Hey gang... I got my TAK a couple weeks ago, and finally got to play with it a bit yesterday, albeit in limited form. I just thought you may be interested. I know it has been discussed a bit on bladeforums as well.

The blade is 4.5" of 3/16" 1095 steel, coated with a phosphate finish. It is 10" overall, with green micarta scales and a lanyard hole. Weight is about 10 oz.

Here is a picture of the TAK in comparison to the Cold Steel Master Hunter. You can see that the blade lengths and thinknesses are almost identical.


The TAK is significantly heavier than the Hunter (at 6.4 oz), primarily due to the long grip and full tang. The grip is a bit more ergonomically correct than the Hunter, although the rubber Hunter grip may be better in slippery conditions (I didn't test that yet).



The TAK is very robust and I believe it could work very well as a prying tool (although I didn't try that). It is definately beefier than the Hunter (which is no slouch). I used it to perform some light chopping of small branches (<1") which it handled very well, and actually surprised me how well it chopped for a 4.5" blade, especially when gripped at the end of the handle. The Hunter is really not good for any sort of chopping, it just doesn't have the mass for it. I probably won't use the TAK in this manner very often, but it is nice to know I could.

I tried splitting wood with the TAK and it performed admirably, although the thickness of wood is limited by the shorter blade length.


I also sharpened a few stakes with no noticable dulling of the blade. The blade coating does hold onto wood residue, as you can see here.


The residue took some cleaning to remove, but I was able to get it looking good again. We will see how well the finish protects from corrosion, but it seems fairly durable so far, and I was beating on it fairly well.

It handled veggie chopping with ease, and sliced some pieces of meat easily as well. I haven't cleaned any animals with it yet, but due to it's smaller size than most "survival knives" I believe it will perform better than it's larger brethren.

I even used it to start a fire with a flint, which it also did very well. You can check it out here: http://www.radix.net/~gregsackett/temp/tak_flint.mpg . Yes, I cheated and used dryer lint, but I didn't want to look bad <img src="images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Albeit a fairly brief test of the knife, so far it has more than lived up to my expectations. It is much beefier than I was expecting, and chopped better than I could imagine. It also seems to hold an edge well. We will see how the finish holds up and whether it will continue to be difficult to clean. My initial impressions: if the weight doesn't scare you, then I would highly recommend checking out this knife if you like smaller fixed blades. If you would rather stick with something lighter, go with the Master Hunter, which is a fine knife in it's own right. I believe the TAK runs about $10 more than the Hunter, if that affects the decision.

I will report back if further research reveals any other issues.

Take care!

Greg

It sure looks like a fine knife <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. Have fun with it.

If only they made it an inch or so bigger <<starry-eyed gaze>>.

Whay do most/all of Columbias knives have that coating on them? is it just for presentation, or are there practical uses?

As Gator was nice enough to remind me, Ontario makes the TAK, not Columbia. I obviously need more caffine. If you want something bigger, you can try the RTAK (10" blade) or wait for the upcoming 7" model.

Greg

<img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Nice review Greg. Nice looking knife. My guess is that the micarta grip will actually improve if it is wet.

WOFT. The coating serves as protection from rust. The blade is a carbon steel that will rust if not protected. This coating also allows the manufacturer to decrease costs a bit as the blades do not require as much polishing, but this is not the primary reason to coat.