Cold Steel San Mai Magnum Tanto XII

Short Review: I am a cold steel fanboy. Do not expect an unbiased review. I have been buying cold steel products since they were sending out catalogs, and their products came with "proof" video cds of them "testing" them. That being said, this product is PRICEY. I've been looking at this for over ten years. When the price finally started to drop I jumped on the chance, and I was not disappointed. One word, "wow." I'm not going to tell you to buy this. I'm hoping for the price to drop down again so I can get another at the 169 bones I paid. Yes. 169!! And that can only happen if there is less interest in it! So needless to say (but I'm going to say it anyway): I LOVE THIS. So, honest review (this is a little longer): I have bought a lot of product from a lot of manufacturers. CS products come with the least amount of defects for me. It might not be true with others, but this is the case with me. 99% of the time, CS delivers exactly what they said they would. Because of this, I have come to "rely" on CS products more than others. It has become somewhat of a tough, affordable, utility driven, no-nonsense type of tool brand with me... you get the picture. I have inferior items (used around the same time) which fail, and my CS items just continue chopping along, no hiccups. When I need an item that "must" work, I grab my CS item. It is just easier and more efficient. Imagine it this way: If you were stuck in a burning room, and you had to "pry" your way out with a knife, which knife would you grab? Would it be your grandfather's heirloom Japanese Tanto knife? Or would it be a simple, affordable, knife made from modern steel? For me, it would be a CS knife. It is an affordable knife which is tougher than nails. Backed by a big enough company to make it important not to cut corners on materials, heat treat and build, and best of all, it is not afraid of hard use. It will get the job done. Think this to be an unlikely scenario? Yeah. Me too. But I manage buildings, and we get to see all kinds of funky stuff happening all the time. Imagine an apartment building and the older tenant living below you who is becoming more forgetful with age (but still has to cook his own meals) forgets to turn off his stove for 5 hours... or some young guy falls asleep while smoking in bed, lights his book on fire and tries to put it out with 80 proof whiskey (Yes. Curiously enough, these kind of things still happen). Anyway, so why mention this? There are a lot of Japanese style swords (made in China) listed here on Amazon for cheaper than this Tanto (Don't believe me? Check for yourself!). For 100 bones, you could get a full sized Katana. Why spend more of your hard earned money on a 12" Tanto? Exactly! Don't look at it anymore! Go away! My Tanto! Just Kidding. Here is why: I am 100% certain that this Tanto will do everything that CS says it will do. It will reliably chop and cut and penetrate whatever you need it to, whenever you need it to. It is a certainty that I feel in my gut, and I would be shocked and surprised if my CS items were to ever fail. I put my CS gear through thousands of hours and many years of hard use none of them has failed me yet. I know, in your mind, you are thinking: this is a weak and puny man. He does not use his tools as a man should. Tools should break after several years of good use. It is the way of men. Also, he probably has small hands. And you are probably right. Still, a good sturdy tool is still a good sturdy tool, and cold steel makes very good, very sturdy tools. So, if you needed to cut something like your life depended upon it, I encourage you to look into this company's offerings. As for the Tanto: It is well balanced. The blade is thicker at the bottom and tapers at the top. It makes the blade light and fast. Anyone who has ever used a blade against another person with a blade knows that you want to stay as far away as you can from the other guy (most people that get into such a situation just want to be in ANOTHER situation). The longer your blade is (after you have gotten the "manageability" part of it down) the better. So, you basically want it to be long and fast and not easily broken. This Tanto easily checks all three boxes. The handle is rubbery and grippy. They have some technical name for it. Fine. You just need to know that it won't slip out of your hands when you are using it and it won't hurt you if you use it for a long time. I like "Sanmai" for how pretty it is. Back in the day, people had to laminate their steels to make them "stronger." It isn't really the case these days. Modern day mono-steel (single steel) blades are crazy strong already. You would do fine with a mono-steel (properly heat treated) blade any day of the week over CS "Sanmai" steel (so if CS will just make one with mono-steel and make it cheaper, I would be thrilled!). Mine says "Taiwan" on it. I have had A LOT of CS products with "Taiwan" on it. None of them defective or badly made. They are comparable to the ones made in Japan and USA. Equally tough. Just as beautifully made. They have pretty high QC in Taiwan. No complaints there. Anyway, sorry for the rant. I'm even getting tired of typing. Was it helpful though? Did it get you over the hesitation of buying this Tanto? Did it drive you away? Let me know! Please click on that "helpful" icon to keep me going! I buy these items with my own pennies and a little random interaction with other Amazonians is always nice! Thank you for reading this far!