is one baaaaad mutha blade, but unfortunately it truly is a dedicated combat knife as it is a little too unweildy to be good at much else. This knife, however, is surprisingly nimble despite its tanto design. The handle is VERY thin, as it is intended to be a concealable knife, but the kraton handle is VERY high quality and the nice checkering allows for solid purchase in hand. I've never felt unsteady with it even though it is thin. The blade itself is BEAUTIFUL. The edge came very clean and almost hair cutting sharp. After a 5 minute appointment with some 2000 grit sandpaper, i was shaving my arms like it was a Mach 3. The bare stainless steel is nicely finished, kind of in between matte and polished. The pictures really don't do it justice. However, being the tanto, lover that I am, I couldn't just let the blade sit in between matte and polished. So I broke out the sandpaper, starting with an 800 grit and working my way up to 2000 grit and finishing it off with a dremel felt polishing wheel. Now I can look at myself in the mirror finish while I shave test the blade. I can't say enough about how elegant this knife is. But amid its good looks it still begs to be used. The razor edge is perfect for chopping veggies and cutting steak when I'm feeling a little bored with my standard kitchen knives. It also comes with a fantastic hard plastic sheath which holds the black securely in place. It also has a clip on the back for belt holstering or boot concealment, although the latter proved somewhat difficult. A nice touch nonetheless. Overall, what can I say? For $30??? Buy it. you won't regret it. There's not another sub-$30 blade out there that can compare.

Awesome knife, fits the hand really well. Very sharp!

I bought the Kershaw Military Boot Knife around the same time as this Cold Steel Kobun. The Kershaw is the closest you can get to a "dagger" you can legally carry, has great corrosion resistance and was very well made. However, this Cold Steel Kobun is longer, thicker, stronger, more attractive and substantially lighter! The Kobun is REDICULOUSLY lightweight and slim. The knife+sheath was still thinner than my Ruger LCP that hangs a few inches away. This knife would be the closest you can get to a legal and concealable samurai sword. I would never dare stab anything with the Kershaw blade unless it was my only option. The blade on the kershaw is less than 1/16" thick for the last 2 inches, but this Cold steel Kobun has a more than 1/8" wide blade all the way up til the last 3/4" of the blade. The hand guard is not meant to be very functional on the either the Kobun or the Kershaw, and the handles are very thin. The cold steel kobun came out ahead again by having a very well textured Kraton handle (rubber-like plastic) that offers very good hold on this knife. The Cold Steel Kobun came razor sharp out of the box (even the 3/4" of tanto upsweep could shave). The Kershaw Military Boot knife was dull enough make a sawing motion on my finger without breaking the skin, but if applied in great force, the thin blade may help that edge. This Cold Steel Kobun is the best blade for the money by far.