COLD STEEL Tanto Spike Durable Lightweight German 4116 Stainless Steel 4" Fixed Blade Tactical Outdoor Hunting Neck Knife, Textured Griv-Ex Handle, Secure-Ex Sheath

I enjoy Cold Steel products, and find their overseas knives to be of decent quality. I cannot figure out what category to put this knife into. It is 8" overall, so carrying it on my neck felt strange. However, it is fairly light and slim, so as a general purpose belt knife it isn't a good fit. What I found to be the best purpose for this knife is a light weight, concealed belt knife. I put a couple strands of paracord through the lashing holes, so it now rides inside my belt on my left side. In this manner I can grab it with my left hand in a reverse grip, or in a normal grip with my right. It rides well under an untucked t-shirt. Now onto the knife.The blade is a sleek Americanized Tanto shape. It has a strong point for penetration, and a slight up sweep along the length of the edge. The steel seems to be of decent hardness. It comes shaving sharp. A neat feature of the blade is that the edge is zero ground. There is no bevel with a separate edge grind, but instead the edge the same as the bevel. So the bevel continues to the edge on the same angle. I think it is cool that Cold Steel used this in the design, but it seems strange in a knife of this purpose. I usually see this in survival knives as it easy to keep a set angle while sharpening. When I resharpen this blade, I'll probably put a 15-20 degree edge so I don't have to remove as much metal.The handle scales are nice a grippy. There is a nice sharp brick shaped raised pattern on the high spots. It is sharp, but is not raised enough to cause discomfort. There is also half pipe cut outs along the handle. This combined with the brick tread gives a vary sure grip. The finger choil and the finger guard flare keeps your hand from slipping onto the sharp edge.The Secure Ex sheath is an excellent design. It is thin and holds the knife without it rattling. However it can be withdrawn with thumb pressure. The sheath does not have a clip or belt loop, but instead comes with lashing holes and slots. Some paracord and you're good to hook.The design is a good improvement over the first generation. The grips are a big improvement over the string wrapped ones. The shape is more becoming a classy. Lastly the guard and finger choil keeps the hand anchored in place; a real problem on the gen 1's. Overall a great design and good value for a lightweight belt knife, or heavyweight necker. Would recommend.

So, I ordered this knife one time before and sent it back because the case wouldn't work very well. The case mounting holes would not line up with anything I had, including the large or small tech locks. But over time I have decided to get away from the tech locks because they are just uncomfortable to wear on the belts that I chose for EDC.I went over to leather instead. Fairly simple to do, amazingly comfortable. These slide on your belt and that's what I prefer. I want something that's going to stay there. I can mount them from any angle.Anything and everything, including my knives that I buy usually must be altered in some way to fit my personal preference. These are now my two favorite EDC Knifes and they do not print under my shirts."Improvise, Adapt and Overcome", is the unofficial motto of the United States Marine Corps. And that's exactly what I do.These are made from genuine leather belts and Black Chicago Screws.Ron

I bought mine back in 2016 so I've had it a while. I've seen some complaints and I'd like to address them. First, this is a pretty heavy knife to wear directly around the neck. So it's not surprising that the Chain has broken for a few people. I made a custom shoulder rig for mine out of Paracord. I used a single strand and 2 loops one loop goes over your shoulder and attaches to the pointed end of the sheath. Another loop is longer and goes behind my neck and around my arm at the shoulder. this puts the knife right under my left armpit and is the ideal way for a right-hander to carry a knife like this. And most importantly you can't be strangled by it in a fight. Easily concealed under even a tee shirt. I prefer to wear it though over a tee shirt and with either a dress shirt or flannel shirt to conceal it. The handle texture is a bit aggressive so I took a piece of duct tape long enough when folded back on its sticky sides together to extend from the top of the sheath to a little past the end of the hilt. I trimmed and tapered the duct tape to follow the lines of the sheath and left it a bit wider along the hilt. This got rid of any sticky adhesive that could stick to you and it makes the knife hilt extremely comfortable against bare skin. Used a couple of short pieces of paracord to attach that to the sheather and let it hang down covering a little past the end of the hilt, so it doesn't rub against my skin. Also, you will want to make the sheath adjustable on the shoulder loop. I used a woman's stretchy hair tie to wrap around the cord to keep it in place on the string where I want it. Otherwise, the sheath won't ride up in the proper position under your armpit. Also to those complaining about it being too tight in the sheath, DUH that's the whole point you want to have the knife secure. If you use the leverage of your thumb to push against the sheath as you draw it, it comes out just fine and it's still very secure. You want it tight so it only ever comes out when you really need it. Now as to durability and the steel. Mine is never used for anything other than to be there for an emergency. Why anyone would use a knife like this for everyday tasks is beyond me. Buy a pocket knife. I have very large hands and I find the handle is just fine for what the purpose of this knife is. Hope you found this review update helpful.