CDS AXARQUIA Full Tang Survival and Bushcraft Knife for Hunting, Fishing, Camping and Outdoor, 4" Fixed-Blade, Sheath, Firestarter

I was vaguely familiar with CDS ha ing seen a few reviews online of some of their other knives. All of them were good but, I tend to be very picky with knives I actually use. I own well over 100 different knives from novelty folders to high end survival and tactical knives. This knife has quickly become my favorite and my new EDC.I am not an avid outdoors man, although I love camping, or a survival expert by any means. So I can not say how this knife holds up under extreme use over time. However, I do use this one now everyday for work and rec. I use it to cut thick rope and tie line often and it has held an edge like a champ. It came out of the box fairly sharp but, I did clean it up a bit.I chose the mirrored finish and was sceptical at first as I do not tend to like polished knives. I like that forged look best. However, that skeptasim quickly vanished as soon as I took this little guy out of the box. It is a beautiful knife with a very attractive finish. The handle is made of a dark hard wood with what looks like hallow pins. It feels smooth to the touch without any problems gripping it. The handle is a bit small compared to some other knives around the same overall size. It fits great in my hand. I guess I have small hands lol.The sheath is just as attractive as the knife. Fits it very well. Some people have said they do not like the snap that holds the knife snug, saying it scratches against the knife when in searching it or that it is hard to snap and unsnap. For me the placement of this snap does not scratch or slide against the knife when I unsheath it. I can see maybe if you slid it out with pressure toward the blade it might but, I've had no issues. Perhaps I got lucky or the other reviewers were unlucky. The snap is a bit tough to snap and unsnap especially when you are actually wearing it. I decided to keep in snapped when I'm moving about quickly and then keep it unsnapped when I'm using it often. Haven't had any problems with it sliding out of the sheath on me. That won't help you with quick draws though.All in all I say if you are wanting a beautiful knife that isn't too large or too small and want a quality knife that holds up exceptionally well under everyday practical use that won't break the bank. This is a no brainer. I have bought two other knives from CDS since I fell in love with this one.

I haven't gotten to use this item outside yet but I can at least review the look and feel of the item. The sheath is nice and feels sturdy while performing its intended function well. I haven't had any issue with the snaps or anything else but the knife does have some play when in the sheath and with a mildly heavy pull the knife will come out. The retaining snap does well enough to stop it so far (owned for 2 days) from jiggling lose or being pulled out by light force.The knife itself is absolutely beautiful. The handle sticks out the most and I've already had compliments on how good it looks. It is really well done and fits perfectly so there are no rough spots from the spine sticking above the wood. The blade is nicely polished and although it doesn't have a razor sharp edge it is still sharp enough right out of the box. It has a very nice weight to it over all and is very comfortable to hold.I believe it is worth the buy and I will update after I've taken it out and put some stress on it.

I just ordered one of these knives this past Friday, after reading numerous positive reviews here, and it arrived today. So far I am very impressed with it. I hadn't heard of CDS survival before, but I have had knives from Muela and Aitor in Spain over the past 20 years, and found the quality to be a mixed bag, so I was a little hesitant to pull the trigger on another Spanish blade. I shouldn't have been. As can be seen from the photos I have very large hands, and found the knife to be quite comfortable. The knife cuts and carves well. I sliced up several onions and cut the fat off a few steaks in the kitchen. No problems there. I carved a few fuzz sticks and, once again, the knife performed flawlessly. While I didn't do any heavy batoning, the knife is a solid 3/16" thick and I think it would perform well, provided that one doesn't take on anything too large.The fit and finish on this knife are excellent. I was excited to find one in blaze orange, as I prefer my outdoor and survival gear to be high visibility. In the past Ranger Knives and ESEE both had knives with bright orange handles, but I haven't seen any lately. The best I have in that regard is the Mora bushcraft knife pictured above. The micarta handle scales on the AXARQUIA were well sanded and smooth, but still grippy. They were secured with flush-sanded rivets and there were no visible tool marks or blemishes.The blade is also well made. It has a full tang which projects past the handle scales, forming a punch or glass breaker for emergency use. The MOVA steel was hair shaving sharp out of the box, and held a good edge throughout the chores I put it through.Lastly, the sheath with the fire steel is very well designed. I have read other reviews that stated the steel can come loose. While this is a potential drawback, I found that by looping the cord attached to the firesteel through one of the snap straps it could still be kept with the knife. The only real problem I have with this sheath is that I, like many others, had problems with the knife retention snap. I managed to slice the thumb on my off hand while gripping the sheath and trying to get the snap released. I also have some concerns that the snaps could tear out of the leather, I've had this happen on other leather sheaths.Overall, I think this knife represents a lot of value for the money. In terms of quality it is definitely on the level of some TOPS knives I have owned, and is significantly higher in quality than either the Mora Bushcraft or Buck Selkirk of similar design. The blaze orange makes it easy to find, the sheath is comfortable, increasing the probability of one carrying it, and the fit and finish are excellent. Yes, the sheath has a few issues, but no knife/sheath system is perfect.