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MIL-TAC Knives & Tools CS-1 Combat Survival Knife: Customer Review

Customer Review by Ian Wendt.

MIL-TAC Knives & Tools is a small company, located in Wylie, Texas. They're relatively new on the tactical knife market, but in the short time that they've been around, have managed to come out with a surprisingly robust selection of products. One of them, the CS-1 knife is what I'll be taking a look at this time around.

The CS-1 or Combat Survival Knife 1, is MIL-TACs' flagship knife. It was designed over several years in-house by MIL-TAC and is a rather unique design compared to most everything else in the same market. The CS-1 brings a number of interesting features to the table, even though the design itself is very straight-forward. Drop-point blade (also available in a hybrid tanto-like point.) with a plain edge, flat-ground with high primary edge bevels. There is a substantial choil in front of the guard, which I personally like a lot. Makes it easy to choke up on the blade for doing fine work. The spine is thick and un-swedged, providing a nice big surface if you need to baton the knife through a large piece of wood.
Now, when I say the spine is thick, I mean that quite seriously. At it's thickest, the spine is .205 inches across. The blade is made from S30V stainless steel, arguably one of the toughest and strongest knifesteels currently in use. So this knife is exceedingly stout!
Now, where the design of the blade on the CS-1 shines is in the geometry. The high primary edge bevels mean that despite the thick spine it still cuts very, very well. There is also a distal taper to the blade so the point is relatively fine, boasting great penetration with no discernible loss of strength.

The blade has a rockwell hardness of 58-60, is 6.5 inches long with an overall length for the knife itself of 12 inches and has a stonewash finish. The stonewash is something you frankly don't see enough. It's a very tough finish that is also quite rust resistant. Unlike something like beadblasting which can lead to even stainless steels rusting in short order. It's not as non-reflective as a beadblast, but for most purposes, good enough.

Moving on to the handle, it starts getting interesting. The handle is 3D-machined out of G10 composite, in this case, a black and grey laminate. 3D-machined means that it's not just a flat slab, stuck on to tang of the knife. No, this handle has curves and swoops in all the right places and really fills your hand well. There's a subtle subhilt that serves to lock your fingers in and a birds' beak pommel to stop your hand from sliding off the end and also gives you additional grip options for chopping, by sliding your hand back on the handle. Please view review with photos here.

The handle is carved with vertically slanted grooves that provide a ridiculously good grip. Unless you have the grip strength of a paraplegic jellyfish, this knife isn't slipping out of your hand! The handle also completely encapsulates the tang of the knife. This is good news if you have to use the knife in very cold conditions. It could also help insulate your hand from electricity, but since the handle is both epoxied and attached with 4 screws, that option unfortunately isn't there. That's something I'd actually like to see in a future version. It can come in handy for some people.

Now for the usage part of the review. I've had this knife for some time now. I've used it on several outings in my local area, which is blessed with some pretty rugged terrain. I've trail-blazed with it up a mountain side, cutting through dense brush. A longer knife would probably have been better for this or a machete, but it was what I had with me. I've cut firewood with it, saplings, rope, etc etc and it's performed flawlessly through-out it all. I've managed to ding the edge only once and that was when I accidentally struck the edge against a rock. The resulting damage was minor and can be easily sharpened away. It's an outstanding cutter, the geometries of the blade are well thought out and it shows. I've in some ways deliberately tried to induce failure, by doing such things as stabbing it as hard as I can into green wood and then snapping it out sideways. I've done this numerous times and the tip shows no signs of damage or bending. The handle works remarkably well, but does cause some hotspots when chopping with it. Using a simple pair of gloves which the handle is sized to allow for the use of, would solve this problem immediately. The sheath that the knife comes with is made by Spec Ops Gear and is their top of the line Combat Master sheath. Very high quality piece of kit.
Everything, knife and sheath, is made in the USA.

Now, if there's any justifiable gripe that I can level at the manufacture and quality of this knife, it would be that the spine and the forward choil shows some machining marks, which appear to be left over from cutting out the blade blank. I'm not sure if they use a plasma cutter or something else, but the marks are pretty noticeable. Do they impact the performance of the knife in any way, shape or form? I'd say no. Not in the least. But it's present on both of the knives I received from MIL-TAC and is something to keep in mind if the level of finish is important to you. You can see the marks in the pictures down below.

Now, I don't know if MIL-TAC since then has changed this, so it may be a non-issue entirely.
MIL-TAC offers a lifetime warranty on their products, and seem responsive to their customers needs, so I'm sure they would take care of you if this did turn out to be a problem.

To sum up, I really like this knife. It's solid, cuts well and is almost obscenely overbuilt. I would have no qualms about taking this knife with me on a military deployment (which I hope to do within a year), camping, hiking, etc etc. I just don't see this knife letting you down in any way. MIL-TAC is asking 249.00 dollars for this knife. For what you get, that's an entirely reasonable price and in some ways a far better price than what you'd pay for similar blades from other companies.
Highly recommended!

Update: I was just informed by Craig Sword that the machining marks I've seen on the review model were apparently a glitch and are not present on any knives manufactured currently. Personally, the cosmetics are somewhat secondary, but it's reassuring to know that MIL-TAC pays attention to such things and it speaks well for their dedication to making a great product! Thanks to Craig Sword at MIL-TAC for providing me with the review model!

Note the profile of the handle, especially the birds beak pommel with the lanyard hole and the slightly pointy end. You could easily break automotive glass with this end... Or skulls. The typical grip you'd normally use. You can see how the guard and birds beak pommel serves to lock in your hand. A grip better suited for chopping. Sliding your hand back on the handle like this, gives you more leverage and speed. A high forward grip, using the forward choil. Good for small tasks and finer work.

And even like this, the knife works well. The wide, flat grinds and thick spine gives you plenty of space to put your fingers. I chopped, cut and scraped with the knife. This is a 3 inch thick piece of old, dead pinon. Harder than the hubs of hell and dry as stone. That's about a minute's worth of chopping. And it still cuts just fine, shown here by cutting a lambs ear leaf into sections. The obligatory beauty shot with my Springfield Armory XD.

Please visit www.mil-tac.com for more information.