Cold Steel Bird & Game 3.5" Lightweight Durable Japanese AUS8A Stainless Steel Fixed Blade Drop Point Outdoor Hunting Neck Knife, Resistant Secure-Ex Sheath

The knife arrived quickly and according to the Amazon shipping schedule. True to most all Cold Steel products, it was well made and visually pleasing. The blade is full tang and of decent length, sharp out if the box, and the hole on the end of the grip gives you a very secure way of retaining and controlling the blade which is important because of the extremely thin profile of the handle. This all factors into the very light weight of the knife and makes it, along with the low price, for me, the perfect neck knife. I have attached a length if 550 cord with adjustable knots to enable me to wear it comfortably. The steel of the knife retains a decent edge which is very easy to maintain. Finally, the light weight and thin profile of the sheath and knife together makes it very easy to conceal. Once you put it on it is barely noticeable, to you or anyone else. Recommended

This is a piece of beautiful Japanese cutlery. It’s a very simple design but extremely functional. The aus 8a blade steel is easy to sharpen and takes a razor edge. It’s bigger than it seems but not overly bulky. The sheath is sleek, just like the knife, and adds to its design. The two small holes on the top of the sheath are a bit smaller than the holes on the Cold Steel bird and trout so a chain necklace won’t fit through. That’s most likely the reason it did not come with a chain. The knife can be held in many different positions. The sheath does not come with a mounting point, but cold steel makes good C clip that can be bought separately. This knife really is versatile. The blade thickness and geometry make it good for any task.

Razor sharp and very light. Reviews I had seen expressed how well this little knife helped them process game, and I have no reason to doubt it, but I found it too lightweight (featherweight?) and the tiny little scabbard was problematic to use, especially if you needed to secure or rest the blade repetitively.Disappointed? Yeah, sure, a little bit, I guess, but sometimes you just have to hold a knife in your hands and use it a while to really know how well it will work for you..Maybe small knives for small jobs and big knives for bigger jobs, from now on.I have no reason to discount or dislike this little knife, but I'm not glad I paid as much as I paid for it. This Bird & Game knife will not be difficult to give away, I'm sure of that.Cold Steel rocks.

To the people complaining that this seems cheap, it’s a $20 something knife. For that $20 something, you get a sharp, strong, light, simple knife that has nearly endless utility and is surprisingly ergonomic. If you want fancy handles, you’re not looking in the right place.

The one I received was made in China, not Japan. Still marked as AUS8. Its a great little knife, minimalist style, with the ring and jimping gave the pencil thin handle good grip with great control. Arrived decently sharp. Plan to use it to gut fish, put on a 17 degrees edge for filet. It felt the steel is authentic, it took a bit more effort than kitchen knives to sharpen like other AUS8. BUT the issue starts, the edge does not stay sharp, sitting in the sheath and it gets dull! I suspect this is largely due to the sheath design and position, plus the index/pinky finger release that secures the blade. (Deploy using index/pinky release is awkward and require practice). The sheath audibly rattles if you shake it, but wearing it as a neck knife makes no sound. With a bit more force, you can draw the blade without pressing the release. However, not sure if it was resulted with these testing, the edge had not burred, but micro rolled. Took significant stropping effort to remove the roll.For small blade like this, missing the crucial cooling time during heat treat can lead to this and its quite common among affordable knives. Re-profiled it again to remove potential soft edge material. Within two cuts of cardboard and practicing the draw (best two handed, if you use a neck lanyard the sheath tend to bounce back and hit you in the face if you yank it, nerveless fish juice mist your shirt. ) It rolled again!!Although I can not confirm nor visually ID the sheath wear, but I suspect the sheath contacted the edge and rapid deployment dulls the edge quickly.Still, a great blade for its price. Could use a custom kydex sheath.I noticed most reviews with low stars tends to be the batch that were made in China. Can't speak for those that were made in Japan, but they seem happier than I do.Lastly, pocket/belt carry with Ulticlip's UltiTuck does fit, but it makes the pencil handle ring sticks out like a sore thumb. It require a bit more effort to conceal. Unless you make a custom sheath, it takes practice to draw the blade without drawing covering garment stuck with the ring.Still, a good knife to have, turning it into a project knife. Going to re-profile it to 20 degrees and hope this was my human error and not Cold Steel's heat treat issue with their new contractor. Wear it as a neck knife and pull out ~ gently!.Enough likes I will post an update.

Exactly what I was hoping for! The steel type could be better, but I’m not complaining for the price. So you have to touch it up more often to keep it razor sharp. Overall great quality, as are most products from the Cold Steel brand.My only knock against it is the sheath. It’s pretty basic and you have to depress a small plastic tab to remove the knife. This makes it more difficult to draw smoothly when working, so I used a dremel to adjust its attitude.The pinky ring is what makes this knife so good. You can hang it from your finger while you work with your hands, and flip it up when cutting. So convenient! Simple design, nothing fancy, does what you need it to do.

Great small fixed blade. I have it in my EDC dad bag. Arrives very sharp. The sheath fits very snug so you could mount it in any direction. The sheath does not come with a mounting system, so you will have to add one.

made in china. what happened to cold steel taiwan knives . much better quallity