Cold Steel Trail Master Fixed Blade Bowie Knife with Sheath - High Carbon Steel Survival Knife for Hunting, Camping & Outdoor Adventures

San Mai durability and stellar outdoor use design, this Trailmaster can do a majority of outdoor tasks needed for survival and bushcraft. I own one in O1 steel, and one in Carbon V. The San Mai is incredibly sharp out the box and does pass the working test. Value is on par for price and craftsmanship is worthy of the Japan stamp. Overall this is my favorite bowie out of my 400+ collection of knives.finally i was able to drive out to the woods with 50 tools Ive collected in the last 7 years and do a real world no you tube influencers nonsense test; to see what tools would actually work in a doomsday situation, where i was displaced from my home and had to make temporary shelters, which is the most important task you must do in survivalfirst to debunk the myth that a knife is the most important metal tool is a complete lie, a small axe or hatchet is far more important than a knife so make sure to include a hatchet or tomahawk in your survival pack and if you want to know the CRKT Woods Kangee Tomahawk Axe was the best small axe i tested in easy of use in making temporary sheltersas for the knives i tested 30 of them from the Svord Von Tempsky Forest Bowie, ka bar, Ontario Marine Raider, cold steel SRK, RECON 3v, SOG Bowie, bark river, condor Bowie and some Pakistan customs but it was the Trail master that took me by surprise, it cut deeper in chops, shaved curls with little effort and was comfortable to use, no vibrations, no soar bones and no hand fatigue in usethe only time a knife surpassed the performance of the trail master was my custom 700$ D2 knives and my Fallkniven Modern Bowie FNMB but that knife is around $600-1000 with similar design to the trail masterif your not a knife collector, or a knife fanatic and just want to buy a knife throw it in your emergency pack and be confident you have a good knife for an emergency then the trail master is the only knife you should ownI don't need to be the millionth person to review how AWESOME this knife is.But I will say this...#1. This specific Trail-Master that I received from Amazon warehouse was in absolutely perfect condition. ?#2. The Trail-Master sold here on Amazon is 100% made in JAPAN. Don't get confused by other reviews that say it isn't. Check my pics ;)Because now days, you have to check to make sure what you're buying; is what you want. But when I pay for new, I expect new.What can I say except this thing is a beast. I was looking to get my hands on a vintage Gerber Bowie with the coffin handle but they were going for a quite a pretty penny on eBay in good to new condition. I read a forum which mentioned this Cold Steel as a nice alternative and they were not wrong. The knife feels great and is well balanced considering its size. This thing is thick and the grind is wonderful. It's like a 9" long razor wedge. The Kraton grips feel great although I could imagine them building up some hot spots with heavy use as a result of the grip texture. My first knife was delivered with an uneven heat treat which bothered me somewhat so I exchanged it for the second one which was perfect albeit for a some marking on the blade from a messed up sheath (which was easily buffed out). The sheath is not as bad as the typical suck you get these days but still is not the greatest considering the price you pay. Oddly enough, the o1 version of Trail Master has a nicer sheath. Anyway, I may never use or abuse this knife just because I cannot help but to admire it. I did use it to shave hairs off my arm however. I'm happy just beating my BK9 to death for now. This one goes into my display case for now or until the zombies come out.Awesome beast of a knife..wicked scary sharp out of the box.. For the money tho you would think cold steel would provide a nicer sheath tho.. The knife only fit into it one way properly and it was shipped put in the other way and the strap on the sheath, the button on it, on the inside of the sheath marked up the blade in one spot on pulling it out for the first time... Put in the other way don't do that to it.. I'm having a custom sheath made for it.This is a knife you can depend on for heavy work or whatever it is that you're using it for... it will last me all my life. Beautiful piece of equipment, i cant find anything bad to say about it. Made in Japan, THICK piece of stainless steel, you're not bending or breaking that. If i put some soap on my face i can shave my beard with it, no problemI own alot of Cold Steel knives, I would say they design the best and most functional knives. I don't like their AUS 8 steel, and this one comes in their VG1 San Mai III, which holds an edge amazingly, you can chop down a small tree, without any change to the edge. I love the round edge, which has to be sharpened by hand with sanding belt and buffer; there is no step in the knife profile, but one continuous fluid cutting motion, that's the beauty of the round edge. The problem is that if you don't have a sanding belt, you will have to send it back ot the factory, or find a local knife sharpener, or simply get a canted edge on it, but you will lose the advantage of the convex edge.The knife is also surprising light weight for it's size, so it is good for back packing, I prefer a heavier design, that would offer more chopping power, but this one is just fine, and won't tire your hand.Overall, great knife. Not cheap but you get what you pay for.The knife itself is awesome. The sheath that comes is a real let down. One of the last cold steel fixed blades still made in japan. San mai 3 is a great mix of vg1 and 420j2 steel. Very tough blade.Excellent knife. Very sharp, very strong. Good grip.Perfect convex edge. Made in japan. The sheath is not ideal but still decent.Awesome right from the box!!!perfect knife