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

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.

This is an excellent knife--light, durable, sharp. The 5+ Inch blade is a perfect length for self-defense, as well as some utility tasks. At almost 60, this is my first tanto blade and I'm impressed. The grip is a good length to maintain a good hold on the knife and the texture good. The sheath is very nice, but I'm not really impressed with the clip. An ulticlip works very well though. I'm pleased with this purchase.

This is a fantastic knife. Sheath is great, blade is very sharp. The clip is very strong and retention is amazing. The only thing I don’t like is the cheap rubber handle and the size of the hole on the handle. Wrapped the handle in paracord and I’m good to go. I conceal carry this bad boy everywhere. Cold steel does great with their larger knives, not so much with the smaller ones. This was only $50 but still, needs a better handle. Sheath fits a tek lock for open carry. Love this knife! Can’t wait to buy the more expensive ones.

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.

Yet another stupefyingly good product from Cold Steel. Extremely light and agile, mine came with a pretty sharp edge but definitely not shaving quality. No worries; a little love from some ceramic followed by some stropping and it was, indeed, a razor. I'm not sure how long that will last but based on its AUS8 material I have no doubt that it's going to be pretty easy to get back into awesome shape. I'm not going to measure and weight this for you; people have already done it and you can find the results on the CS website. However, a couple of notes that are not necessarily criticisims but maybe things to think about depending on your planned use: -The handle: great kraton stuff if you've never seen it before. performs flawlessly wet or dry and your hand will PROBABLY not slip down onto your now razor-sharp blade. God help you if it does. My issue is that it's a bit small in diameter, so if you've got big hands like me, you may have a problem... I did a de-cored 550 cord flat wrap on my handle (wet), and will try to post a couple of pics here showing the results. If you have bigger hands, you are going to absolutely want to do this as it makes all the world of difference and the grip is exponentially better. (please do not confuse my wrap with the 'other' handle wrap on this page. That is what looks like a tradional 'ito' wrap and I don't know how to do it. It's beautiful, and I offer my sincerest congrats to whoever did it! However, please don't ask me to show you how!) -Sheath: as usual, an awesome CS Secure-ex sheath and the blade does not shake, rattle or roll. AND, despite what other reviews may have mentioned it DOES have a drain hole. Will mention that it is very hard to see and personally am going to drill mine out as it doesn't seem very useful in its stock shape. Mounting: I have seen good and bad reviews on this sheath and it's mounting capabilities. Bottom line, it has a REMOVEABLE clip so it can obviously be mounted anywhere. Personally, would try to mount it with that clip wherever you want but back it up with either 550 or zip ties. Not trusting that clip... -Blade retention: uhhh.... For most normal uses I would have to say that it is fine; blade is retained in the sheath via tension on the handle guard. And don't get me wrong, it is good! However, if you happen to be using this knife in an upside down configuration and are running with it I think I'd consider looking at modifications to the sheath. Not sure what just yet but will post an update with I figure it out.

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!!!!!!

I bought this knife back in November and have since carried and used it every day. I got this knife with the intent/purpose of carrying it every day, but I understand other people have different purposes of use. It is also a utility knife for me, as in I use it for any task that comes up through out the day, so I am not one who carries for the sole purpose of self defense. After these months of using the knife in many general roles here's my list of pros and cons for the Kobun: Knife Steel Pros: - The AUS 8 steel holds a great edge. I did put a different edge on the knife with my sharpening stones, but this isn't necessary as it comes out of the box very sharp. - The steel is tough as well. Example: I was cutting some peppers that I was fire roasting and then putting into my smoker. I over powered my cut (mostly due to just how sharp the knife was and how well it slices - I explain that later on in the review) and my blade went right through the pepper and smacked onto a metal bar. I was worried there would be a big ding in the blade from the hard impact, but the blade was un-phased. This was wonderful and really proved the strength durability of the blade's steel. Knife Steel Cons: - I have noticed that it smudges or takes signs of use more than other stainless steels. That just makes it so it isn't as pretty all the time and you can't let it sit in moist environments. - This steel is harder than your average pocket knife steel and if you are a person who is bothered by a steel that is harder to sharpen then you may not like this... I see this as a Pro - in my opinion though. Knife Size Pros: - The blade size of this knife allows it to be very useful, being a mid sized knife. I have carved chickens, chopped up boxes, sharpened pencils, cut soft bread, and much more (needless to say it is washed very often.) A very all around useful size! - The thickness of the knife is wonderful. It has a very slender profile so I hardly notice it while I am carrying it. It doesn't bulge and and sheath is very slender as well so it it extremely convenient. Knife Size Cons: - If you are looking for a knife that fits in your pocket this is not your knife. This knife is designed for self defense, and although I have found it very very useful for every day carry usage, some people might prefer something that folds or is smaller in length. Coldsteel does make a Tanto that they consider a neck knife, but I hear of most people getting it and using thin cord to strap it to their belts and they really like using it/carrying it on a daily basis, that could be a smaller alternative. Knife Blade Pros: - The Kobun has the tanto blade design. It is a Japanese blade design that is primarily meant for fighting and self defense. That being said, this is going to be an excellent self defense knife. - The tanto blade has incredible blade and point strength due to it's thickness. You can read all about it on the ColdSteel site. Personally I have noticed that the point stays needle sharp so when I have cutting tasks that need puncturing this knife never has a problem and the point doesn't bend when I am being tough on it while doing wood work or carving meat and working through or around bones. - Another thing I personally love about the tanto blade is the point where the two blade angles meet. That bad boy slices like crazy! Cutting fruit or vegetables with skin is nothing for this blade. I just use that point where the to blade meet to make my original slice and it is like a hot knife through butter. I have heard that this is also an advantage because it slices so well on a slashing movement, so it has its benefits in the personal defense realms as well. - The blade design overall is one I have found to be very useful. So much so that I am teaching myself to make knives and when I am good enough I am going to make a tanto style kitchen knife. Knife Blade Cons: - The blade is thick. Not ultra thick, but you can tell it was design to be strong. It is very strong so that is a "pro" but some people may prefer a little thiner of a blade for more finite cutting tasks. If you are that type of person you may find this thicker knife blade a little more than you would like. It has never hindered any of my cutting tasks, but there have been times my preference would have been just a blade just a tiny bit thinner. But if you make this knife thinner then you would lose some of the pros that make this knife amazing so I wouldn't say it should be a deal breaker if you are in the market for a knife like this. Knife Sheath Pros: - As I mentioned earlier on in the review. The sheath is very slender and makes carrying this knife confortable and easy. - The plastic is strong and holds the knife well. I carry this knife when I go running (strap it to my leg or back pack) and after 2-4 miles I check to make sure it is holding well and it is always snug. I should explain that I do carry the knife handle down, so if it were to fall out it would with that carry style. Knife Sheath Cons: - Whenever I take the time to hone my knife blade so it can cut hair I feel like the blade edge doesn't hold and my theory is that it rubs on the sheath when I un-sheath and re-sheath the knife. Thus wearing the extra sharp edge off. I am not a real knife expert and have been practicing sharpening on a stone, so I may just need more work to get the perfect edge on there. This is NOT to say that the knife becomes dull. It still cuts right through just about anything I'd ever need it to, just not a hair shaving edge... I feel that if I go into any more details the review will get a little to nitty gritty for my taste. I have tried to illustrate the pros and cons I have come across in my type of use for this knife. Your uses may be different, so I hope these insights can help you determine whether this is the knife for you. For the cost, strength, durability, quality, and sexiness of this knife I recommend it to all of my friends, as well as anyone reading this review. If this knife already appeals to you and you feel you would have uses for it, then you will not regret purchasing this knife. If you think big carry knives are "scary", or people should have permits to carry knives like this then it may not be the best purchase you could make.

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.

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.

Produto de ótima qualidade

Super messer, sehr scharf und mit keinem anderen zu vergleichen!

This is a great value for your $! Came very sharp and has proven to be a good knife already. The Tanto point works very well for skinning deer and the overall shape of the knife makes it a very useful tool. The handle is very nice, offers good grip and allows for easy cleaning. It is a light knife but you can feel the quality in the blade as it has a nice thickness, the sheath is also well made and offers good retention. The belt clip causes the knife to sit a little high for my preference but has para cord/ lanyard holes along both sides for the length of the sheath, so I was able to attach it to my hunting belt in a horizontal position along my back. Buy this knife you will not regret your purchase.

刃をながめるだけで満足｡手に持った感触も良い｡