There is nothing more bro science or mall ninja than a Cold Steel sword. And yet, at the same time, there is nothing better for jackassing around than a Cold Steel sword. I can hold these two distinct ideas in my brain at the same time because, in the end, for all of the harping on utility, in the end, we carry for fun. It might be that it is FUN to be useful or it might be that you want to carry a $1,000 custom for flipping only, but either way any hobby is ultimately about fun. With that in mind I challenge you to find something that has more bang for its buck in terms of fun than the Cold Steel Katana Machetes. This is the most fun you can have with a cutting edge. And they happen to be exceptionally sturdy and well made items. If you get one and you don’t have fun, go to the ER immediately—you may not have a beating heart.

The two swords are part of Cold Steel’s sword machete line, which, by virtue of its very existence, makes it something I want to own (machete? Yes; sword? Yes…machete sword? Oh HELL YES!). Here is the product page for the Katana sword machete. Here is the product page for the Wakisashi sword machete. There are any number of asinine video reviews, but I think this the first written review of these two particular items. The two review samples (purchased with my own money) are shown above.

The very idea of a low cost, high durability sword would have sent my 13 year old self into coniptions with want. The aluminum “prop” swords I was used to from my ten years in Taekwnodo were absolute junk and didn’t even have a sharpened edge. The Cold Steel sword machetes are not only legit cutting tools but they can take an absolute mind altering amount of punishment.

Here is a shot of the Katana in the midst of a chopapocalypse that accompanied the felling of a maple that had crashed through our roof last year at this time. Throughout the day of cutting these things worked well. I thought that the handles would be slick as I got sweaty (because they are nothing but molded plastic), but they weren’t.

The steel is 1055 which is not a bad steel for hard use. It holds an edge that is probably just above my Minimal Acceptable Steel for fixed blades and it sharpens up quite nicely, though given the sizes of these two knives it is a bit of a spectacle to sharpen them on my Worksharp (though I got it to work).

As per usual, I still hate coatings. The coating here does work and it actually doesn’t negatively impact the cutting performance of the knife (unlike the cake frosting version of coating found on the BK series of knives). Still it looks crappy after three or four cuts. It does clean up okay, and I am sure that 1055 rusts like crazy, so this is probably necessary. That doesn’t mean that I have to like it.

Surprisingly I have found the sheathes to be more than functional. I wouldn’t say its better than a kydex sheath, but frankly I don’t even know of a source for kydex sheathes this big. They have a carry strap and a loop that wraps around the guard to hold the knife in place. These basically free sheaths are better than the nylon socks that come with a lot of fixed blade knives.

Overall these swords are exactly what I wished I had when it was a kid. They are awesome. They really cut. They really stab. And they are as durable as a cinder block. I probably will never own a nicer sword than this one and this one works well. If you want something pretty AND functional this isn’t your jam, but if you want a sword to got outside and jackass around with, you will not find something better than the Cold Steel Katana Machete.

Highly Recommended

Super highly recommended if you want to jackass around

Amazon Link

Purchasing items below helps keep the blog 100% independent.

Cold Steel Machete (all varieties)