This knife is NOT a knife for camping, or even for utility. It could be forced into those roles reluctantly, and perform to some degree, but not nearly as well as a knife purpose built for those tasks. This is a fighting knife. It is meant to be deployed in a defensive situation. It is light weight, has a slim profile, is balanced at the guard, and has appropriately thin blade stock for a defensive blade. It is light in hand, which makes it faster. The AUS 8 steel used in this version is a decent steel. Nothing special, but effective. After all, this is a knife designed to be carried often, and (hopefully) used very little, or never. The handle is thin, and not quite hand filling, but satisfactory. The handle may not feel as great for people with larger hands because of how thin it is. But that is a trade off for concealability. Its slim profile allows it to be carried in the IWB configuration (inside the waste band) with minimal printing, and bulkiness. The guard is merely for preventing your hand from sliding up on the blade. Given the material that it is made out of, it will not protect your hand from a knife blade sliding down the knife towards your hand. A situation of that type of any significant force will cut through the soft rubber feeling guard with ease. I mention that only so you know, and don't necessarily hold that against the product as I feel, as I have stated, its primary role is merely to help keep your hand from sliding upon the blade.
It came satisfactorily sharp, though i did touch up the edge upon receiving it, as I do with most blades I get. I usually always adjust the bevel to my preference. But it should be noted it did come with a decent edge. I received it well oiled, which was good, as to prevent rust while it was being stored and shipped out. AUS 8 is a "stainless" steel. But that doesn't mean it cant rust. Its stain resistance is moderate, but not super high. It can and will rust, though not as quickly as carbon steels. A light coating of oil or Tuf-Glide will help to ensure it does not rust. But a little bit of rust wont hurt it. It wont fall apart and disintegrate if it gets a bit of rust on it. No big deal. The primary point of the blade is very pointy, and will penetrate well. I was satisfied with that. The secondary point on the blade formed by the tanto design is not as aggressive, but still a force to be reckon with in a snap cutting fashion. It also allows pressure to be focused at the point for deep cutting.
The sheath is a decent injection molded plastic sheath from what I see. The clip can be removed, and it is primarily designed to be carried IWB (inside the waste band.) That is why the clip is positioned on the side its on. Some people have incorrectly assumed the clip is "on the wrong side". That is the reason for this. It is not designed to be clipped on to the belt to hang off outside of the belt. It is for IWB. I removed the clip, and made a loop through one of the top grommets with 550 cord which i use as the belt loop and carry it IWB, when I do carry it, which is not often as I have blades I prefer more. I mainly purchased this on a whim for its high reviews, and price point. It is a decent blade I can lend to some one, or just have around.
Over all I find the knife to be satisfactory for the price. It works, and is a decent knife for the price. There are better options out there if you are willing to spend more, but that's not the point. If you are willing to pay the price this knife is available at, you will not be disappointed, but will find it is nothing mind blowing ether. It is a purpose built knife designed to fill a relatively niche, and small roll. For that roll, it is satisfactory at the price point. Thank you.

This one is the perfect size for a carry blade. I do have a couple of the Cold Steel Mini Tantos and those are like an everyday carry thing for me. My Recon Tanto is just a little bit too freaking big for that purpose. It's great if I'm going out camping and hiking ... but not something I'd wear to the store.
This Kobun Tanto however, I love it. It's the right size for concealed carry with my firearm.

What I do not like is the belt clip. It will not secure in place, so I removed it and replaced it with one of the plastic belt clips sold by Cold Steel and you can see my brutal review of that product on here, but this isn't about that. I did find me some other belt clips sold here on Amazon that worked great with this knife and I will continue to make it a carry blade. But the original belt clip does not clip on solid to a tactical belt or even to my denims and leather belt. So I replaced the belt clip.

Right out of the box, this knife looks great and feels great in the hand. The handle material is comfortable and very grippy. I also like the lanyard hole, which will allow you to attach a lanyard to help prevent your hand from slipping onto the blade if you ever need to do any pushing cuts.

The sheath belt clip appears to be intended for wearing inside the waistband for right handed users, tip down. The clip is removable and repositionable. The edge ofnthe sheath has rivet grommets, and also some slots so it can be easily lashed to a pack, load bearing equipment, belt, etc.

The retention is very strong. This would not fall out if rigged in a tip up configuration.

My only gripe is the edge itself. Right out of the box it was not sharp enough to slice paper. Mass manufactured knives are typically sharpened on grinders. The grit used was too coarse for a final sharpening operation. This left the edge in an unfished condition.

After touching it up on a fine diamond stone and stropping it, it now slices paper easily.

I liked the steel used for its relative ease of sharpening. It may need slightly more frequent touching up than a super steel, but I don't mind sharpening as needed.

Overall I am pleased. I got a significant discount during a Black Friday sale. But I might be a little less forgiving of the initial edge quality at full retail price.

If the edge had been shaving sharp out of the box it would be a 5 star knife.

The blade: AUS8 in a enlosed full tang (handle goes over tang). Satain finish of decent thickness. It has clean lines and stock sharpness on par with cold steel knives.

The Handle: cold steels standard rubber handle. It has checkering similar to that seen on gun grips on its sides. On the front and back there is cross line grooves. The knife provides good grip. People complain about it being small, but its supposed to be a conceal carry boot knife. The handle is a good balance between size and concealment.

The Sheath: Good basic kydex sheath with sturdy clip. If your carrying IWB (inside waist band) if you want the blade edge down as is proper. If you want OWB (outside waist band) It will be on the left. The clip holds solid enough for a quick draw of the knife and the sheath stays put.

Overall: Its a hell of a deal at $30, but of I paid cold steels retail of $60 it would be average. Thank you Amazon... The blade is a good tool that I use for carry so it is easier to live by cold steels "never unarmed" motto. I know lots of people who open carry their larger knives. I have an ontario SP-50 that is 15 inches. It looks fierce, but people can see it. And as often as people made a point to clear my path it was just as frequent it would attract a bad element.

The Kobun carries tight to my hip and the handle is just below my ribs on my right when I IWB carry. Some people say they carry below the navel, but I find that on my hip when its in line with my arm i can cover it slightly (it does show a bit when wearing just a t shirt) and being in line with my arm when I walk the grab is quicker.
I know some people say they carry blade up and attempt a japanese style sword draw, but after 6 years of Military Japanese sword training I can say this is not practical with a small knife. This knife is nothing like a traditional japanese tanto that a samurai used and bayonets or daggers were issued by the military in WW2 japan. A smart user should treat this knife system like a pistol with a thumb break holster. Practace, draw smooth going straight up and out. I keep the tip pointed center mass as any smart knife fighter will. I would advise people to keep this knife tight to the body at rib level with elbows in.

Final Word: The knife is a very concealable self defnse tool. When considering the $30 tag its worth it to have something that will increase your odds of living in a self defense situation. Once you get used to the feel of it in carry (takes a day or two) you can take it anywhere. The best tool is no good unless you have it on you at all times so that its leverage can be applied when needed. It would not be an ideal woodscraft blade or a survival knife. But if you carry it everywhere and have it in such a situation your odds will be worlds better having a passable fixed blade than a $10 folding knife.

Simply put its a $30 knife that could save your life. Provided you train your skills, always remember to carry, and develop a self preservation mind set.

Been looking for something like this for awhile. I've had the now prehistoric Kuzen Oda Tanto by Pacific Cutlery (now Benchmade) that I bought back in the 80's. Great design. Very similar to this knife; rubberized handle, beautiful Japanese blade design (not the sharp angled American Tanto tip, but more samurai sword tip). The draw back was mediocre steel, I think 440 stainless. and too much bulk. Great martial arts fighting knife though. So, I then ordered a custom made knife that I tried to mimic that old Tanto. But was not too happy because the blade was too light/thin and the handle was too slippery. So I was on a quest for the perfect defense knife that is easy to carry and low profile while long enough to be effective.

So here it is. This knife ticks (almost) all features that I was looking for. The blade length. long enough but short enough to carry, nice grippy handle that doesn't bulge too much, good way to carry that is quick to put on and off and intimidating looking enough to thwart an attacker (after all, deterrence is better than being tangled up with sharp edged weapons any day, if you ask me).

I wore this in a cross draw appendix carry slipped inside my belt but outside of the pants. With the stainless clip holding the belt. I went on a trail run with it and it stayed put under my shirt and a light windbreaker. Not of hint of bulge while having full range of motion (seated in a car, bending over to tie my shoe lace...). The handle being rubberized, wasn't too uncomfortable against my bare belly either.

The sheath had very good retention. You have to use your thumb as leverage to get the knife out. if you don't, you'll end up flailing the knife out (dangerous). Those people who say that the clip isn't strong enough for you to draw the knife, try using your thumb to push it out. It will sneak out like a well behaved puppy.

The grip is thin. It was designed that way on purpose. It hides very well for such a long knife. The rubber knobs on the grip holds very well even wet. I have pretty large hands but I've had no difficulty holding this knife securely. Of coarse, it's not designed for prolonged use like making shelter etc. but for defensive situation, you will not be holding this thing for an hour. Matter of fact, I prefer the thinness because it allows the knife to dance freely in your hands where you get some variation on your grip, not just a monkey fist grip.

The blade came pretty sharp and nicely ground. Yes, it may take more skill and time to sharpen the angled Tanto tip, but I do think the secondary tip does give better "start cut" on slashes. See Lynn Thomson's video on "snap cuts". It makes sense on a defensive knife I think. Not to mention how strong the tip is for serious penetration. Yes, as a utility knife, it can be a pain, but once again this is a defensive knife. Also, as I've alluded before, I do think the American Tanto tip gives an intimidation factor that could stop the fight before it can start. Seeing this blade makes the would be attacker think, 'this MF is crazy!". Also the bright finish is a good thing on a defensive knife. You want the attacker to see it and hopefully be scared by it. Black out finish is good if you want to sneak up on a person and slash their throat, but where I come from that is first degree murder where you can spend your entire life in jail (unless you're a state sanctioned "professional").

I said earlier that it almost ticks all the marks. The "almost" part is the steel. AUS8 is a decent steel. I think the philosophy behind using a less quality steel for a defensive blade is that you're not really using this thing all the time, so edge retention is not a big feature that you're looking for. My guess is that a well sharpened AUS8 in a knife fight that will involve maybe 2-5 cuts will perform just as good as Elmax or M390 for those 2-5 cuts. If you're fighting 10 people, then yes, a stronger steel will be better. But let's face it, that kind of scenario only happens in movies. Having said all that, I would've happily pay extra 30-40 bucks for a D2 or S35VN.

I'm very happy with this knife on what it was designed for: light, fast, concealable, effective and intimidating fighting knife. If I'm making a shelter or starting a fire, take the ESSE or Tops.