Cold Steel Mini Tac Bowie

Once again, Cold Steel comes through with a great knife at a reasonable price. The blade came scary sharp, like all of the ... I think 30 CS Knives I own. The coating is excellent, the temper is good, the shape is great for it's purpose, but like almost all commercial Bowie's, the top of the clip came unsharpened. The Griv-Ex sheath is fantastic and holds the knife with a positive "click" that won't let it fall out, even though I've tried pretty darn hard. I have lots of neck knives (I've been collecting knives for almost 6 decades) and only my Cold Steel knives have positive retention without the addition of an external lock, like the Ka-Bar BK11- which won't come out of it's sheath as fast or as quiet as necessary if you find that you suddenly need this particular knife. The ergo's of the handle are supernatural, given it's small size, and it lays so flat that it won't print through a tee shirt. Altogether a 4.5, since there are no perfect knives. Now, I bought this knife because I like CS and I liked the look of this knife, but in my opinion, the CS push knives are a better choice for a desperation weapon. What I'm *really* looking for is a 3.25-3.5" skeleton or otherwise very thin handled, Scandi grind neck knife with a sheath that will NOT let the knife fall out in the field under hard hunting/bushcraft/emergency conditions, that sells for around 40 bucks....more for a leather sheath, although that isn't important, what's important is to have that knife to still be hanging around my neck if the poo hits the primitive cooling device and something unexpected and really bad has happened, and that it has that Scandi grind.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I purchased this knife, especially given the price. It received much love, so it seems that others like it, too. Also, the clip point was the least expensive version and the most functional for my needs, so it seemed ideal. On paper, it has excellent specs - 8cr steel is hands down the most cost-effective trade-off between strength, edge retention, toughness, and cost. At 2.5mm with a full-length tang, it offers excellent overall strength. The Cold Steel Griv-Ex scales are a plus, and since they're removable, you could upgrade with a set of custom scales. The blade arrived in perfect condition - properly cut and formed and razor sharp - and had no manufacturing issues, which are so common in less expensive knives. It comes with a Cold Steel Secure-EX sheath that is very secure, and a metal-bead neck chain that I swapped out for paracord (personal preference). The bead chain is serviceable but cold! The sheath itself is tactical, so you could cross-lash it for scout-carry. That said, it is a smaller sheath, so it may be too small for belt carry. YMMV! Ultimately, my final view on a knife is whether I would replace it if I lost it. For this knife, it's a resounding YES!

This one is a go... For under $20. I picked it up for $17.99. I would definitely recommend it at that price point, but not at full price. One star off for grip panels with sharp edges. Easy enough to sand down a bit, but you really shouldn't have to. I used 240 grit sandpaper and didn't have to be very aggressive at all to achieve the result I was looking for. Sharp, but not razor sharp out of the box. It slices paper without tearing, but fails the hair test. It will shave hair on the back of my hand, but only with a lot of pressure behind the stroke. Self defense? Maybe, but there are much better choices fof $20-$30. The Mini Tac is not easy to draw quickly. The Kyoto 1 is very fast. In fact, a no brainer. Lightning fast! With the sheath getting in the way, the Mini Tac is a bit of a fumbler. Both sheaths offer secure enough waist carry, but if you brush up against something, the Kyoto 1 might not hold, due to its fatter rubbery grip and shallow carry sheath. On the other hand, the Mini Tac would probably stay more secure due to it's deeper sheath carry, thin grip, and non rubber grip material. In my opinion, the grip on either is too small for a defensive knife, still, better than your empty hands. If you are considering a knife for defensive purposes, get a small knife with a ring at the end of the handle instead, such as ITOKEY's small upswept blade. That's what I carry on my left in conjunction with a KOMWERO ringed Wharncliffe with a +4" blade on my right side. I tend to use the smaller knife for utility, as to not frighten unsuspecting citizens. The large Wharnciffe is rather scary! How does it compare to the Kyoto 1? Both are made in China, which is a much, much, better option than their Taiwanese options. The quality control is much higher in China. I was very disappointed with one of their SPIKE TANTOs I just purchased. That's going back today! What s piece of garbage! Really bad mismatched angles on the tanto tip. Sorry got off track. Had to mention it. Back to the Mini Tac and Kyoto 1... They are similar in size and length, but the Kyoto 1 is a thicker, more sturdily built knife than the Mini Tac. Sharpness is a smidge better on the Kyoto 1, but still, difficult to shave hair. Neither knife comes with a belt clip! The only option I've seen, is Cold Steel's Secure-Ex plastic one. The lashing holes on the sheaths are basically that. Lashing holes! The hardware on a standard clip is too big to fit the holes. I currently use zip strips to lash them to my belt loop, mounted horizontally. This works very well, but is rather inconvenient because the zip strips have to be cut loose for laundry day. Why don't they just include the clips? They could at least list them with their knives as an option. Just about everyone else includes a belt clip with their knives!l, and some are very nice! Why can't Cold Steel? Jerks!... A neck chain came with the Mini Tac (big deal), none with the Kyoto 1. The sheath of the Kyoto 1 fits easily within a jeans belt loop. Again, I secure it to the loop with zip strips. The Mini Tac sheath is a very tight fit for belt loop carry. I barely got it into one of my regular Lee loops. It's so tight,I could probably carry it this way without zip strips. Verdict: I prefer the Kyoto 1 slightly over the Mini Tac, simply due to its higher value as a conversation piece. Oh... there's the quick draw thing too. Why not get both, if you can find them at under $20 each?

Great knife, definitely going buy couple more. Came extremely sharp, and the sheath holds it firmly. Recommend it 100 percent

This knife occupies a rare space in the knife world: prioritizing blade length over a full sized handle. The user can fit the index, middle, and fourth finger on the handle and the pinky will form a fist below the end of the handle. For the tasks you are likely to do with a blade of this size it's a great move. The CRKT neck knives feel flimsy in comparison, in my opinion. The cutout for the index finger, found on a lot of "fighting" fixed blade knives (fighting the evil cardboard boxes) adds a lot of security and is the right width for my hand size. It could always be widened with a dremel if someone has thick index fingers. I am between a medium and large elastic glove size and it fits well. Fit and finish are flawless, with polymer handle slabs that feel much like G10 due to the texture, very grippy. No gaps between the handle and blade unlike a CRKT minimalist bowie I once had. The blade width (from edge to spine) is substantial giving toughness if someone really felt they needed to place lateral stress on the blade. The upswept belly is very pronounced which predisposes itself to slicing motions. Flaw: The fiberglass sheath while sturdy and form fitting, slightly dulls the blade. If you are into sharpening it might bother you to do your best job and upon withdrawal from the sheath notice a little glinting on the belly of the blade. The edge must be making contact with the glass fibers of the sheath. If this is a working knife or an emergency knife, you won't notice. A kydex or nylon sheath wouldn't have this problem but also wouldn't have the rigidity the included sheath provides. For the price this might be the best value in a micro / compact fixed blade capable of EDC. Very slim package, less obtrusive given the amount of work this is capable of. Even knowing the sheath slightly dulls the blade I would have wanted one as the design / engineering of the blade and handle are innovative. I purchased the polymer cold steel belt clip separately and use only one of the two included to attach it to my 1.5 inch belt on occasion.

Highly recommend the Cold Steel brand. Honestly, really really impressed. Good quality metal, well constructed, and very sleek and slim. Really good price too

Is it made in China, yes. But to get it under $20 in todays market and still have a quality product and turn a profit; you get it. When it was made in the US it was priced outside the market for a neck knife and had no buyers. So here we are. $20 and I have an every day carry neck knife, sharp out of the box, amazing shape and hand feel. I broke down a large cardboard box for recycling with this like a ginsu through butter. Not the purpose of buying it but a worthy challenge at the time and I wanted something to compare it against my trusty SOG pentagon elite pocket knife. The $20 China made neck knife won. It’s blade shape is very nice and aggressive. Moderately sharp out of the box. Not as sharp as other cold steel knives like the SRK out of the box but plenty sharp for a $20 Chinese neck knife. The chain is better than expected and I never notice wearing it. The sheath holds exceptionally well without any worries the knife will drop out and guillotine my mr happy. The release from the sheath is quick and natural in the event that the knife needs to be used expeditiously. Whatever your worries are, at this price just buy 2! If you hose one you have a backup. Don’t like neck carry; modify the sheath and ITB it. Point is; this is too good not to buy at under $20.

This is pretty decent lightweight knife, the only draw back is the secondary guard for the middle finger is tr@sh and useless.... i was going to return it but i like the overall shape and ease of pocket carry. either remove the middle bump it or make it super tiny, it's the reason you cant get a comfortable choked up palm grip on this knife, the main guard is awesome. Edge geometry is ok mine came in with a dozen tiny nicks on it, they probably had some worn out or big grit variant sharpeners in their factory, ive seen way better edges on 12 dollar folding knives. The knife also smells like detergent biscuits... i hope it goes away soon.

Se siente de material de buena calidad

Cold Steel ist halt Cold Steel. Sehr scharf, liegt gut in der Hand, sehr gute Scheide, für ein Neck Knife relativ große Klinge, trotzdem noch tragbar und ein guter 8Cr13MoV Stahl. Bei mir findet der kleine Finger noch halb Halt auf dem Griff. Ist aber nicht unangenehm. Eine Kette wird mitgeliefert. Wer das Messer am Gürtel tragen will, der kann sich den -Secure-Ex C-Clip Small- da zu kaufen. Alles in Allem ein sehr gutes Neck Knife, dass seine Preis mehr als Wert ist. Verpackung und Versandt waren TOP. Hier sind 5 Sterne fällig und keinen weniger!

Bonita e confiavel! RECOMENDO!!!

Very nice for edc. Very light, very slim and it has a wicked blade shape. For the price, it's hard to find a knife of similar size that gives you that much steel, given that the tang is also the handle, just covered in plastic grips. Only downside is the sheath can dull the edge when you pull it out, so it needs a bit of practice to get the motion down.

Bonito cuchillo, por el precio estuvo bien. Siento que le falta filo pero solo dárselo y ya