Cold Steel All Purpose Tactical Machete with Sheath, Great for Clearing Brush, Survival, Camping and Outdoor Activities, Gladius Machete, One Size,Black

It came sharp. despite my fears due to other reviews, the gladius is sharp, clean, and required nothing more than some light deburring with a knife sharpener to make it an extremely lethal, battle ready, one-handed, short sword. I love the weight, feel, and grip. Awesome sword for a great price, very sturdy. It's overall length is equal to my katana, so it's a bit longer than I expected ( that's a good thing) I thought it was going to be another hatchet grade long knife, but it's so much more! Pair it with a targon shield from cold steel for defense and you're set in that department lol

Perfect quality & beautiful blade!

Well balanced and sharp

(sorry about the weird non-wordwrap formatting the site did with my text here) it amazes me the things some people find to complain about. of the negative/one star reviews on here i've found the complaints to be complete cloned echoes of each other- almost as if a certain demographic of the same type of persons had certain same expectations. i'd have to say my expectations were well met. i dunno what an "acceptable" sharpness is for something like this but mine came perfectly..i would say proportionately sharp for something this size. if it were a knife under 10 inches, made in the U.S., Japan, Germany or some other nice country then yeah- i might have found it a bit 'factory rough'. as it stands i've already managed to cut myself with it a few times- mostly just due to gravity-the heft-and little motion on my part- so i can't imagine people putting like razor edges on these things. YOU'RE NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO ! a razor edge on this basically sword wouldnt be durable or conducive to serious treatment and hard work. i touched it up a bit w/ a diamond file which now fits in the plastic part of the sheath. the blade itself comes roughly(but not too roughly) ground n coated with some crap which i had planned to, and did promptly remove with aircraft remover. several grades of sandpaper, ending in 1500 were used to bring out a lustre in the blade to a nice semi-reflective polish. i then blued the blade with gun bluing- which actually gave it an almost "fantasy sword" look due to how the bluing flowed. it seems as though people wanting a true Gladius, or a true Machete might not the either find what they seek in this thing. it lacks the diamond cross section of a roman sword, and it lacks the light-weight and maneuverability (sabre-like-ness if you will) of a traditional ma-cheh-teh. i don't see this as a compromise however. instead i see this as a legit,affordable, 1055, South African made contender in the modern tactical shortsword realm. just do a google search for 'Tactical Short Sword'. BOTTOM LINE- all these folks were worried about this thing not looking pretty. IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO ! it's a $30-$40 modern day Gladius adaptation with an ugly poly handle. THERE would be my principle concern. How SECURE IS THAT TANG within the plastic? i don't give a flying rat if there's flashing at the guard, or there's a BIG STICKER on the blade...dude...if you conceived to, and then ordered, and then are holding this thing in your hands and you go online about how you were overcome/defeated/subdued by an effing sticker..welll..i think you have bigger problems. (or perhaps smaller ones if you catch my drift) i'm not saying a few customers havent had legitimate issues- one guy had a broken tip; one guy actually had a skinny very unhealthy looking tip that it looks like the african dude was messed up when he was profiling it on the belt. these are isolated incidents though. call it "sword karma" perhaps. this things not gonna win any beauty contests (well..mine might). but if you look at the overall attributes it's a clear winner- Handle- provides protection/resistance from chemicals (poison for you RPG buffs), and electric shock (lightning), but is weak against fire. and for a dark souls reference- the blade causes Bleed, lol. for me the appeal was the price coupled with the fact that this is a historically proven class of sword. the short sword. in today's uncertain world- you are unlikely to go against anyone wielding any longer type of edged weapon. (most enthusiasts tend to have a bit of manners) but- against a....baseball bat? tire iron? crow bar? collapsible baton? indoor CQB scenario? outdoors? if you train you may yet prevail. i feel confident i could defeat(or declaw as it were) a Bear with it. I mean only if the bear was attacking. (i would not proactively engage the bear) so there you have it. my honest, slightly whimsical review. budget priced. entry level. good quality.

History buffs might recall the short swords issued to 19th century artillerymen for the purposes of helping to clear brush and use as a last-ditch weapon. Many of those short-swords were, like this, based off of the antique Roman gladius. Cold Steel's interpretation of this weapon bears resemblance to a short Mainz-style gladius from around the time of Christ, as well as the later incarnation from the time of America's Civil War. As an old artilleryman, I like that. The scabbard is sturdy nylon reinforced with rivets and plastic, and it's rigid enough to work well. This gladius, like most other machetes, is not an urban breaching tool so get that thought out of your mind if that's something you're contemplating. It slices, cuts, and stabs through most animal and vegetable material something fierce, but it was clearly never meant to be used as a prybar or to smash metal hardware, and you'll damage it if you try to use it like that. That said, this is a wicked blade that can clear brush as well as most South American style machetes, and would probably be very effective for discouraging unfriendly locals if discretion was required or in the absence of authorization to use your rifle. Obviously, when doing heavy chopping through wood, you're not going to want to use the needle-like tip. If Cold Steel's design has a fault, it's the severe point that they've ground on this weapon. A more gradual taper would have made the tip sturdier. But when stabbing someone, the tip they gave this weapon would make it very deadly even through thick clothing. The balance on this sword is closer to the hilt than it is on most machetes, resulting in a weapon that is balanced more like a traditional short sword and is livelier in the hand than most machetes that were made simply for clearing brush. This is a fighting tool. Some people have made a big deal about Cold Steel calling this a "machete" when it is clearly intended for use as a short sword. My understanding of this practice is that they are attempting to differentiate their inexpensive, no-nonsense, everyday use product line from their pricier "swords", which are functional as well as pretty and shiny enough to display on your wall. That said, I'm not privy to any information that anyone else isn't. If you're looking for something to decorate your house with, look elsewhere. This is an ugly tool intended for brutal work, and it is a time-proven design that has been inflicting horrific results in close combat for over 2,000 years. There's a very good reason that this pattern is still around after so long: it works. If you're looking for a sword that wouldn't look ridiculous in a 21st century military setting and you're authorized to carry things like this, give it a thought. I would totally have carried this along with my pipe-tomahawk back when I was in the military.

This is my first Cold Steel product I have purchased. I was BLOWED AWAY by the look of this monster! This thing maybe called a machete but this is no machete. This is a short sword!! The 1055 carbon steel blade is what I have heard to be a tough steel that can take impacts and holds its edge well. On top of that it's tough steel the blade is thicker than I have expected. I have never seen any edged weapon with a blade this thick! This thing is built like a tank. When it came it had some rough burrs on the blade,but after using a wet stone I smoothed them out. The handle is pretty good and can get a good grip on it. I wrapped mine in paracord. I also made a sling for it so now I can carry it on my back! I must warn you. The very tip is thin and would avoid using this tip to chop down trees or bushes or what not. Not that the tip is not strong,but its not designed to be whacked on trees,rocks or vegetation like that. This thing is not designed to be used as a machete. It is made to kill. Its tip and its double edge proves that this is a weapon and the wielder is not just trimming his bushes with it. I dont see this as a garden machete. I see this a defensive weapon. I see this as the thing you reach for when you know someone broke into your house. I have this sword by my bedside at night for this very reason! Its an awesome defense weapon! Its tip looks like it will go through a man if you wanted it too. Its light and easy to control,that makes this sword deadly. As I states earlier. This is a weapon. You can use it as a machete if you want too. But I would be careful with the tip when cutting down tree branches. And also keep in mind that when your going at it at that tree remember that you have a second,equally sharp blade facing you at all times. It will do a great job as a garden machete don't get me wrong,but its designed to be a weapon meant to kill. The primary purpose of this thing is being a weapon in my opinion, but thats just me. Overall a great sword and definitely worth buying!

I will start by saying this thing sucks as a machete. The fine tip and thick blade to don't bide well for cutting trees. Where this weapon shines is thrusting/stabbing. After I removed the sticker with a hair dryer. Hold over sticker to warm glue and it peaks right off. Remove residue with a towel soap and water. And if you are like me your weapon came with a crappy factory edge. I recommend everyone going to your local harbour freight and picking up a 1x30 belt sander. There are plenty of videos on YouTube to help you learn. In fact go to dollar store and pick up some test knives. As for belts they are here on Amazon at a good price. 220,600,leather strop you can achieve insanely sharp edge. With that said once I sharpened my gladius. I performed a paper test and shaved hair off my arm with no pulling or grabbing. I then make some ballistic gelatin and put some deer rib bones in it. With little to no effort it cut thru gelatin and bone. Being a butcher I have access to hog carcasses. And like in the cold steel videos chopped right thru one an inch below the eyes. Back handed as well so not a full power blow. After this I examined the edge still sharp but not as sharp as it was. 1050 carbon steel has middle of the road edge retention. But remember you have another edge. So in the start of my review I mentioned it was a crappy machete. But clearly this not a machete but a short sword. If you want a machete buy a cold steel Latin machete. If you want a cheap functioning sword buy this. More than capable of providing protection against bipedal or quadpedal attackers.

I bought 3. one of them was a dud. ZERO EDGE, ZERO POINT. I guess one slipped pass quality check. The other 2/3 however, were super pointy, edge is sharp, but needs quite a bit of honing to work efficiently. if i were to rate this on aesthetics id give it 1.5/5 because its tacky, the handle is HUGE even for the average gorilla, the anti rust paint was scraped off random parts of the blade, the file they used created an uneven antirust paint line on the edge, but hey, its 20-30 bucks a piece. we all know what we are getting into for the price. Anyway lets just get to the pros and cons list: PROS: -pointy as hell (pierces flesh effortlessly) -durable, you can beat this into the ground and the ground would break. (not really) -comes with sheath.(youll need it) -cheap -anti rust black paint baked on the blade -hand sharpened.....in south africa? -the steel used gives just the right amount of rigidity to pierce and enough flex to absorb a lot of the force a person in general could generate. meaning you can use this sword to thrust with all your might and you probably wont deform or break the blade. Cons: -ugly, tacky, uneven antirust paint lines on edge -file scratches on random parts of the blade -too much of everything: this is the downside for me about coldsteel products. most of them are made for giants. the sword is too thick, wide, calling for a thick and big handle. its practicality would be much better if they shaved off about 30% of its weight and size, and changed the balance point to the tip. -unbalanced decreases maneuverabilty of the sword. cannot use it for anything really, just a fun sharp toy. -unbalanced, not made to be used as a machete: because of its shape, it isnt head heavy. most of the weight is in the handle then the middle of the blade. this is not practical for chopping, or even if you found a time machine and went back to the warring times and fought in a battle. BOTTOM LINE: with a little bit of work you can make this a crazy weapon. anyway i got want i wanted from this purchase. a sharp, fun and tough toy. you can kill the theoretical zombie with it. you can chop wood with it. its not a machete, its not a sword. i wouldnt buy another, but id recommend for you to try one for yourself.