Cold Steel Master Hunter 4.5" CPM 3V Drop Point Razor-Sharp Blade 4.75" Kray-Ex Handle Hunting Fixed Blade Knife w/Secure-Ex Sheath

This knife has been in continuous production for decades and as a result many knife aficionados are very familiar with it. It’s now made in Taiwan, but don’t make the mistake of assuming this is an inferior knife. This thing feels like it could survive anything. Thick, strong CPM 3V blade that was truly shaving sharp out of the box. Seriously, be careful taking it out of the package as it will cut you deeply. The handle is the grippiest material on a knife I’ve ever felt. The only negative in my opinion is the upper belt clip of the sheath. It feels too “floppy” to me. I prefer a stiffer material where the knife doesn’t feel like it bounces around with a light movement. Otherwise, overall this is a superior knife and at $100 bucks or so is an unbeatable value.

You’ll be hard pressed to find another 3V Steel knife this size in this price range. The handle is very comfortable and the Master Hunter features a thick, tough blade with a drop point design that makes it perfect for processing animals (ideally paired with a fillet knife) after harvest as well as feather sticking, carving, and even food preparation. For example we lost one of my tent stakes so I carved a new one in 5 minutes out of a stick I found with the Master Hunter. The flat grind on the blade makes it excellent for slicing and carving and bushcraft (I could absolutely make a snare or trap with it in an emergency), and the spine is great for throwing sparks with a ferro rod fire starter. However this knife simply isn’t quite big enough for chopping wood thicker than 1-2 inches, or batonning larger pieces of firewood. Also, the 3V super steel is ultra tough but because of that it takes 3-4x as long to sharpen as, for example, 1095 steel. Oh, and you’ll need to sharpen it because the factory edge isn’t that sharp. It took every bit of 20 minutes on my Warthog V-Sharp II system to get a good 25° edge on this knife. If it gets dulled out in the back country, you can forget about sharpening it on a river stone or something. That being said, I can process an entire animal, even a giant boar, with the Master Hunter without having to stop and re-sharpen. Also the excellent, comfortable, grippy handle means that you you can be quite dexterous with the knife, even if your hands are wet but that you can’t use the back of the handle for hammering. It comes with a very nice adjustable sheath that you can mount just about anywhere in any configuration. In short, the Master Hunter is, no surprise, an incredible hunting knife; no more and no less. The Master Hunter could absolutely be part of a great survival system if paired with a Silky saw, hatchet, machete, etc. but it is not a stand-alone survival knife. For a stand-alone survival knife I’d really recommend something that starts at about 7 inches with my personal favorite being the excellent Becker BK9.

Very nice knife from Cold Steel shaving sharp out of the box and perfect bevel around blade. Blade nice and thick will last a lifetime if maintained properly. Handle is comfortable and should not have any hotspots with long use. Grip is rubber feel for a solid connection that will not give you blisters. It keeps your knife firmly in your hand and easily controlled for all cutting or shaving operations. I have wanted this knife for years and it was finally advertised for an outstanding price of 100 bucks. It will be a great addition to my collection. Now it's on sale for 90 and for 3V steel that is a great price. This knife will last forever if taken care of.

Such an easy fix...in about five minutes you can custom tune the release tension by heating the top of the sheath using a hair dryer with the knife in place, and just letting it cool. After heating both sides, being careful not to melt the plastic, you should have no problem getting that snug fit that allows the blade to be drawn, but holds the knife securely in place. Yeah, it should have come that way...but you don't need to go buy a sheath unless you want something completely different anyway. I thought knives like this were intended for people that were resourceful, with some basic skills. Having heard of micro chipping of the Italian 3V steel in a couple of reviews here I tested the blade with some moderate carving on some hard maple when the knife arrived, and it held up without any damage at all. Actually, I was impressed with the performance, as well as the sharpness of the factory edge. My other Cold Steel camp knife is a 30 odd year old SRK in Carbon V, and as much as I like it, this Master Hunter is a little more versatile, not quite as heavy duty, and a better overall camp knife for slicing and such. Master Hunters with 3V blades are getting hard to find, but I'd expect the San Mai version to be similar, a great size, comfortable handle, light weight, with blade geometry that cuts well, but isn't at all delicate.

CPM 3V to the rescue. I was torn between the master hunter and the Fallkniven f1. I have the SRK and Recon Tanto so I was familiar with the rubber grip. After reading reviews on the f1 it seemed the grip was a little small for large to extra large hands. So I decided to go with the master hunter, and glad I did. One beautiful blade and beautiful finish. Nice belly on the knife. I like the figure guard as well. Can be used as a tactical knife, camp knife, or general purpose knife. CPM 3v holds a good edge and can be sharpened with the right tools. Many of people like CPM 3v as their favorite knife steel and now I know why. The knife is 5 Stars, the sheath that I received was not. I would give the sheath 2 Stars because of 2 reasons. The lockup on the sheath is so tight, you can not remove the knife without 2 hands. The biggest problem with the sheath I received is it dulls the knife... I tested the edge of the knife on the sheath and came to the conclusion. My other 2 secure ex-sheaths do not dull the knives. This was the biggest disappointment with the knife. Saw a few videos and read a forum post about this same problem. Just be aware the sheath may or may not dull the knife. Overall the knife is a beast and a workhorse. Perfect thickness for my needs. But now I have to buy a Custom sheath for it. A reasonable premium steel for a reasonable price. A must-have for a collector or just want a good knife.

This is an excellent knife. The perfect edc knife in my opinion. It has a comfortable grippy handle and a fenomenal blade profile. It has a thick spine, pointy full flat grind, which for me is the most useful in an urban or outdoor environment. Like I said, the perfect everyday carry and my favorite knife thus far.

I’ve had a lot of expensive knives and this is by far one of my absolute favorites simply for ergonomics and CPM-3V blade steel alone. At the price it comes in, it’s an absolute steal. It’s very similar in style to Fallkniven knives but in a much better steel that holds an edge for a very long time. It also has more belly than similar Fallknivens as well. The steel is extremely tough as well although I’m not going to abuse my knife and use it as a prybar to test the theory. Look into CPM-3V and you will see what an excellent steel it is and why this is such a good buy. It’s not considered a stainless steel but it’s more than stainless enough for me. The holster is nice enough. Very tight fit at first but like another reviewer mentioned - if you leave the knife in the sheath and hit it with a blow dryer for a few minutes on each side and let it sit, you can loosen it up to your exact liking. You can just use the sheath and over time it will loosen up as well.

The best knive I’ve ever bought. Great for everything and tough

Quality is amazing durable and thought out. Has a potbelly blade not flat so that doesn’t carve as well for bushcraft

Top Kundenservice

This is an excellent knife with a super steel. I was fortunate to have purchased it on sale. The factory edge is good for chopping things, but for my purposes I wanted something that sliced more. I should also mention that the sheath holds very well with a solid click.

Leider kein 90° Rücken somit schlecht für den feuerstahl. Ich habe diesen nachträglich angebracht somit alles perfekt.

Four stars as I got it for a criminal price of around $130.00CAD. However, the fit and finish is not as good as the VG-10 version. This might have to do with the earlier VG-10's being made in Japan as opposed to Taiwan with the 3V. On mine the grind is different on each side of the knife, and it doesn't fit the sheath all too well, maybe the 3V version has more beef and they didn't change the sheath. The price on here fluctuates often, so would wait until you have a good price.