Cold Steel 97KMS Kukri Machete,Black

This is just a first impressions review of the Kukri Machete. It seems really great and has a nice minimalist design. It feels solid, is decently sharp out of the bag, has a nice forward heavy weight to it, the handle is grippy and comfortable, and the sheath is actually pretty good for a $21 machete. The only negative for me was I was expecting two of them for the $21, but that's not Cold Steel's fault so it doesn't reflect in my rating. I have plenty of other Cold Steel products that have been fantastic so I'm certain this will be too. Lots of hard use reviews on Youtube and plenty of good feedback online as well.I will say this first, Amazon is great at addressing any issues. Mine was a fulfillment issue on this item. Be cautious if ordering it via the Amazon Smile 2-Pack listing. I ordered this and only received one machete not two as expected. There was a mix up with the order fulfillment I guess. It had the Amazon Smile 2-Pack symbol on the order page and it was verified by me and a Customer Service Rep thru a Chat prior to ordering that it was definitely for a 2-Pack offer at that price. However only 1 item was received. Customer Service was great and said they would credit the account for the missing item, but it was disappointing to not receive both ordered items as expected. But for half price it makes this machete even better.

This Kukri made by Cold Steel is one heck of a bargain! First, you'll never find a kukri for this price. Second, it is made from 1055 carbon steel with a black baked on anti rust finish. It comes with a working edge that can be sharpened to a super fine edge and it has its own sheath. Unlike other kukris, that are made from truck leaf springs, these knives can take a serious beating and stays completely functional. The handle is made of some plastc polymer, but can be wrapped for comfortability. The best part is that they are so cheap if you ruin this one it won't cost an arm and a leg to replace it. I own a Himalayan Import kukri which has great function and can be a wall hanger, but these are awesome work horses. In fact, you can see a few videos on Youtube by looking up cold steel kukri review and watch these bad boys take a serious beating. This is a very cool kukri!

I own five of these kukri machetes, and my review is pretty much the same for all of them. I'll get the "kukri" thing out of the way: this isn't a kukri, it's a kukri-shaped machete. It's still a good item for $20, and while perfectly usable out of the package, I've listed some things you can do to make it even better.The kukri machete (referred to here as just "kukri") has a black polypropylene (semi-hard plastic) handle. The handle is 5" long and has ridges molded into both the top and bottom; the sides are a checkered pattern. I found the checkering to be a little too aggressive, so a few passes with some sandpaper will help fix that. Or, you could wrap it in electrical tape. The lanyard hole is large enough to accomodate doubled-over 550 cord. The butt has two flares; one at the top and one at the bottom. I don't like these, as I wear a size XL glove and they dig into both parts of my hand when using the kukri. These can be cut, filed, or melted off, and then sanded down. Once the handle issues are solved, this is a very nice machete (for the cost). Without doing these things, you might develop some hot spots on your palm.The kukri's blade is made of 1055 carbon steel (not stainless) and heat treated to 49-52 on the Rockwell scale. It's 13" long with a 11-1/2" edge, and has a black baked-on coating. Although sources list the blade thickness as 2mm - 2-3/4mm, I measured all five of mine at exactly 2-1/4mm. The blade is usable right out of the box. However, a little time with a file will produce a shaving-sharp edge that will last for a tiny bit. Leaving it a little coarser (just sharp enough to slice printing paper) will give the best balance of sharpness and edge retention. This is a machete and you don't want to fold the edge. The baked-on finish can be removed with gel stripper, or old-fashioned sandpaper. The blade lends itself very nicely to chopping, but it can slice and pierce easily as well.The sheath is made of Cor-Ex, which is basically nylon over semi-soft plastic. It's an improvement over most machete sheaths, as it makes the sheath more rigid while not adding much more weight than a traditional sheath. Construction is good. Nothing fancy, but nothing crappy either. The bottom is reinforced with plastic sheets that help prevent the tip from piercing through. The edge side is sewn all the way, with rivets to help reinforce it. The spine side is sewn with rivets to the end of the plastic sheets mentioned earlier. After that, the sheath is open and two snaps hold it shut. The belt loop is a simple nylon loop, and it will fit on belts up to 2" wide.In all, this is one of the better $20 machetes out there. Right out of the box, it's worth the money. But put maybe an hour of work into it, and it will rival machetes costing more than three times as much.

I can honestly say I have waited over 3 years to write this review. I bought the Cold Steel Kukri Machete based on what I had heard online and my own experience with the Cold Steel GI Tanto. I can say that after 3 years of pretty hard use, occasional neglect and then more abuse this thing is still a SOLID buy.For the money you cannot beat this thing. I have cut down small trees. Split wood and even pounded in a tent stake with it sideways, which is like...one of the worst things you can do with any knife/machete. It personifies the word "Chopper". The steel is some combination of adamantium and mithril. I actually make knifes as a hobby and I can say that cold steel got this spring steel JUST right. It holds a decent edge and bounces back from just about anything.I have heard and seen a lot of gripping about the factory edge on it. Yes it's not the best. It's rough, and depending on what your chopping the angle may not be the best. HOWEVER I honestly believe there is a method to Cold Steels madness. If you take it out and start using it, you'll notice that the rough factory edge starts to polish it's self with use. The edge starts to smooth with each subsequent chop and in essence the more you use it, the sharper it gets. Now if you don't want to wait for that then, go nuts as soon as you get it, I used a simple file and a good old sharpening stone and had the thing slicing paper in no time. That edge has stayed on it pretty well considering what I've done to the poor thing.If you are worried that the handle will break, don't be. If you are worried that it's too thin for hard work or a survial/ bug out bag etc. don't be. If you are worried about it not being a good chopper, don't be. For the money it's superb.