Inspired by the assault rifle adopted by the Russian Army in 1949, the Cold Steel AK-47 Knife’s most obvious resemblance to “the People’s Rifle” is the bayonet groove in the four-inch AUS-8 blade. Add to that the kind of rugged construction that you can drop in a muddy puddle and come back to later knowing it still works, and you do have some of the true AK-47 character in this tough tactical folder.
With stainless steel liners and a 4 mm thick AUS-8 high carbon stainless steel blade, the AK-47 Knife starts out strong and gets stronger. Thick handle slabs of grooved aircraft quality aluminum form the grip, and the blade lock mechanism is extra solid. Instead of thumb studs, the knife opens with a unique Cold Steel thumb plate. Now a standard feature on many of Cold Steel’s tactical folders, the thumb plate allows opening from either side. The thumb plate also hooks on the seam of a pocket for a different kind of one-handed opening which shouldn’t be attempted without some serious study and practice. The bead-blasted handle holds down the knife’s shine, and the stainless steel folding clip mounts to either side for right or left-handed deployment.
The pommel of this eight-ounce knife is built from Grivory, another Cold Steel product with the company’s trademark durability. Though the AK-47 isn’t built to be a hammer, the company says it’ll hold up to moderate bashing. The pommel also provides two holes for a wrist lanyard. The knife’s lock has been tested against failure in both full-force strikes and missed strikes — the ones that place unexpected forces on otherwise reliable blade lock systems. In both instances, the knife excels.
What catches the eye isn’t the blocky pistol grip handle style but the wide, hollow ground blade. Heat-treated in a vacuum for uniform tempering and then put through a sub-zero hardening process, the polished blade’s fine edge shows the refinement of a good skinner but was built for tougher jobs.
