This isn't really intended to be a review of the knives. This is more like a "First Impressions" but I've used the knives for a month to formulate an opinion. I own three Cold Steel Mini Tacs: the Beavertail, the Skinner, and the Kiridashi. Each costs around $25-$30, with $26 being typical. All are made of the same material - 2.5mm thick AUS-8A with G-10 handle scales. All are full tang with a sub-hilt. The newer ones have faux G-10 (the newer ones will have boxes marked with an F after the model number to indicate this. All are made in Taiwan and have a light titanium nitride (not bead blasted) finish. All come with a Secure-Ex sheath and a bead chain for neck carry. What did I think?
The Beavertail: 3-3/8" long blade, full flat grind, 3" handle length, 2.6 ounces. The wide blade works well for skinning and digging, and it can actually pierce pretty well. I like this knife for general chores; opening boxes, carving wood, slicing and chopping food, and the like. Of the Mini Tacs that I have, this seems to be the jack-of-all-trades, and master of none. I don't mean that to be a bad thing though, the Beavertail is the best general utility knife of the Mini Tacs.
The Skinner: 3-3/8" long blade, hollow grind, 3-1/4" handle length, 2.1 ounces. This is definitely the slicer of the group. The tip is precise enough for piercing, but the spine has a small amount of steel left right behind the tip to keep it strong. The nice upswept portion gives the Skinner tremendous belly for, well, skinning, You can use the knife in a rocking motion like an ulu as well. This is my favorite of the Mini Tacs.
The Kiridashi: 3" long blade, hollow grind, 3" handle length, 2.1 ounces. This is the piercer. The straight blade terminates in a wicked point. It's easy to bend the tip, so be careful. I normally don't like these wharncliff-style blades, as I prefer some belly in mine, but it performed fine in most everyday cutting tasks.
The Sheaths: Each Mini Tac comes with a black Secure-Ex sheath. It's black fiberglass-reinforced plastic, and apart from being shaped to the knife, the sheaths are identical. The knife snaps into the sheath with a soft "click" and doesn't rattle when shook, even upside-down. The sheaths have multiple small holes in them, but I found them to be too small for a Tek-Lok. If you want to use 550 cord, you'll have to gut it first. The sheaths are acceptable at this price and fully functional; I just wish they has a belt attachment. The steel bead chain is average for a neck knife. Depending on when yours was made, you'll either get a black one or an uncoated one. I prefer the uncoated one, as it's a little tougher.
Random Thoughts: The Mini Tacs all have three deep, smooth grooves machined into them on the spine to act as jimping. Coupled with the thumb ramp, they're fine. I don't really have any complaints with them. If the knives didn't have a thumb ramp, then the grooves would be too smooth and spaced too far apart.
The G-10 handle scales are nice and grippy, even when wet or bloody. They will smooth out over time, but that's okay. The two holes through the handle aid in indexing the knife, and the bottom one can be a lanyard hole if you want. I wanted to see if the handles were skeletonized, so I used a Torx (T-6) driver to remove the handle scales. There was no adhesive or anything else holding them on. The handles are solid, except for two small D-shaped holes to hold in the D-bolts. The scales lay flush against the tang, and then the handle screws go through the scales and thread into the D-bolts.
The sheaths are fine as I mentioned, but you can't grab the knife in the right grip to use the sub-hilt. All of the sub-hilts are surrounded by the sheath. This requires a two-finger grip (middle and ring fingers) on the handle, then a hard pull to get the sheath off, then you put your index finger in the sub-hilt. Several times, I saw people accidentally put their index fingers right on the edge, leading to a cut.
Cold Steel's AUS-8A is some of the best AUS-8 available. It holds an edge very well, and resharpens easily.
The Mini Tacs are under thirty bucks each, and I'm pretty sure you'll find one to suit you. A Mini Tac would be a nice addition to you neck knife collection. Give on a try if you haven't already.
The Beavertail: 3-3/8" long blade, full flat grind, 3" handle length, 2.6 ounces. The wide blade works well for skinning and digging, and it can actually pierce pretty well. I like this knife for general chores; opening boxes, carving wood, slicing and chopping food, and the like. Of the Mini Tacs that I have, this seems to be the jack-of-all-trades, and master of none. I don't mean that to be a bad thing though, the Beavertail is the best general utility knife of the Mini Tacs.
The Skinner: 3-3/8" long blade, hollow grind, 3-1/4" handle length, 2.1 ounces. This is definitely the slicer of the group. The tip is precise enough for piercing, but the spine has a small amount of steel left right behind the tip to keep it strong. The nice upswept portion gives the Skinner tremendous belly for, well, skinning, You can use the knife in a rocking motion like an ulu as well. This is my favorite of the Mini Tacs.
The Kiridashi: 3" long blade, hollow grind, 3" handle length, 2.1 ounces. This is the piercer. The straight blade terminates in a wicked point. It's easy to bend the tip, so be careful. I normally don't like these wharncliff-style blades, as I prefer some belly in mine, but it performed fine in most everyday cutting tasks.
The Sheaths: Each Mini Tac comes with a black Secure-Ex sheath. It's black fiberglass-reinforced plastic, and apart from being shaped to the knife, the sheaths are identical. The knife snaps into the sheath with a soft "click" and doesn't rattle when shook, even upside-down. The sheaths have multiple small holes in them, but I found them to be too small for a Tek-Lok. If you want to use 550 cord, you'll have to gut it first. The sheaths are acceptable at this price and fully functional; I just wish they has a belt attachment. The steel bead chain is average for a neck knife. Depending on when yours was made, you'll either get a black one or an uncoated one. I prefer the uncoated one, as it's a little tougher.
Random Thoughts: The Mini Tacs all have three deep, smooth grooves machined into them on the spine to act as jimping. Coupled with the thumb ramp, they're fine. I don't really have any complaints with them. If the knives didn't have a thumb ramp, then the grooves would be too smooth and spaced too far apart.
The G-10 handle scales are nice and grippy, even when wet or bloody. They will smooth out over time, but that's okay. The two holes through the handle aid in indexing the knife, and the bottom one can be a lanyard hole if you want. I wanted to see if the handles were skeletonized, so I used a Torx (T-6) driver to remove the handle scales. There was no adhesive or anything else holding them on. The handles are solid, except for two small D-shaped holes to hold in the D-bolts. The scales lay flush against the tang, and then the handle screws go through the scales and thread into the D-bolts.
The sheaths are fine as I mentioned, but you can't grab the knife in the right grip to use the sub-hilt. All of the sub-hilts are surrounded by the sheath. This requires a two-finger grip (middle and ring fingers) on the handle, then a hard pull to get the sheath off, then you put your index finger in the sub-hilt. Several times, I saw people accidentally put their index fingers right on the edge, leading to a cut.
Cold Steel's AUS-8A is some of the best AUS-8 available. It holds an edge very well, and resharpens easily.
The Mini Tacs are under thirty bucks each, and I'm pretty sure you'll find one to suit you. A Mini Tac would be a nice addition to you neck knife collection. Give on a try if you haven't already.
