Sharp and Pointy Things: Cold Steel Pro Guard

That hole means it's not leaving the secure grip of my hand.

Recently, I was looking for a more defensive oriented carry knife. A push dagger or karambit was originally the plan but, most of those are designed for concealed carry and thus illegal in many locations. I came across the Cold Steel Pro Guard, liked the design and decided to give it a shot.

Cold Steel markets it as a neck knife, but at slightly over 6 inches one could consider it a larger neck knife or perhaps a medium belt knife. Some folks may find it innocuous to wear, but personally it felt a tad bit big and fairly obvious for neck wear, at least in a casual sense.

The most positive aspect of the blade is easily the grip. The faux G10 handle fits perfectly in the hand and the finger hole allows a commanding grip. You can essentially make a fist and the end result is the handle perfectly anchored in your palm and a blade that is going to stay put. No worries about dropping the blade or your hand moving forward and getting cut.

At 2.8 oz its incredibly light and the AUS 8A stainless steel blade is quite sharp and pointy right out of the box. The 4 inch blade may seem a tad small initially but overall, its adequately sized for its role as a defensive knife. The retention aspect of the Pro Guard is definitely the selling point here, in a bad situation you aren't going to lose control of this or possibly have it easily taken away from you. Attempting to grab it away from you will result in some nasty cuts and probably a quick realization from your assailant that it might be time to flee.

While the knife itself is nearly perfect, the main drawbacks here are the sheath. The push button "lock" is a great feature but maneuvering ones fingers to quickly get the blade out proves to be awkward sometimes. This can be remedied to an extent with some modifications. Namely, if you remove some of the plastic around the lock button you can effectively slide the blade out a bit easier and get your finger in the hole in a more fluid manner.

Even after taking a Dremel to that part of the sheath, it still takes a bit of finesse to get a quick draw, but its still easier than before. I do wish Cold Steel added a belt/boot clip to it as an alternative to neck wear as it seems better suited for that type of carry, or at least that would be my preference in this case.

Even with the less than stellar sheath, its still a great fixed blade knife with amazing retention that feels nearly perfect in your hand. Anyone looking for a more defensive oriented blade should really check it out.