SRK 6" CPM 3V Clip Point Razor-Sharp Blade 4.75" Kray-Ex Durable Handle Tactical Fixed Blade Knife w/Secure-Ex Sheath

In my opinion, Cold Steel may well offer the best production-grade knives on the market today. Their SRK (Survival Rescue Knife) is no exception, which is why the Navy issues the SRK SK5 to all SEAL trainees. There are three variations of the SRK: SK5 (Japanese high carbon steel), San Mai (three layers of good VG10 steel), and 3V. This review is for the 3V version. I have owned the SK5 and San Mai versions, and they are excellent in their own right. The 3V model costs about twice that of the SK5 and roughly $35 more than the San Mai. At this point, the question is whether or not the 3V model is worth the additional cost. In my opinion, the 3V is absolutely well worth the extra money. It's the best of the SRK lineup. The main reason lies within the heart of the blade, the steel itself. 3V is a high-end steel with a stellar reputation for quality, durability, edge retention and strength. Another outstanding feature of the 3V version is that it has a full tang, whereas the SK5 and San Mai do not. I have never broken an SRK, but I do appreciate the fact that it is going to be more durable overall. The lines, angles and grinds of the 3V reflect amazing attention to detail, and the cutting edge is so sharp that it shaves hair from my arm with absolutely no effort whatsoever. It is scary sharp, and will cut you if you stare at it too long. Well, almost. Like the other two SRK models, the classic drop-point blade is about 5mm thick, but yet does not feel overly large, heavy or cumbersome. The Kraton handle material provides a very secure grip even when one's hands are wet, and it feels good. I know that some folks hate the sheath that CS supplies with their fixed blade knives. While I don't particularly care for them myself, I have found, over time, that they do what they are intended to do. They are just fine for a camper, hunter, backpacker, etc. If I were back in the military, I would absolutely feel comfortable with the 3V on my side, but would use a much better sheath, such as the Spec-Ops brand. Some reviewers have stated that the sheath rubs against the cutting edge of the knife, causing it to become dull. I have never found this to be the case. If you want to check yours, here's how. Using a black marker, color the cutting edge on both sides and then insert the knife into the sheath and withdraw it. Repeat this process several times. If the cutting edge is rubbing against the sheath, it will rub the black marker in the affected areas. The knife fits snugly into the sheath, and it is quite secure. It's not coming out until you make a conscious effort to draw it. What I don't like about the sheath is the nylon strap that connects the body of the sheath to one's belt. During the drawing process, the nylon strap allows the sheath to ride up a couple inches before the knife is removed. This does no harm, but definitely makes the drawing process slower and less efficient. The sheath itself can easily be attached to one's backpack or other such gear through several different processes. All things considered, the sheath is acceptable for all but military applications. The 3V is such an awesome knife that it's worth the expense of obtaining an aftermarket sheath should you so desire. To me, value is the sum of an item's quality, practicality, and price. Using this formula, I can say that the SRK 3V is simply amazing. I am definitely impressed. This knife is as nice as others costing hundreds more. I would prefer that it be American made instead of Taiwan, but theirs is not a communist country, so I can live with that. If it were US made, it would cost a LOT more and may not have the same quality. Don't let the Taiwan manufacture deceive you. Via Cold Steel, they produce quality blades on par with those of Japan and the United States. For its current approximate cost of $118, this is truly an amazing value and is well worth the additional funds.

A beautiful knife at a really great price. It is sharp as a razor and made of CPM-3V steel, so it is a really tough, solid knife that is not too heavy.

Wow. Amazing knife. Not much can be said about this that hasn’t already been said, but here are some observations: 1) It’s big, but not unwieldy. Not really useful as a carving or whittling knife. As a camp knife though, this thing is exemplary. Super thick and sturdy to easily splits small logs for a campfire, yet just thin enough for basic food prep, rope cutting, etc. And razor sharp! 2) The quality of materials and workmanship is fantastic. Knife handle and blade were perfect, not a blemish to be seen. Knife slides cleanly into the sheath with a nice swooshing sound; no rattle or wobble. Tight fit yet the blade edge does NOT scrape against the sheath as some have said. Maybe there was a bad batch and production has been cleaned up since then. As for the steel used, this is CPM 3V steel. Do a Google search and you’ll see just how great this stuff is; some say it’s the perfect knife steel with the only flaw being that it’s only marginally rust resistant as opposed to being stainless steel. 3) This knife is clearly a combat/survival oriented knife. As such it has an intimidating look and profile, so probably not the best idea to carry it around in a grocery store or while running errands unless you live in a remote wilderness area. In which case, carrying this knife will probably be enough to ward off grizzly bears and mountain lions without issue. So in summary, at $100-125 this an unbeatable value for a virtually indestructible knife that will probably excel at almost everything you want to do with it.

I saw somewhere that the Cold Steel SRK was now available in 3V steel. So I began looking at it's availability and found it on Amazon at a decent price, so before the price went up, I purchased one. I was already thinking of getting one before I found out it was available in 3V. I have other Cold Steel fixed blade knives in 3V steel which have performed real decently! I have many Cold Steel knives, both fixed blades and folders and have never been disappointed with the build quality and price. Never had to return one over many years of purchases. The knife arrived in a typical Cold Steel box, with a Secure-Ex sheath. I will probably get a custom leather sheath for this knife eventually. The knife build quality is excellent, the knife looks good, there was some oil on the blade, but it had to travel from Taiwan, so that's normal as you don't want any saltwater corrosion on the trip! The blade is chunky and straight as expected, the grind is even and the blade is super sharp, easily goes through paper. It has a good weight and balance for a tactical/general use field knife. There is a reason, besides economics, they issue these to the Navy SEALS in BUDS training! It's a tough knife and will withstand any manner of tasks you need a knife for whether camping, hunting, fishing etc. Now with the 3V steel blade, the knife became even tougher! A good purchase! A good knife if you want a tough, general purpose field knife that will hold up!

This is a great knife, it's super sharp out of the box and stands up to heavy use. Really happy with this quality. It's also very light making it easy to carry especially on long hikes.

I had SRK in SK5 and VG1(san mai) before i got this. Obviously loved both of them, but this one is way nicer. Flat ground is a bit heavier but stronger. 3v is easy to sharpen and doesn't seem to dull with repeated pull/resheath as much as other cold steel in securex sheath

These knives live up their reputation but to be clear about it the SK-5 version is fine. If it came in practically any other knife steel it would be fine. I'm not going to try chopping nails with a knife so I really don't ever notice a difference between cheap steel and super steel unless the super steel is tougher and harder to sharpen. So the point is this seems like a fine knife that may hold up to even more abuse than SK-5 but I doubt I'll ever be able to tell. Super steels are not a scam but the way they are often advertised is a scam. The best knife to have in the field is one that won't easily break from normal use and is easy to sharpen. If it's always getting wet or around salt water then you just don't want it to rust. Otherwise pick a steel, any steel, and I bet it will cut paper, cardboard, whittle, or whatever else nearly all the same. IDK how well of a job they did on this 3V but I know that the edge is not invincible. It's not hard to slightly roll or deform it against hard wood. The sheath is fine IMO but does have that downside of cutting into the material when it's in there. I hear the handle gets loose on these eventually but I'd guess that's what happens when someone uses a knife as an axe. The important parts of the blade IMO are the grind, where the flat grind on these are nice. Looks to have nice structure. Feels good in the hand. Too big to really be an EDC utility knife but big enough to feel like you might have a chance against a big predator animal lol. I'd just throw out a guess that their taiwan factories are not exactly producing these things to extreme high quality standards and these are just slabs of 'decent' 3V they are grinding and slapping together.. but still that's about all that's necessary for a decent knife when actually used as a knife.

I began collecting both fixed blades and folders back in 2019. Over the last 5 years I have purchased a collection of high end knives. Although the SRK 3V is one of the cheaper knives I’ve purchased when it comes to price, there is just something about it that feels right in the hand. The grip is extremely comfortable and the weight of the knife is perfect. The edge is razor sharp and easy to maintain with a worksharp pro. And it looks awesome. I keep it secured to the Molle on my backpack shoulder strap. If you are looking for a great all around fixed blade knife to handle anything that comes your way, this is the one to get. (Edit: 5 months and several more knife purchases later and this SRK is still my go to fixed blade. It holds an edge for awhile and typically I can get the edge back within a few minutes on the worksharp PPA.)

Como lo esperaba, el cuchillo es excelente la funda no viene hecha para este cuchillo pero como tengo la versión en San Mai y dos SK5 busque la funda que mejor le quedara y solucione el problema

The sheath is a bit tight but I prefer this. In contrast to my compact C which slides in quite easily with a single click this knife is quite snug against the insides of the sheath itself when you insert it. It is probably the same mold from when this was a hollow ground blade years ago . When I push the blade in up to the handle it goes into the sheath with a double click. At first you push it in and the handle is a snug fit and can't come out easily. But if I push it in further then it's very tight. That allows me to have a snug fit if I want to use the knife or have a very tight fit if I'm traveling around and don't want it to fall out and lose it. The blade was extremely Sharp and the fit and finish is excellent. In the past this CPM knife steel was made in the USA and the blanks were sent to Taiwan to have the handles put on and the sheath made. I'm not sure if they do that still. I put a tiny magnet on the butt end of the knife and it sticks so this knife tang is all the way to the end. The spine is extremely sharp so if you want to strike a fire steel it's not a problem. I coated the knife edge with magic marker and inserted the knife into the sheath several times to see if the blade was rubbing but it doesn't seem like it's touching. However in any case it's always better to ride the knife on the spine while inserting it into the sheath.

Appears to ba a great knife. Haven't put it through any rigorous use but it's hair splitting sharp, was lightly oiled and excited (hopefully) it's 3v steel steel, but I haven't tried cutting through nails yet. Great discount on prime days. Strange thing, when I weighed it, it's significantly liighter (almost an ounce) than what's stated in the description(and the box)by 25 grams! So I weighed all my knives and all my cold steel knives are significantly lighter than what's stated and some of the same model have 2 to 3 gram differrence between them. So there's a 10 to 25 difference between what's stated (lighter than) on the description of cold steel knives, other than the 2 SRK-C's - they're both almost exactly 5 grams heavier than stated lol. Strange? All other brands, with a stated weight, are within a gram to half a gram of what's stated, even duplicates. Strange. A couple grams is understandable, but the nearly one ounce difference on this 3V steel is kinda dissappointing. It's 5 mm thick and the blade is 6 inches and says CPM 3V on the blade so Idk lol may be skimmed steel off the hiddden tang? Searched it up and said that can be normal... idk? Seems like steel shrinkflation on bigger steel knives or more expensive steel products..? Or just a cold steel thing? Clones? Will never know I guess and at least they seem to be great knives lol? sigh...

Get this instead of the sk-5 steel version. Much better knife, and a significantly stronger tip. SRK in 3v is better than san-mai or Fallkniven vg10 laminate- both have a tip made of exposed vg10- which is not as though as 3v and doesn't hold the edge nearly as well either. Stunning knife a perfect sweet spot between fallkniven A1 and S1 in terms of size/weight. Blade came razor sharp. The sheath, while not incredible, doesn't bind on the blade, good positive retention.

Comes razor sharp excellent handle grip light weight top end field knife