I've been looking for a compact fixed blade to hang on my chest rig and after seeing this knife on the net figured for the price it couldn't be bad. I managed to find one new on flebay for $20 with free shipping and I jumped on it. It came in this afternoon and I tell ya what - I ain't disappointed. I've had a few cold steel knives over the years and despite one let down they have usually been good enough for what I use a knife for. Anyway this one is hawked as a neck-knife but I'm not really keen on shit swinging around my neck. But the design kinda peaked my interest so I said to hell with it and bought one.
Overall the construction is pretty solid. It's made of Japanese AUS-8 steel which is an alloy of steel and vanadium with a decent carbon content. That allows them to maintain some durability while still taking an edge relatively easy. IIRC it's comparable to 440, Anyway the lil' sumbitch came sharp - shave hair off your arm sharp. Whoever put the edge on it had a good day at the shop as there are little to no no machine marks on the edge at all. After a few dozen cuts through an old phone book it was still sharp enough to shave with.
The scales are made of plastic with a texture that resembles G10. They aren't riveted to the tang but instead use a tiny hex screw system. Later on I'm going to remove them and shoot them with some Fusion. Grips wise they are good - grabby enough. I can see where they would eventually wear down smooth but a few quick hits with some sandpaper will take care of that when it happens. They are thick enough if you wanted to pattern them with a dremel you have enough material to work with.
The basic design of the knife has some serious appeal to me. It's handle is setup so you get some really positive control of it. Note I've got what I consider average sized mitts so you guys with bigger dickbeaters probably aren't going to like this knife. It has a few cuts along the back edge of the blade to help stabilize it if you're doing finer work. Overall the design makes the smaller blade more functional.
The sheath is plastic as well and kind of a clone of tension retention kydex designs that are out there. It has a little spread to it when the knife is inserted but damn this things holds it tight. Tight enough it ain't going to just fall out. The one thing I dislike about the sheath is that it appears the rivets are plastic - that's easily fixable. But there are enough holes to mount this with some 550 cord to pretty much anything.
The neck chain is substantially heftier than a regular USGI dog tag chain. I dunno if it's rust resistant but if you don't use it to hang the knife then that may be a good use for it - just be prepared to drill your tag holes a little bigger for it to get through.
Overall if you're looking for a good compact fixed blade these are a deal. The model I got didn't have the serrated edge (I hate those things - they're a PITA to sharpen) and there's a few different blade style s to choose from. If I had to say what the knife would be worth compared to other models I'd say maybe $25. You can find them for that on fleabay or through some of the dealer sites. At that price point they're a pretty good deal.
Homepage for them -
http://www.coldsteel.com/minitacseries.html
