Cold Steel All Purpose Tactical Machete with Sheath

OK first of all, if you dont know how to sharpen a blade properly, or need a pre sharpened blade out of the box dont buy this machete. Now if you can sharpen a blade and want a custom sharpen on it this is an awsome blade. This is #7 for me in the machete blade world. I have multiple sog, cold steel and a few other name brands this is one that is a keeper. The second i got it out of the box i noticed it was not sharpened(not a problem for me for i know how to sharpen and i like to customize it my self.) The construction seems primative but thats the way it should be it was made to chop through brush and small braches not a show piece at all.(also good for the silent zombie dismemberment lol) the blade is properly weighted to the front for a hard swing increased the PSI once the strike has landed. The hilt is light and very strong but for those who have soft hands or a weak wrist you might like to wrap the handle with 550 cord or something of that nature to increase comfort. The blade is not weak by any nature but it does have a small flims in it which for me is great because the blade will not break under a strike but will move enough to stay intact. I have put it through a strenious stress test under a shop press to see how may PSI it would take to warp/break the blade so far it has taken 450PSI from the side without warping the blade and the handle took every bit of it. i went into the wood and cleared a path 4 feet wide and 40 feet long with my custom sharpen on it(about 40 minutes of work) and the path is clear as a day. the blade stayed in tact very light dulling and the handle didnt even flinch. My hand was slightly sore and my wrist also. Over all if you need to clear some brush for a path or need it for survival i highly recomend this blade. it stood up to a magnitude of test and kept on going.

I have owned a number of machetes over the years, and this is the best by far. It is a lot more substantial and heavy than many have suggested. I was afraid at first that I would not be able to handle it with one hand, but once I put some Gamma grip tape on it, it was as if it was tailored for my hand. It looks super cool, and says "don't mess with me, I can cut the head off of anything, and knock down trees." I have actually seen it tackle and do just that in a number of Youtube videos. It is comfortable to hold, and has knock out power to brush, or thick trees and bushes. It cost $17.78 when I bought it, and that included free shipping. Awesome, and it looks tough as "Leroy Brown, the baddest man in the whole damn town!" Mine came pretty sharp and ready for work, but I decided to put a sharper blade on it with a little bit of work with a sharpening stone. Now, it is sharper than my barber's razor! You won't go wrong with ordering this item, and with a little effort, this Kukri can give you magnum payback for yard chores or self-protection. Just this week, a older lady put a gang of burglars to flight with this very machete after they barged in with a home invasion! They literally ran for their lives, one after being sliced and the rest at the awesome sight of a kukri machete! Believe me, this is worth the pittance of money they want, and don't believe the naysayers and knife snobs. You won't go wrong with this as a knife or weapon.

I was disappointed when I opened the package and pulled the blade out of the sheath. It looked terrible. The machined edge on this blade was nasty. It looked like something with fangs had bitten the edge of the blade to pull the steel off to create a semi-edge. In fact, it looked somewhat like the edge of an arrowhead chipped away to be sharpened (but with nasty gooves and burrs). Cut marks in the steel... Awful. I pulled out my sharpener and spent every sitting minute for a week -- literally several hours -- running the blade over the sharpener, peeling back the burrs the grooves, the cuts and the marks. I could have done it using a grinder, but the blade had too much grind and not enough love and it needed to be fixed. While this is a working machete, not a showpiece, I found myself unable to resist working the edge to razor sharpness. I mean hair-shaving, paper slicing, bloody thumb sharp. It was overkill, but it did a lot to make it look and perform better. Being high carbon steel, it also took and held that edge well. I didn't get all the marks, grinds, grooves and machine cuts out of the edge near the cutting blade, but I improved it a lot. It looked a lot better, was a lot sharper and, most importantly, working it in the field proved it could withstand tremendous abuse. I've had it for a year or more now and I've used to baton wood, to cut back brush, to chop limbs for firewood off deadfalls and I've even used its flat blade to scoop up fire coals for cooking. It still has marks where the machining abused the steel. It's also still a little thinner than I'd like. But it is a beast. We took a SOG Fasthawk, a Bear Grylls Gerber Machete (parang) and this Cold Steel Magnum Kukri and the bites into a wooden log were very similar. As a friend and I worked side by side on a red cedar deadfall, collecting wood, his Bear Grylls Gerber Machete broke at the handle (a failing like others that has led to a recall of that blade). The Cold Steel Kukri keeps on kicking. I think it's inexcusable for the blade to have come in the condition it did and if others rate it a 2 overall, I can certainly understand why. Out of the box, this thing was horrific and Cold Steel makes too many great products not to know better. In fact, they should have put another brand name on this blade, because some folks will see this and will think it represents the company's work. That would be a shame to confuse this South African (where it's made) machined abuse with typical Cold Steel quality. Anyway, once sharpened correctly, it maintains an edge, it has good weight and power and it's the kind of blade you can use again and again and not sweat hurting the steel. I like it and enjoy having it ride with me in my expedition kayak for utility use, firewood chopping, path clearing and more. Seeing its utility over time has given me a new respect for it that was lacking when it arrived on my doorstep. ** EDIT - I purchased another one for a friend as a gift and was going to go ahead and clean up the edge... It came in MUCH better shape than my first one did. While it was obvious that a machine grind had been used and the edge was semi-dull, it was far superior to the burred up mess I got the first time around. Quality control appears to have improved. (11/15/2013).

This is a really great tool. Overall I'd say this is a high quality machete, with only a couple of nit-picks. The blade's thickness, weight, and length are just right, but the handle and sheath are both decent. The blade was really rough out of the box. I never expect a good edge on a new tool, but this one was especially blunt and jagged; the edge consisted of horizontal ridges/grooves that were pretty deep. It took quite a bit of manual work with a file to get the insanely smooth and sharp edge that I wanted. It wouldn't take long to get just a decent edge on it, but I wanted it to be smooth as well, which took quite a bit more work due to the rough edge. The handle seems sturdy enough, but I'd prefer if it were just a tad thicker and removable so that it could be swapped out if so desired. As for the sheath, it's not horrible like some reviews claim, but it could stand some improvement -- it would be great if there were some additional places to secure the sheath other than just the belt loop, but it shouldn't be too hard to modify. None of these small details detract from the overall quality, though, and all can be fixed if you have the patience and desire. It's absolutely worth the price and will last for a very long time.

After reading the reviews here, looking at a lot of YouTube videos, and checking out many other machetes, this one impressed me the most because of it's price, usefullness and apparent durability. Now that I have had it a couple of months - I have no regrets... It's a tool, not a show piece. It came quick. It came 90% sharp and it does what it's supposed to do. I read complaints about the sticker on the blade. Mine peeled right off (slowly) with no sticky residue. The handle works fine. I would prefer a stiff spongy grip, but that's just me. Again, it's a tool. Use it like any other tool... responsibly. If you don't have a good grip on it - somebody is going to get hurt. It took some work to put an edge on it I like, but that's a good thing! Once it was sharp, it holds it's edge well. The flimsy sheath could use some improvement. The second time I sheathed the blade, it poked right through. But for the overall price - this is not a complaint, only a suggestion. A machete is a basic tool everyone who works outside should have, If this model appeals to you - go for it. The couple extra inches really help the 'sweet spot'. If you like shorter, longer, fatter, whateverer... I recommed staying with 'Cold Steel'. They make a no nonsense line of tools that, for the price, simply cannot be beat. (Did I mention it's the coolest, baddest looking blade ever!)

I must start by saying that I was between many choices- The latin machete , tramontina brazilian machete , the magnum kukri , and the regular kukri , and the ontario machete. I looked into each one , carefully reading all complaints and praises given to each and every one. One by one , I eliminated the choices until I was left with this one and the ontario one. I do not regret my choice!! This machete/kukri has served me well from the start. You have to understand that for a 23.00$ machete , it did have a few minor problems though- but not unfixable! The first one was that it was dull. Not incredibly dull - enough to slash but not sharp enough.That was easily fixed. After an hour or so with a file and sand paper( no power tools , they untemper it!!)I got the edge and bevel sharp and ready . The next problem is that the blade was not 100% straight , but after about 20 min. , I managed to get it pretty straight again. The reason you will find machetes exactly like this only way more expensive is that the other ones come sharp and perfect , which takes valuable time and money to obtain. So I think that the hour and a half was worth it to save myself a hundred bucks:) The last thing is the handle . Im a boy at 14 now ( my name is not maria , its just a user name) and since I have smaller artistic hands , the handle isnt tight on my hand . Rather , I can use BOTH hands( or should I say a hand and a half) for a walloping swoosh!!!That didnt stop me! Enough of the bad stuff now. Now that everything is fixed , lets move onto what it is capable of. It ROCKS!!! I was able to slice through several water bottles cleanly , chop through a vine , and make a path way through brush!! And Im not even full size yet, so just imagine what a full size grown up could do! I love adventuring , but I hate snakes; this weapon was my way out. I also read many creepy stories of wild beasts attacking humans - so I wanted to be ready. Its big on me though . I added paracord at the beginning and at the end of the sheath so now I can carry it on my back: At my waist its way too long:) Over all , you cant go wrong with this baby. I dont see whats wrong with the sheath - I love it!! I consider it a bonus. ( Remember , it was only 20 bucks. ) I plan to do a lot of exploring with it . We just bought our new house , and it has hundreds of acres in the back. With this knife , through rain and snow , jungles and mountains- Ill be ready. Hope this review helped!

It is sometimes good to disregard the brand of a product when reviewing to ensure maximum objectivity. Were it not for the Cold Steel brand, I doubt so many people would defend negative reviews of this machete so feverishly. There is definitely a cult-like following among some people of Cold Steel. Ok, on to the machete which I received. First problem and probably the worst nightmare of blade enthusiasts is having a blade that is not true. From the handle to the tip of the blade, there was about a 5 degree offset or bent on my machete. Very obvious visually as soon as I picked up the machete. A slight effort on my part and I was able to bend it back fairly close to true but not entirely. This steel's temper is nothing to boast about. It is definitely easily bent and malleable. This damage or defect could have occurred either in the factory or afterwards somewhere during the handling process. Definitely a letdown in terms of quality. Now the most common complaint of this machete is the condition of the edge it comes in. Mine was no exception. It is a very rough edge and had sections where the steel was rolled over. This is surely a sign of poor workmanship at the factory. This was no surprise to me as I had half expected it and I plan to spend some time putting on a decent edge. However, the machetes I have seen for sale at retail stores all have much more decently finished edges than this one. Why is this Cold Steel brand product allowed such leeway? The black finish on the blade is good and similar to that of many other machetes. I particularly like the profile of this kukri blade. It has just the right amount of curve to it for me and not too much like some other kukri profiles. This was the main reason I chose this machete. I wanted a decent and cheap Kukri style chopper. The handle is pretty nice and is one of the strong points of this machete. It is not a completely hard plastic but rather has a slight cushioning property to it. This helps in absorbing shock. The handle material here is listed as polypropylene but so is the handle on the Cold Steel Katana Machete, which I also own. But that one is a hard rigid type plastic and feels different. Lot's of people have disliked the sheath. I actually find it to be slightly above average compared to the sheaths similar machetes come with in retail stores. It is designed very practically and the small plastic reinforcement panels at the tip is nice. The belt loop stitching is sturdy and done well with a X pattern reinforcement. Overall the Kurki machete concept is the best feature of this machete considering the price. The quality of the machete itself is only average and a bit under what I expected of Cold Steel. I am giving this 3 stars.

I just received this yesterday and have not field tested it yet. I will update my review when I do. So far let me give my initial impressions. The Sheath: The sheath is a well made cordura sheath with a plastic tip to prevent accidental blade protrusions. It's not flimsy and is somewhat rigid. There are 2 snaps on the top of the sheath that you unsnap to remove the machete and resnap to secure it. A lot of people don't like this design and continue to berate the sheath as "cheap" and "bad design". I've thought a lot about this and come to the conclusion that with the kukri type design of the blade there is no other option. The Blade: Well, reviewers are right on the money when they say that is will not come to you sharpened from the factory. I literally ran my finger down the edge of the blade and it was like a butter knife. The only chance I had at being cut was by one of the million burrs or knicks. You WILL have to spend some time putting a decent edge on it. I used a dremel and then a DMT Diafold course sharpener. After about an hour or so I finally had a decent edge on it. How it will hold up, time will tell. Other than that, the blade quality seems to be good. This is not a brush clearer as much as it is a chopper. It has a good weight and forward momentum that leads me to believe it can do much damage in a single swing. I highly recommend you put a lanyard of it, your wrist will thank you and you'll have much more control of the blade. The Handle: The handle very much reminds me of a bicycle handle. The grip is good, but like I suggested, a lanyard is a must. With the kukri design, there is so much forward weight that I think some might have trouble controlling it. The Dreaded Sticker: I have heard horror stories of people ruining the finish on their blade from using solvents to remove the sticker. Eventhough this is a machete made for work I understand that any wear on the finish is better to come from use in the field rather than a pesky sticker. Too many overthink things though. After taking as much sticker off I could with my fingernail and hot water I was left with a mess of glue on the blade. This came off EASILY with some dish soap and a sponge (the kind with a green scrubbing side and yellow sponge side). Use the green side of the sponge with some dish soap hot water and it will come off very quickly without hurting the finish. Overall: So far I'm quite happy with my $21 purchase. Time will tell how the edge holds up, but I think it will do ok. I wish this were made in the USA or another quality country like the UK, Germany, etc instead of South Africa. I know the blade would have come in far superior form. Would have probably cost 2-3 times as much, but it is what it is.

I bought this to clear some brush, and boy did it deliver! Once sharpened, it just wanted to swing through bushes and small trees like a hot knife through butter, and the edge stayed sharp even after hours of hard service (apart from a couple of dings from stupidly hitting rocks, but those came out). The weight-forward kukri design works very well, producing a much stronger impact for a given swinging force. It did come with a dull edge, more appropriate for breaking than cutting, but it only took a few minutes with a file to get a serviceable edge and a few minutes more with sharpening stones to get it wickedly sharp. Other reviews mention a difficult-to-remove sticker on the blade, but mine had no such sticker, so it seems Cold Steel has wisely listened to that piece of feedback. Bear in mind, this is not a top-of the line showpiece; it's a tool that is meant to be used, and it's a truly excellent one for the price once you put a bit of work into finishing the edge to your liking.

Pros: 1055 Carbon steel makes for one heck of a tough tool. Balance seems to be good Handle is comfortable enough.. but I recommend gloves for heavy usage. Did not come with sticker.. Paracord hole is handy.. I am extremely impressed with the sheath.. very high quality for the price. Cons: Black coating does NOT prevent rust from what I've seen (I saw some rust on the edge of the coated blade). Black coating is uneven and I had to use some steel wool to even it out. Blade tip had a strange bulge at the end.. I had to sand it out with a stone. Blade itself is extremely dull.. I passed over it over a dozen times with a carbide sharpener without the blade being sharpened.. I then spent another few hours trying to get the darn thing sharp by hand with some stones and even a waterstone.. Could only get it so-so sharp.. I'd recommend using a belt sander if you want to sharpen this without wasting hours on it. The edge is NOT convex.. which is disappointing for a tool like this. You'll have to retool the edge if you want this blade to stay sharp for long periods of time. Notes: Would probably be better just to remove the entire black coating from the blade.(But I do not personally have a belt-sander.. so this is difficult).

I was fairly disappointed. The metal was rough, burrs everywhere on the edge rough. The blade was ground on each side, but with vastly different angles, I’ve spent almost 8 hrs with wet stones trying to “rebuild” the edge by hand, and thus far, it’s ok. It’s functional, but the edge is still embarrassingly bad even with the work put in to fix it. It’s become a project of its own just to try and get a proper edge on each side. I like it, the Kopis like design is superb, but the craftsmanship is beyond poor. To top it off, the sheath it came with, isn’t very strong, certainly won’t last even occasional use, and the design of the sheath doesn’t allow for quick access, or single handed access, you’re gonna want to dismount it from your pack and take it out with both hands. I would find a better higher quality machete, and I say that sadly as I generally think cold steel delivers in the rugged and I’ll last category, not this time.

RECOMMENDATIONS------------------------------ -hand resharpen the edge using a chainsaw file, i find it gives the best chopping results -Overcoat the finish with liquid electrical tape for better waterproofing and rust protection. Pro's-------------------------------------------------------- -Price -Durability of the steel is amazing (mine got stuck in a tree knot and the blade was bent at roughly 30 degrees and when it came ouyt the blade was perfectly okay) -Sheath is surprisingly comfortable (over a 11day trip i had it rubbing against my leg almost constantly and i never noticed it -Handle is does a good job of keeping your hand in place when choping(as usual, use gloves if you're going to be using it in hot climates or for more than 3 hours because of hot spots on very end of the handle) -Blade retention is fantastic(- mashed 5cm of the blade on a rock and i used the same rock to re-roll and sharpen the edge because the edge damage was so minor) Con's----------------------------------------------------- -It rusts very quickly -Coating is rubbish, it comes off very quick -Belt attachment is okay(it is a simple belt loop)

I received the Kukri quickly and as ordered. It is a sweet looking piece, the sheath is of decent quality but the blade came dull as a frozen fish. It looks like they semi sharpened the edge (very poorly) then painted over it with the black coating. The edge has very large curls in parts of it and is rough to the touch. I know this isn't a high end blade, but I was expecting with a name like Cold Steel standing behind it, it would have come sharper. I won't be hacking up any chunks of animals until some serious time sharpening first.