COLD STEEL Mini Tuff Lite 2" 4034SS Sheepsfoot Razor-Sharp Blade 3" Griv-Ex Handle Everyday Carry Pocket Folding Knife w/Tri-Ad Lock

Another quality knife from Cold Steel. Two inch blade allows this knife to be carried almost anywhere, including areas with restrictions on blade length, but the Warncliffe blade design is robust, and coupled with the Tri-Ad locking mechanism allows this knife to punch well above it's size. This is a great choice for EDC; very light and unobtrusive, with the pocket clip allowing it to be carried in a variety of ways, and the AUS-8 blade sharpens easily and holds a decent edge.

When I first received the knife I was a little surprised how small it was. I had read the information and knew the dimensions of the knife but it still wasn't what I expected. The other thing that really surprised me was how light the knife was. It feels light as a feather. I first opened up the knife and felt a distinct snap as the blade locked open. It just feels like a quality knife. The actual cutting portion of the blade is 1 1/4". This may be a pro or con depending on who is purchasing it but it is perfectly fine for me. The blade itself feels like a scalpel. Razor sharp should be taken literaly here. A portion of the blade is rounded out for your index finger. Also there is the round cutout(for your middle finger) in the grips for your thumb to swing open the knife. My hands are average size and with the knife open, these cutouts make the knife fit my hand like a glove. The cons about this knife are few but are worth noting. First the belt clip attached to the knife, while secure and strong, is not able to be removed and attached to the other side. So southpaws might not like the arrangement. Second, the cutout for thumb opening really should be rounded some. The grips are a little tall at that point and it makes it a little difficult for your thumb to smoothly open the knife. Someone with a steady hand and and a grinding tool could probably make quick and easy work of this. To me the pros of this knife far, far outweigh the cons. Especially for the price. So if you are looking for a EDC knife that is small, light, sharp, and high quality, this thing is a pure bargin.

This review is only relevant as of January 2021. Cold Steel has been purchased by a large outdoors company which seems committed to the usual, prior quality control that Cold Steel is famous for. Also, rather than a batch of recycled slightly-less-than-perfect Tuff Lites, I might have just gotten a one-off lemon. I purchased this black mini Tuff Lite in the second week of January 2021. It was from Amazon's own stock and I presume ((hope?) that their stock is fresh with good turnover of inventory. A fair while back, Cold Steel announced a shift in steel in the Micro Recon and Tuff Lite to 4034SS. In fact, this is the steel labeled on the carton. However, in reality the enclosed knife - with factory seal tape on each end of the carton - is etched as AUS8 instead of 4034ss. (Amazon got it more "right" than Cold Steel, since the product description says AUS8). I'm not complaining about the steel discrepancy because AUS8 is generally considered a superior steel, while knifeuser dot com rates 4034SS, a Krupp steel, as a low-low end steel for a pocket knife, roughly comparable to 420HC in his opinion as to formulation. (That being said, Buck Knives teases out AUS8 levels of performance from their 420HC steel, thanks to the well-recognized superiority of the BOS heat treatment. On the other hand, Cold Steel is renowned for the quality and consistency of THEIR heat treatment.) Here's where I'm going to complain. There is some side to side and up and down wiggle in the blade when locked open. I have a good number of of Cold Steel folders, and this has NEVER happened before. To be honest, quality feels much like - ha ha, here's Buck Knives again - an American-made Buck folder. Safe and usable, but sloppy. Not the high quality tolerances from Japanese, Taiwanese, and now Chinese sub contractors and OEM's that revolutionized cheap factory folders by elevating them to "custom" levels of tolerances, fit, and finish. The only problems I've ever had before with Cold Steel Knives was overly tight lock-up Tri Ad locks on the Hold Out and a couple of other early Tri Ad folders, which felt like they needed a Vise Grip to move that final fraction of a millimeter to unlock the blade, and a former Tuff Lite plain edge that chipped when I cut some speaker wire with it (I know that the Tuff Lite's hollow grind is thin at the edge, and cutting wire isn't an "approved" use, but this was thin gauge, multi-strand speaker wire and I expect a Cold Steel blade to be tougher than that). So, I know Cold Steel is crazy dedicated to quality control. From time to time they've even mentioned publicly that they've had to scrap some incoming shipments (which they sell as "2nd's" or dispose of) due to lack of quality control - the lack of the very high quality control we expect from ALL Cold Steel Knives whether from Japan (Seki City, the "original" source of my Voyagers; or Taiwan with their mad quality control apparently born out of precision bicycle parts manufacturing; or even from China mainland, which can produce perfect anything these days IF the maker keeps an eye on the subcontractor). So I got what is essentially a second, in my opinion, maybe some "nearly good enough" stock that got shoved into available on-hand Cold Steel cartons marked 4034SS. This assumes Cold Steel cartons their knives in Ventura and not in the factory in Taiwan. The other way to look at it, is that Cold Steel didn't like the way 4034SS was performing and made a mid-production run change from 4034SS back to AUS8 and kept using the stock of available cartons on hand back in Taiwan. And, that far from a 2nd, my former luck with perfect or near-perfect Cold Steel Knives simply ran out, and I just got a "Buck quality" highly functional but not emotionally satisfying loose-goosey Tuff Lite Mini. I'm not going to return this based on the sloppiness, although for $28 I'm tempted to, I just share it here since a lot of fans are worried that Cold Steel quality, or designs, will sink now that GMS owns them. Now I've given the Tuff Lite Mini the benefit of the doubt, hence 5 stars except for "value". There is NO other "folding package cutter" that has SUCH a solid lockback, SUCH a thick handle, and still comes in at 1.5 ounces with, for me, the perfect clip location (reverse side from normal) for carrying in my left hand shirt pocket clipped all the way to the left of pocket. I simply can't give this 5 stars for value, at least not at close to $30 in January 2021. $30 is Ontario Knives' Rat 2 pricing territory, and exceeds most pricing for the excellent, but much longer, Kabar Dozier Folding Hunter which weighs in at 2.2 ounces. I would hope once supply lines get better post-Covid, that we'll see more competitive $20 range pricing on this, and if you see that, it's 5 stars all the way across. If you are in a very restrictive, size-limited jurisdiction, consider this, the Dragonfly, the Micro Recon, the Lady Bug (expecially serrated). Cold Steel also sells the Mini Tuff Lite in serrated, and a larger sized Tuff Lite. Anyway that's enough venting. This is a great pocket knife, and no one comes up with odd-ball yet highly functional designs like this other than Cold Steel. Now if only Cold Steel would reintroduce a Voyager with thinner handles and D2 steel....

Five stars for what it is for me, your mileage may vary. Why I like it: Triad lock is incredibly strong, but in such a small knife it isn't important; The form factor (Wharncliffe) is utility knife useful; The blade is one-hand-opening; the handle length can be effectively extended by a short, thick lanyard; the pocket clip is adequately robust and the handle material doesn't abrade fabric; the spine of the blade is a sharp 90°, useful for scraping wood & ferrocerium rods. I use this as my every day carry one-hand-opening small utility knife clipped to my pocket. It opens easily, feels comfortable and natural in-hand and in-use. It is sharp and cuts very well; think of it as a quick at hand utility knife for as needed daily tasks. I have the larger Tuff-Lite, too, which I use while wilderness backpacking as my "one-handed-opening" easy accessed cutting tool for cordage cutting, scraping fatwood, "striking" my ferro rod, etc. The "Mini" is my at home / in town smaller-sized daily user.

Great little knife. Surprisingly comfortable in my very large hands. I use it at work for opening boxes all day and it is great. Sharpens super easy and retains its edge well. Takes me about 2 minutes to get it back to shaving sharp after a few weeks of use. I work in vending and having a small knife thay basically acts like a typical box cutter that you can reshapen and use in front of people without freaking them out is great.

I've carried this knife through some of the toughest days of my life- burning buildings, car wrecks, rescues, and many other situations- it's held up to that kind of regular use. Small enough in my pocket to not get in the way of any movement (nor cause any discomfort), print on uniform pants, or to stand out as large and unreasonable. The small blade length is almost always plenty big to get the job done (I mean... I wouldn't cut an onion with it, use a kitchen knife for that)- and the way the knife holds in the hand when opened is pretty decent- I've never dropped this knife. Super lightweight, and the clip holds VERY tight to the pants, it's great. Being such a unique knife, if I ever left it on a table at the station or somewhere else- everyone knew immediately that it was mine. I got another one for camping, and I put a 6 inch dummy cord with some orange / reflective bank line so if it fell into the brush or got lost I could sniff if out with a flashlight. My only problem with the knife is that I'm upset to have lost my first one- it was a damn good knife, with battle scars and tall tales attributed to it! It does not hurt me to buy a new one. Handiest $20 I ever spent.

Purchased this knife for work on account that it's bigger brother the Tanto was just too large. Razor sharp coming out of the box. Fits in my pocket and don't need to clip it on my waist, but it's nice to know that option's available. Has that satisfying "snap" when it opens up. Sturdy locking pin and will not close on you, I already tried while wearing cut resistant gloves. A little pricey but definitely a quality product. Meant for light duty cutting only. If you plan on cutting two inch hose or something in that nature, use something larger. For everday, light duty use only. Cold Steel makes knives for larger purposes. Definitely a good purchase if you don't mind paying a little more for a small knife.

First few minutes with the Mini after opening the box: Sharp YES ! Plenty. I am a hand tool fine woodworker and I know what sharp is. Initially had trouble closing but once I discovered that if I put the lever against the second knuckle of my index finger, rather than between knuckles against the bone, I could close it 100 % of the time no problem even without looking. Not one handed though unless I press the back of the blade against my leg. Careful you don't cut off something you may need later. Opening one handed; yes that was kind of awkward to start but I looked at it and the slotted hole actually helps rather than a round hole. Once I got a little muscle memory of how to do it I could open it one handed 100 % of the time and after a while it helped to not look but to just feel for the right way to hold it, which is natural and no fumbling once you pay attention and feel it a few times. Don't over think it just feel and practice. I have small hands and am a mechanic so maybe I am lucky but opening one handed is no problem. Personally I like this hole in the blade style rather than the post on the blade that can be in the way of cutting stuff. This oval hole makes it super easy to open two handed especially if you have short finger nails (no finger nails) or your hands are wet etc. Sharp edges on the blade other than the cutting edge and general finish : Yes they are in need of a bit of chamfering. Hence my four stars rather than five. The over all finish and all is just fine. For the price this is a great knife. Guys . . . for the price you can take the end of one of your sharpening stones or other abrasive like object and take off a bit of the squareness if you like. Heck I was fully prepared from the other reviews (stiffness at the pivot and hard to open) to take the knife apart and or loosen the pivot. No need it is perfect out of the box. I would buy this again and recommend it.