O Tanto Warrior Series Handle with Wood Scabbard

A really nice weight to this piece, very good for chopping through items. The balance is pretty good, slightly blade heavy but directional balance is spot on. The finish for my money is not that of a more expensive katana. The blade, handle & scabbard are finished well but it has that conveyor belt/factory finish to it. Unfortunately my one arrived with chips of varnish and black paint missing from the scabbard. This will need more of a custom touch to finish it to a (showroom) finish. The blade is sharp but not surgical sharp as I like them to be. I will polish the blade, collar (Habaki) & (Sepa) spacer as the finish is not great and the overall fit into the the scabbard (Saya) is too tight at the collar this will need adjustment. I will let it settle for a few days as the wood maybe swollen (Possibly wood expansion from traveling by air). 8/10 2 points off for lack of focus on fit and finish from manufacturers side, But for a piece of this price it is very good indeed. After many tests this cold steel blade shows extreme strength and durability. After sharpening and cutting rope, bamboo, beef carcass and piercing steel drums, this is a worthy blade which will be a beautiful functional piece once it's finished properly. It will cut.

Tanto I received was exactly the model ordered, not a fake or replica. Came in a Cold Steel box well taped up, both saya and tanto in bubble wrap sleeves with no defects or chipping on saya. All black iron pieces are firm. Remember when ordering the Warrior Series all hardware is black iron except the Habari which is brass, the picture shown is not the EXACT one, as a person's review will show, Saara Richardson I believe, so I was a bit concerned. Once I opened the box to find what I wanted, I was happy.

I had high hopes given previous rep. of company, etc. very disappointed. as photos exhibit the blade and fittings don't fit the scabbard as the tsuba won't come flush with scabbard- as far as it goes. The end cap on the scabbard, I believe, is supposed to be attached...not so much. Sad, first time I have tried this company. Prob. last.

I wanted a full set of traditional Japanese samurai swords so picked up this Tanto to match with my gold lion set. It’s a nice Tanto. It’s VERY heavy duty; I’d prefer it to be much lighter to be honest. But I like it. Decent fit and finish on the actual Tanto. Typical oxidized brass per cold steel products. The scabbard cracked when I gently inserted the Tanto. I should have known perhaps but that’s vexing. It’s a hairline crack. I won’t be returning the item though as it’s not a huge deal to me but just be aware of this. You may want to file down your scabbard a bit. The scabbard is just cheaply made. All in all, I wasn’t expecting anything great, just a rather good Tanto. It’s just good enough to not warrant a return. I’d like it to be lighter weight-it’s not meant to hack at stuff after all. The scabbard definitely could be better. The lacquer has drips and the crack annoys me. But it’s a nice match to my swords. Decent piece at a ok price point to me. It’ll definitely take a beating if that’s your thing-heavy duty.

This dagger is much longer than expected. Compared to my previous display tanto. Everything feels solid to me, but I'm worrying about getting this pretty thing dirty when it comes to usage.

So, First thing, It arrived 1 day early, Nothing to get excited about(I Think) The blade is a nice thick blade, And the kissaki is quite large The polish is, Well simple.Nothing to catch your eye, But nothing to scoff at, More function than beauty. The tsuka is wrapped nicely, Although the lower knots are quite big, Too big actually, But not a huge deal, The samegawa is pretty normal, Nothing fancy and its not a full wrap and doesnt have big nodes, But nothing bad either, The tsuba is much smaller then what i would want, Its the same as the katana but much smaller, Theres nothing eye catching about the fittings, There just a charcoal black with some weapon details on them, But overall fine, The blade came VERY sharp, Alot sharper then a katana at this price has to be(Which i love) The saya is a normal black with the same fitting style Kojiri(But it shuld have had a matching koiguchi..) Tsuka is definitely for 1 handed use, But the best thing about this is the blade, Its quite a beast of a blade, Everything else is pretty much, WIll Do, Nothing about this tanto with exception to the blade stands out, Its just standard, But hey thats what some people want. Not me, But i knew that getting it. The weirdest thing about this tanto, Was how it came, The saya came beside it in its own seperate box with cardboard over it, The blade the same way, And it didnt have plastic around the blade, Was oiled, But thats it, Ive never seen a japanese blade come like that before, The worst thing though, Was the saya( Not worse like quality or anything) But the blade did not fit into it! Like weird as hell, I had to shave the inside of the saya for like 40 minutes before even the habaki could fit into it, I have never seen that before, Like what if i didnt have the tools to do that? Id have to return it, The blade should fit into the saya snugly without any modifications upon delivery, Plain and simple, But all in all it know fitsand doesnt rattle, Which is great. Now would i recommend it?.......Hard to say. Like yes and no. Now i got mine on a sale for $150, Now its $230, Now normally, On there website they want $340 for this tanto, And IMO...You would have to be out your damn mind to pay that for this tanto, No way in hell is it worth is at that price. Now is it worth it at $150?....tough to say, I want to say yes, Because of the nice, Albeit plain blade, And anoth wants to say no, Because of the plain ness and the saya issues, Its 50/50 really.

Great for collections

No, is not perfect but for the price… I still love it.

I am happy I have e received this item on time, however looking at the product it seems to be in good shape however there is market logo stamped from Cold Steel on the blade and I wonder is it a copy? But I will know more when I put it to use. But I like and it looks good.