Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Modified Kobun


I've been looking for a fixed blade EDC and self defense knife for a while, especially after starting Pekiti-Tirsia Kali (that's another post).  I've tried out a few different knives, but I was pretty surprised at how much I liked the Cold Steel Kobun after ordering it from Amazon, especially because I only paid 35 bucks for it with tax and free shipping.  This is how it looks from the factory, measuring in at 0.1" below the legal limit for carry in Texas.



Anyways, being who I am, I couldn't just leave it alone, so I decided to make a few mods to the knife.  First off, the knife is very slim, and that's one of the reasons I liked it for a carry knife, but I still felt like I'd prefer something a little... extra in the handle.  The day that I got it in, the first thing I did was cord wrap the handle, to give it a little more thickness and improve my grip.

Here's how it looked after the wrap.

Right side:



Left side:


Right side:





I'd been thinking about how little I like the modern tanto shape with the very angular yokote on the kobun even before I purchased it.  I saw a few other posts where people had reprofiled modern tantos, ending up with something approaching a Rick Hinderer type spanto type point.  So with that inspiration I sat down with my whetstones and reprofiled the yokote.  Here's what I ended up with, and I think I like the profile a LOT more than the factory grind.




Even being careful while wiping off the filings, I lightly marred the finish, so I'll have to go over it with some high grit wet/dry sandpaper eventually, but in the meantime, it'll do just fine.

Let me know what you think

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