COLD STEEL Spartan 4.5 in Japanese AUS10A Blade Tactical Pocket Folding Knife w/Tri-Ad Lock and Griv-Ex Handle w/Steel Liners

The Cold Steel Spartan is a very interesting folder with a couple issues. They can all be fixed, and I'll tell you how at the end of the review. Let's get those problems out of the way.1: Slight up and down blade play out of the box.2: Inside of the handle scales are sharp/uglyscales.3: Tight pocket clip.There is still a lot of good with this knife though.1: AUS 10a steel has held up awesomely even with some medium duty chopping. I have maintained the edge with nothing but a strop.2: Blade is ground thin both on the primary and secondary bevels. This makes for a great cutting knife. Also, dead even grind lines, even on the swedge.3: Great out-of-the-box edge. The edge shaves clean with one light stroke across the arm, and has the same level of sharpness across the entire edge. Holds up well with chopping green wood and dry softwood. I don't think it will do well with anything harder.4: Handle is moderately grippy and has good (not great) ergonomics. The handle design lets you choke way back for chopping or comfortably choke up to the cutting edge.5: Lock depresses easily enough for its strength.6: Great deployment even when pivot is tight. When the pivot is loosened you can snap the blade open with its own weight. Wave is effective with a little practice.7: Carries exceptionally well. Rides deep in the pocket, and when I'm wearing my black work pants, it is my most discreet knife! No logos on the clip help with blending in.8: Balance is a little in front of the finger choil. This makes the knife feel choppy in the hand, which is fine given the design and purpose of the Spartan.9: Great blade finish. Looks amazing, wears well, and cleans up good with rubbing alcohol after chopping sappy wood.10: Thick spine and lockbar look cool and add some degree of strength.Unfortunately, there were the issues I mentioned. The blade play was really annoying and got to where you could crank down on the pivot and it would still move up and down. What I did:I took it all of the screws out of both sides of the handle. Then, I tightened the pivot down as much as I could. The blade had been a little off center to the right, so I wedged it to the left with a folded piece of paper, and put in the handle screws. I used pliers to hold my torx driver so I could really snug them up. I removed the paper and adjusted the pivot until the blade was centered. The blade can be thumb flicked with some wrist action or it can be waved. It is tight (no free dropping blade here!) But there is not the slightest side to side play or that awful lock rock I was having.The clip was easy to fix, I just pried it off the handle and held it for a few seconds. It still clips tight but I can get it into the pocket with one hand.The sharp scales fixed themselves with a week of carry, and they are loosing the ugly shiny look they had.In short, the Spartan would be good for collecting, light chopping duty, or social work. It looks quite macho in a bit of a goofy way. If yours locks up right or you fix it, it's solid as rock. It cuts like a dream. I like mine, and I will get more large CS folding knives.

I’ve known about the spartan blade for about 13 years. At the time I didn’t feel comfortable paying a high price for a folding blade. I mainly wear fixed blades like the buck 119 or a gerber strong arm or a mora Garberg. But you can’t always wear a fixed blade on your belt in public. This spartan knife is absolutely phenomenal. It’s very sharp and the grip is perfect and the Tri-ad lock mechanism is very, very strong. This knife is probably stronger than most fixed blades. I got two with Amazon prime and I’ll probably buy more for family. I like to ride a motorcycle and I’m always thinking of good riding blades. I love this knife. Very strong and high quality. Cold steel has never let me down with their products. This can be used as a camping knife, hunting knife, self defense knife etc. I just went on a date and I was wearing this the whole time and no one noticed. I didn’t want to make the girl uncomfortable haha. Thank God. It’s absolutely wonderful. If I can select ten stars I would. But 5 is the only option.

My first thought upon opening the box was: 'Wow! What a ridiculously large knife'! It is probably the heaviest, largest 'pocket knife' in my collection. It came razor sharp, locking mechanism locks up good and tight and the ergonomics are perfect for my hand. The grivory grips are secure and 'grippy' so no need to worry if it will slip out of my hand while using. The pocket catch ( to open as it is being pulled from the pocket) takes some getting used to but with practice becomes second nature. The pocket clip is just the right size so as not to interfere with the grips while holding it, and keeps the knife secure in my pocket. Opening and closing are very smooth, and the 'klack' sound it makes is very satisfying as well as intimidating ( for social work should the need arise). Would I carry this every day? Probably not, due to its massive size, but it is definitely a keeper. As a knife afficianado I am very pleased with the purchase.

Sharp as crap lol. Love it. Made well. Good blade

I’ve considered this knife for years, finally catching it at a pretty good price. While I’m not put off by weight (I have a 4max scout I really like for example) this had a rep as a brick, and similarly the overly defined handle made me concerned my big hands would fit. They do, barely.The thumb plate wave opening works pretty consistently. I find it a little better than on the AK-47. It’s a good thing, because shy of that or two handed opening , this is hard to open otherwise. Trying to flick it open with the thumb plate is difficult , and despite being pretty good at inertia opening knives, this one’s nigh impossible.However once open , the blade feels very good in hand, nimble even. The kukuri style blade kept me away for a long time , but I finally got semi-competent at sharpening knives , so now it’s not an issue.The 4.5 inch blade is very point and sharp, with good belly for slicing. The triad is about middle of the road for CS for stiffness.

Usual good CS quality, arrived super sharp. Lockup is tight on arrival, needed a bit of oil and breaking in, now perfect.

Was looking for a strong knife to replace one I had for a while and lost. This one was on sale and I’ll never buy another knife, it’s a little big but definitely can everyday carry this knife. Fits a normal pocket but doesn’t leave much room for anything else. Feels great in the hand, just BUY IT!!!!