Cold Steel AD-10 Tanto Review

By Randall Chaney

In this review, Randall Chaney evaluates the AD-10 Tanto knife made by Cold Steel. This folding knife was provided by the company to the author for review.

If you are on the hunt for a bold, adventure-ready folding knife for your latest exploits, I highly recommend the Cold Steel AD-10 in its tanto form. To call this knife “robust” would be to slap it across the face with a white glove. It is much more than that. Despite this, you would be surprised at its inherent pocketability. I was.

Heavy Hitters

When the AD-10 arrived, I honestly could not believe it fit in such a small box. What makes it so massive visually is its 3.8mm blade thickness. That is 9/64^th inch for you imperialist measurers out there, or over 1/8^th inch. This blade steel is larger in cross-section than that of many fixed-blade knives. Of over a hundred knives in my collection, I have no folding knife this beefy.

The Cold Steel Company has never been known for their shyness when it comes to product lines. Lynn Thompson founded Cold Steel in 1980. He popularized his blades, swords, sticks, canes, clubs, and all manner of martial wares with flamboyant demonstrations of their durability, all live and on video. I have seen him in action multiple times at the Blade Show and the SHOT Show. Thompson was selling ruggedness.

Another thing Thompson brought to American knife buyers was the tanto blade shape. The original Japanese invention is over a thousand years old and was designed for close combat by Samurai warriors against armored foes of the day. Cold Steel is known to have introduced knife enthusiasts to a Westernized version of the strong, thrusting blade design decades ago. I still have two CS Mini Voyagers from the 1990s. One is in my pick-up truck as I write this.

The Details

The AD-10’s 4” tanto has a dropped point, unlike most in its genre. It is profiled from CPM SV35N stainless super steel. The blade is hollow ground at the belly and is flat ground along its chisel point. Unlike some tantos, it has a double bevel. As expected, it came frighteningly sharp out of the box.

The Cold Steel AD-10 is a premium production version of knife maker Andrew Demko’s custom AD-10. It is faithful to the original model, from the machined thumb studs to the asymmetrical pocket clip. Demko is an in-house designer for Cold Steel and has authored such knives as the Spartan, Espada, Tiger Claw, Talwar and Finn Wolf, among others.

The Cold Steel AD-10’s serious blade is held open securely with Cold Steel’s Tri-Ad lock system. From Cold Steel, “Designed by famed knife designer and Cold Steel collaborator Andrew Demko, the Tri-Ad lock uses a unique combination of features that responds exceptionally to both positive and negative pressures and has been tested to hold up to 800 pounds of hanging weights.”

The Tri-Ad differs from a standard lock back by distributing forces on the blade to the rigid stop pin, which transmits the energy against the frame itself. The mechanical advantage of this arrangement produces an extremely solid lock that is perhaps the strongest on the market. Cold Steel confidently employs it on most of their giant folding knives.

The blade, pivot, stop pin, rocker pin and lock bar are supported by heat-treated aluminum liners that form dual backbones for the internals. Aluminum has the required strength but is lighter than steel and less expensive than titanium. 3D-machined G-10 scales complete the build. Large gimping on the blade spine and handle befits the oversized nature of the AD-10.

I like the shape of the handle. In a thrusting motion, it guards your fingers from contacting the edge. In slashes, cuts or swings, the handle hooks downward to catch your rearward fingers. The package is grippy with the tactile G-10, and holds fast in the hand in either hammer, saber or reverse grips.

At the butt of the handle, the aluminum backspacer ends in a point that can defeat auto glass. The reproduction stainless steel clip is Demko’s design and is controversial in its aesthetic. The clip is torx-screwed to the right side of the knife, but Cold Steel includes a second pocket clip to mount off the left side if desired. Thoughtful. I did not mind the clip’s looks as it kept the AD-10 low and locked in either my jeans or shorts.

In Practice

I took the Cold Steel AD-10 on a hiking trip to Arizona recently. While it is a big knife, weighing in at 6.9 ounces, it went unnoticed in my front pocket, rear pocket or the pistol mag pouch sewn into my shorts. The knife’s heft and durability were welcome companions in the desert or in town.

Back at my sanctum, I started cutting and hacking with the AD-10. The S35VN steel mowed through all my varied scraps of cardboard, rope, pool noodles and a random length of bamboo I dug out of the pile. The blade was still super sharp. I eyed my spare ammo cans. Armor-piercing point on the AD-10? Let’s find out. I thought about a tip-down, edge-out hammer grip stab, but lacking a steel mesh glove I decided to favor my fingers.

The AD-10 was hammered into the G.I. ammo can. It penetrated headlong through the steel with a worrisome thunk, thunk, thunk. I was glad I did not try the freehand thrust because the ammo can was tough — it took me about eight hard blows with a claw hammer and a piece of wood on the knife’s butt to pierce the metal with the tanto blade. Upon examination, the AD-10 tip was unscathed. No damage at all.

Around my garage can be found a Cold Steel Barong machete, Heavy Sure Strike throwing stars, a True Flight Throwing Knife, and a Roach Belly fixed blade knife. Eclectic to be sure, but they reflect the varied nature of Cold Steel products. While the AD-10 is certainly the finest of their SKUs that I possess, it is consistent with the reliable quality of their offerings, regardless of price point.

Conclusion

If you have read this far, you know I will recommend the Cold Steel AD-10 as a heavy-duty, yet comfortable EDC folder. The MSRP is $239, but I am confident your favorite retailer will shave a chunk off that. I enjoyed my travel time with the AD-10, trekking among the Saguaros, eating a substantial amount of Mexican food, and visiting the historic aircraft at the Pima Air and Space Museum. An AD-10 could enhance your exploits as well.

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