Shanghai Shadow Knife with Secure-Ex Sheath

First, a word to the wise. Do not throw this at metal. I had set my throwing knife target against a metal rod for support and on my first throw I missed the target and stuck it right into the rod. I was and am very impressed with the fact that it was sharp enough to stick in a steel rod like that but I'm just a tad disappointed that my brand new knife now has a slightly dented tip. When I pulled it out of the rod the tip had bent at an angle but I straightened it out with a vice grip. You can still plainly see the damage but the functionality of the knife is still fine. That said, I am certain that I am the one of the most hard to please knife owners out there. I have wasted my money on countless knives for years. I am in constant search for the perfect knife. It has to be throwable, big, durable, tactical, and preferably legal. I've tried different types of steel and different brands and none have lived up to my expectations. Then I opened the box that this one came in. I am convinced that this is the perfect knife. It's huge, easily thrown, very durable, tactical, and in the state of kansas, legal. For the price I am stunned. The sheath is exactly what I expect from a tactical and durable sheath, the knife is a beauty! The only two negatives I can think of are that the steel will rust unless maintained and the ring is just a little big for my fingers. Other than that, as soon as I need it, I'm going to buy another and you'd do very well to get one for anyone that likes throwing, tactical, or even hunting knives. A very good deal!!

To be honest, I know nothing of martial arts, combat, or blade sparring. I am an intermediate level knife thrower, who some dub "Circus throwers" since there is much less of an element of danger and it is more for amusement. That being said, I can see how this knife can be useful for self defense, but that is not why I purchased it (or the second one). This knife has serious potential for those who want to throw. I can't say I've thrown Kunai, so i can't compare to grip too well. I believe the ring is quite a great deal larger than the standard kunai ring, and the first few throws you'll think it's the most annoying addition ever. I found that gripping the knife primarily by the rounded end, with only my thumb and index finger on the handle gave me the most power, distance and accuracy. This blade really is very durable and can stand up to some serious punishment. The handle will chip in small places, but even when mine was hit against metal it didn't shatter or disfigure. So, you'll have to adjust your throwing style slightly to get used to this knife...The blade (atleast for me) is best thrown using primarily the arm, and staying in an upright position. Experts feel free to correct me, but I sink 9/10 throws using this method. Yes it's a change, but it's worth it. The satisfying "THUNK!" the reverberating thin blade still quivering from the blow as you walk towards the target to receive it... It really is a lot of fun! If you do somehow manage to damage it (I flattened a point on a pine knot) You can easily sharpen this back to it's original state in no time at all and enjoy throwing without a lot of work. I use a mill file, diamond sharpening rod, pull-through sharpeners and ceramic rods on hand to take care of my throwers. Although I know nothing of martial arts, I can understand the other reviews - I just wanted to point out that this is a very fun and effective throwing knife if you give it a little time! A 2.5 Alan wrench is used to tighten the bolts if they ever come lose from a nasty blow, by the way.

I want to start this review out by saying this is a excellent "budget" tactical knife/dagger. I am a knife enthusiast, so if i see something i like i just can't help myself, and in this case i am not wrong! I will break down this review into pros and cons, so here we go! Pros 1. PRICE!, as of June/25/2011 when i placed the order for this Knife/Dagger. The price was $24.96 with free amazon shipping! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!! a big knife like this for $24.96??? Especially when the knife include a KYDEX SHEATH?!! I paid $18+$6.99 shipping for a KYDEX SHEATH for my KA-BAR 7" knife, but with SHANGHAI SHADOW you get the SHEATH and the KNIFE! Excellent value. 2. Quality of Construction, i inspected this knife closely, and as far as i can tell i can't spot any quality problems on the knife/dagger i received, the SHANGHAI SHADOW is FULL TANG CONSTRUCTION you can follow the blade all the way to its lanyard ring. This knife is ONE PIECE CONSTRUCTION. the grip is hold down securely by 2 hex screws, those screws can be taken off, if the user would like to wrap PARA CORD around the grip area and make a CUSTOM GRIP from PARA CORDS. That would be a personal choice. The Blade itself is made out of 1055 CARBON STEEL, and by all my previous experience with the COLD STEEL,1055(I also own cold steel BOWIE MACHETE, and KUKRI MACHETE), I say it is up to the job as a TACTICAL FIGHTING KNIFE STEEL, and Also as a EMERGENCY WILDERNESS SURVIVAL STEEL. 3. Weight and Balance, excellent again on that front. I did a simple test, i place my index finger just under the crossguard area of the knife, and was able to balance the knife on my index finger. Ok, moving on the CONS I just want to point out these "CONS" are not meant to criticize the knife, but suggestion for future improvements, or simply my personal pet/Peeves so don't be too hard on the knife. 1. Kind of Dull, yeah the SHANGHAI SHADOW didn't come with a great factory sharpening job. I am picky, i like my knife factory sharp, sharp enough to shave, and Shanghai shadow is not. 2. Sheath retention could be tighter. That's it if you got any question comment on the review, i'll get back to you.

The knife I received is likely a Factory 2nd sold off in bulk to a retailer who in turn sold to Amazon without mentioning the flaws, as Cold Steel does not sell directly to Amazon. The grind is off center, as evidenced by the thickest portion of the center of the blade not meeting the tip. This doesn't affect the structural integrity of the knife but will make future sharpening interesting and is an eyesore. For the $22 I paid for it, I'm not worried about it. The knife came very sharp, the finish was evenly applied, the fitment of the handle is fine, and the sheath is actually quite nice. The knife snaps in with an audible click as the sheath locks over the handguard, providing an incredibly secure grip. This thing isn't coming out of the sheath under any normal circumstance unless you draw it out. It also has a snapping loop around the handle, but I popped the stitch on mine as I don't need double retention. The handle is also a good thickness; thin enough that you could wrap it with thin cord yet thick enough to still be comfortable in the hand. You could also take the two Chicago screws out to remove the handle scales and paracord wrap it, if such a thing floats your boat. And, of course, you can pop the handle scales off and lash this thing into the split end of a stick and you've got a handy, dandy spear. Boosh. That's almost as good as killing a yak at 300 yards with a mind-bullet. For the price, buy it. Make a spear from it. Stab targety stuff with it. You can't go wrong.

Yet another Cold Steel knife that is a great deal. It's bigger than I expected (even knowing the specs), it just seemed more compact when viewing the images. Not that that's a bad thing. The unique design makes this a nice collectors knife and conversation piece. Though it doesn't have to just be a collection piece. The leaf shaped blade has a TON of cutting/slicing edge. And this would make a good self defense/fighting knife if being used under normal circumstances. Not too sure how it would fair against body armor though. Still, the spring temper of this blade means it will flex and bend without breaking. I see a good deal of the reviews mentioning how it does not fair well as a "thrower". I personally would never use this as a throwing knife. It's just too big and heavy. But, if you did, at least you know it would bend instead of break. I've had similar knives bend on me and I was able to hammer them back out straight. Try that with a stainless steel knife. It might fair better as a thrower if you remove the scales, but to me, it just doesn't look to be an adequate throwing knife. *Shrugs* just my opinion though. The Secure-Ex sheath is great, I have several other Cold Steel knives with this sheathe and they all stay in the sheath very well. As another reviewer stated, I also cord wrapped the handle for better grip and control. Feels great in my hand now. Overall, this is another great Cold Steel deal!

Cold Steel and their little Chinese workers have impressed me so far. I have three knives so far, including the GI Tanto, the Shanghai Shadow, and the True Flight. At about $20 each, I didn't expect much. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of all three. They all have a decent factory edge, feel very solid, and other than having "CHINA" stamped in big bold letters, they are beautiful knives. The Tanto and Shanghai both have sturdy, textured, and easily removable plastic handles that fit my big hands well. Not only do I trust my grip when goofing around, but it would be easy to replace the handles or to turn these sturdy chunks of steel into spear heads for when the zombies inevitably attempt to topple civilization and eat our brains. The para-cord on the True Flight is a good color for absorbing sweat and zombie blood, while providing a comfortable and trustworthy grip. It's heavier and larger than most throwing knives, making it stick well, work well as a utility knife, and creates a significant margin of error if I ever have to use it for self-defense. Overall, these knives are proof that you don't always get what you pay for. I look forward to adding more Cold Steel products to my collection, especially some of the higher-end items. I have my sights on both Leathernecks, the Chaos Tanto, Trench Hawk, Rifleman Hawk, Warhammer, Boar Spear, Assegai, and the Katana, Gladius, and Cutlas Machetes. I have seen nothing but great reviews for everything but their nonmetal weapons, but i don't have any interest in those anyway. Mike - Dawn's Husband

In my kung fu training, the double daggers were one of the weapons I trained with. However, until Cold Steel created the Shanghai Shadow, there was not, to my knowledge, a functional version of this traditional weapon. The Shanghai Shadow is modeled after the Chinese dagger (in kung fu, one would have two of these). For the money, it is a very good quality knife. It has a great edge on it; and has a nice balance to it. At a somewhat close distance (about 10 feet) and throwing from the handle, I was able to throw this knife and have it stick in the target that I have in the studio. Considering that the edges are very sharp, I wouldn't recommend attempting to throw this from the blade. Besides these were not intended to be throwing knives anyway. I only mention throwing it to describe they are very well balanced. The sheath itself is very secure. If I were to make any criticism of this knife, I would say that I'm not a fan of the very smooth handle. I would prefer something that had a rougher surface allowing for a more secure grip. That being said, I really like the Shanghai Shadow. I bought two of them; and can now do the kung fu routines with a functional version of that traditional weapon.

It is very sharp and I have tried it for both spin and no spin throwing styles. If it hits correctly it will stick. But the blade is wide and thin as well as long and it tends to catch air and become a dangerous floater at much range. The edges are sharp but thin and easily damaged by throwing. On the other hand it is nice looking, sharp and a generally badass weapon. It is too dangerously sharp and thin as well as double edged to be very useful as a belt knife. So while I like having it in my collection and might throw it at 12 feet there must be some kind of good use for such a neat looking knife.

This is an amazing fighting knife for the price! It's durable, came very sharp and can also be thrown using either the No-spin or Spin technique. The Secure-ex sheath seems to be good but I will halve to see how durable it is in southern Ontario winters! Overall I am very satisfied with my purchase!

Cold steel tiene buena fama con el filo que traen sus productos y este no fue la excepción.

Das Messer ist wirklich toll. Es hat eine große, sehr scharfe Klinge. Die Verarbeitung macht einen super Eindruck. Die Kydex-Scheide hält das Messer sicher. Eines der schönsten Messer, das ich besitze. Wer ein großes Outdoor/Wurfmesser zu einem fairen Preis sucht, der sollte an dieses durchaus den einen oder anderen Gedanken verschwenden.

Ein eleganter Schatten, der sich in die Hand schmiegt. Trotz ausgewogener Gewichtsverteilung kommt man nicht wirklich auf den Gedanken, dieses Schmuckstück zu werfen. Die harmonische Formgebung macht dieses Messer zum Hingucker in jeder Sammlung und ist dabei auffällig unauffällig. Schliff und Verarbeitung sind nicht zu beanstanden. Das Preis-Leistungsverhältnis geht in Ordnung.

This is a serious business knife. Definitely not an Edc but if you were to ever be going into the woods on a hike this should be on your hip for sure. Haven't practiced throwing it but apparently it has a good balance for that option. Comes very sharp out of box.