Cold Steel Warrior Katana Review 

For posterity - If you have a Cold Steel Warrior Katana, then please provide the weight of the sword outside the scabbard. As well as the POB.

Always enjoy your reviews, and the honest impressions you share with your audience. My experience of the CS Warrior in the O Katana, the Katana, and the Chisa Katana has always been positive. They are built like tanks, and obviously to a price point. But they will tear up a whole bunch of large pumpkins and watermelons without any damage or dulling of the blade whatsoever! And they clean up well with oil and a bit of fine grit sandpaper. Your experience may vary, but l would recommend them to a backyard cutter without any reservations whatsoever. (They are heavier than my other katanas, and you will feel it in your arms for sure!) If you don't have a Cold Steel Warrior, l recommend getting one for whacking pumpkins in particular. And if you get good at destroying pumpkins without hurting yourself, then keep one by the bed for the things that go bump in the night...

I’d love to see a video about your favorite Wakizashi’s.

I have to say you do an excellent job going through every single part of these swords. Keep up the good work.

I really appreciate the professional review on a sub par sword.

Another great review, Matthew

Love this channel. Thank you from a long time sub

I really like that you are getting better at sharpening! Like it or hate it, it's a necessary skill. And it makes cutting a lot more fun if your edge is optimized for the task. Well done :-)

I got a warrior katana back in 2011 and after 10 years of cutting just about everything, but mostly old rubber tires it still looks great accept for some scuff marks. I have other katanas in this price range, but they are much lighter and better at cutting bottles and mats. To me it's without a doubt the most durable blade at that price.👍

Hey Matthew ... thank you for the shout outs!! Yes ... this sword was a conundrum for me too. At least on some levels I disagreed with you when it came to the Warrior. But, ultimately ... I think we agree on most points. Although, I, like you, found it a nice one to look at and hold. I just put the links to both of your videos on mine. Really looking forward to the conversation piece for this sword. As always, a thorough look at this model. I enjoyed the fact that between us we put this single example through various tests. Cold Steel's Warrior katana ... love'm or hate'm ... the thing doesn't seen to be going away any time soon AND it seems that there are those of you out there that actually love this thing. When ya talk about Chinese made Japanese style katanas ... eventually this thing WILL enter into the convo.

Dude 10 outta 10 on this vid. Like everything I wanna know and see. Thank you!

Mr. Jensen, thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I'm currently looking for a solid Iaito to begin practice with, and am concurrently researching various katana for when that time eventually comes. During my search your channel has been the most helpful resource by far. I'm not really considering Cold Steel, although I am thinking of something monosteel...that being said, I'm commenting on this video in particular because I am a bit of a student of literature, narrative and symbolism. On this Warrior katana, I believe the "arrowhead" is actually meant to be a "broken arrow," as you never see a complete arrow on the sword. They are always very deliberately split in half. A broken arrow can represent a few things, two of which would be most notable for my fellow Texans over at Cold Steel: 1. Peace (coming from certain Native American traditions) 2. A 1990's John Woo film starring John Travolta and Christian Slater Knowing what we do about Cold Steel, either (or even both) of these could have been the inspiration behind the broken arrow motif. But I do think they did a decent job not only in choosing that theme but in its execution as well. Keep up all the great work, and cheers!

Cold steel swords have always seemed like big beefy ones and I have been curious to use one, but there are a lot better quality swords I have seen, even in the same price category that I would rather own. Great review, always enjoy your vids man. I know that you arent an expert on swords as you say but honestly you seem very knowledgable about them and have been very helpful in presenting these swords in a solid relatively unbiased manner for the average consumer/backyard cutter (maybe even kendo practitioner). All that to say, you have the best noteworthy sword reviews out there from what I have found and I appreciate your time and dedication to presenting this information on youtube

I own the chisa katana. It came new and was without blemish. It was all in all perfect except it was Very dull. I was pretty pissed but because it was dull I was forced to learn how to sharpen swords and now I am pretty good at it. So i now have a skill most do not and in the future will come in handy and save me tons of $$$$. It in my opinion for 300$ is a great sword and will last many years. Yours here is longer and I do not believe any of them sold come sharp. I now have a fast and efficient technique at sword sharpening. I sharpen mine at 17 to 20 degrees. Not razor sharp but close...I am very happy you did a review on it and hope you review more Cold Steel products in the future. I personally love Cold Steel despite the owner is a bit of a Nutter. If we nit-pic the owners of every company in the world on all the things we buy we would almost own nothing. There mostly a bunch of nutters anyway. I always appreciate your opinions and am thankful for your hard work.... I would like to point out that cold steel CO. as a blanket statement and Myself being the owner of quite a few sharp things cold steel that as far as I can tell everything they make is geared to be made Over built. As far as sword co. and cutting the rest of them try and get there swords as close to old school originals in specs weight and the like. Cold Steel is not like that. There more towards using those specs and increasing the overall dimensions so there all just beefier. So when comparing Cold Steel Katana Sword from another co. to Cold Steel in side by side showdown your always going to get slightly differing results. Everything about them is bigger so the cutting smoothness of cold steel swords will be slightly diminished in my opinion. Overall there products are built to last a longer period of time cutting heavy duty stuff. Vs winning a tatami match. Geared more for staying together cutting heavier duty stuff for longer period of time. Kinda like a fancy machete if you will. I would say there more like high end machetes then katana swords for winning competitions. There knives and machete are the same way. Over built to last a lot of harsh abuse. Thats my opinion anyways. There is big market for these kinda things for guys just like me. God Bless brother...

Do you have any recommendations on where purchase a quality blade? Thank you. Awesome video! 👍🏿

I thought they just meant surface chips and cracks in the lacquer on KOA. Crazy that Cold Steel does not consider fatal cracks in the saya a flaw. Drawing is obviously out of the question. That's not good business. Shares a lot of issues with the 1796 light cavalry saber I own by them. Came downright dull with lots of pings and dings....

Might I suggest a demonstration of the “samurai katana chucking” technique that Lynn Thompson has so masterfully shown on his Cold Steel videos??? 🤣‼️

Hey man, first time I found your channel. I watch Skallagrim, Matt Easton and Lindybiege a whole lot, so I think that's why youtube had your channel pop up in my recommended. This particular video is probably the last video I would have clicked on if I had a list of all your videos to choose from. I am not particularly interested in katanas and like you I also have a poor opinion of Cold Steel's products as well as their business practices. I just clicked on the video to check out your channel because I like when I find new reviewers putting out content. You're doing a lot of things right. It's not flashy but I like that you're providing the specifications on the swords you review in the description and where to buy it. You're humble and you shout out other channels to help them grow alongside your channel. You also come across as a guy who has genuine integrity and that you're knowledgable of katanas. You talk very quickly. You could speak slower if it's more comfortable but you never stumble over your words which is impressive. Wish I could do that. Katanas seem to be your specialty but you do review other non-Japanese swords and not-swords. I'm more of a western sword guy myself but I also really like South-East Asian blades. Would you consider reviewing a Filipino, Nepalese or Indonesian blade if I recommended one? I'll going to be checking out some of your older videos but I think you got a really good handle on this youtube sword review thing. You got a new subscriber today.

thanks for the testing

I got my cs warriors series katana back in 2009 still have it..... I had to resharp it cuz it came butter knife dull... Surprisingly not much has changed except for a few minor cosmetic details it's still looks like the same sword I got 11 years ago

Awesome review Matthew thank you for sharing! I wanted to ask cuz this Katana have a hamon line and if it does is it real? Thank you again! :-)

Absolute Gold!!

Great interview, though I think that cracks in the saya is a huge dealbreaker. Are the swords in the background custom made? They're really beautiful.

Can you do a destruction test on the Cold Steel Warrior?

Nice review. If you were to spend up to $500 what would you get? Are there $300 ones that are as good as $500? And say get two, a $150 and $350 sword. One being more of a beater or shoot for a $500? Just trying to decide. Going to watch your other videos as you have many in all price ranges.

Matt just saw your video...the Blade is nice and imposing...but a practical XL is a better sword for its intended purpose and its sharp out of the box...I collect cold steel knives and I think they are fantastic but never considered there Katanas to be on the same level of quality, they have a huge following in their foldable and fixed blades...My AD 10 is always in my pocket...great video Matt...got some jkoo swords im working on with reviews now...cheers 🍻

I have owned this sword for close to 8 years and the fit and finish on mine seems to be much better than this one in your video. I have not had any issues with cracks in the Saya. I have the same problem with the weight, balance, and I have never been able to make it cut well. I don't enjoy it like other Katana that I have. In fact my $50.00 ten ryu cuts better for me than the cold steel ever has. I don't feel that you are being biased in your review at all. I have several cold steel products and I like them very much, this one is kind of the odd duck out for me. I expected to love it based on other cold steel products that I own and found the opposite to be true. The key issues that you are pointing out are exactly the same issue that I have with mine. I think you are 100% right on the mark.

Thank you for your thoughts sir. I have never been a fan of Cold Steel products. I have always thought of them as being thick and chunky/beefy, along the lines of Mall Ninjas productions. I have a few knives from CS myself. But this item seem to be of a higher quality than what i have come to expect from CS. Great production and review on your part sir.

Hello, great review! I'm looking to buy my first katana. My budget is $300-400. What would your recommendation be for something that is suited for heavy cutting, can take a beating and hold a good edge. Thank you!

If you like antique Katanas try out the 'lanes armoury' based in UK.

I wish katana saya's come with a metal kojiri more often. Actually wish it was more like gunto's saya where it's metal with wood liner inside.

This man speaks without fullstops

Ok so you say you’re not a professional but you are clearly a well educated hobbyist. I’ve been wanting a katana for a bit, and I guess I’m caught on this balance of quality, and just wanting a sword to put on the wall to look at. (If I’m gonna put it on display I at least don’t want it to be junk) I came across “wicked swords” and saw their spiel and I saw reviews that said they are junk. Again as cool as they look I want something that has decent quality. What would you recommend?

Matt your body language is priceless. when cutting with this sword. you really don't like cold steel blades...I respect you for always speaking your mind...but the blade does look nice, and the hardware is nice, I like the gerth its threatening looking...after sharpening looked like a better performer...but ultimately I wouldn't look at it after watching your review...Grazie...

very intersting, that you appreciate that the tip is swelling/ getting thicker, because i hate the look of it 😂 i've never seen an iaito having a tip like this, but i know it's also common on Nihonto.

I have the bokken polyproperlene version of this sword and really like the tip heavy aspect of it. Do you know any other katanas that are tip heavy otherwise I would have to settle with this one and roll my chance and pray to the gods of rng for quality proposes.

The coldsteel warrior series Katana is the best , i just recieved mine and its awsome , the handle wrapping is so tight and the blade is fantastic the sheath the blade goes in is perfect no cracks no blemishes, im so happy with mine , coldsteel what an amazing company , THANKYOU 💪👌👊

I've never seen a positive review of cold steel katanas. Yet, they sell the Cold Steel Warrior for $590-830 here in Sweden. Odd.

The reinforced kissaki really surprised me. Like you said katana in that $300 price range usually doesn't have that feature. My Bugei and EB motohara are the only katana in my collection that have this.

The company was sold to GSM outdoors so maybe it will improve? But they may or may not be still using Huanuo Sword Art so who knows?

I am so glad I decided against the United cutlery (correction it wasn't cold steel) Warrior katana. Anyone can print a certificate of authenticity. I got a very nice T10 spring steel with real hamon, all fittings are tight and high quality. The blade itself is beautiful.

I sand off the finish in the saya and use spray on bed liner.

I would love to have a samurai sword mostly to admire but that can be used but my pocket is too empty to afford one of those.

28:12 A stab to the groin!!! Now, that's a thorough test.

When I cut bottles with My Sword I don't fill them with water, I fill them with sword oil, that way instead of them getting wet they just get oiled Just kidding

The wood must be shrinking, and if it's a consistent problem, then it's possible there's "something they don't know" about making the saya. Maybe the kind or treatment of the wood they choose, or perhaps the environment they are making them in. If they are making the saya in a particularly humid environment, then it would make sense that they are shrinking a lot, for example. I understand that they are just importing them produced by someone they are ordering from,,,,, but then the actual suppliers of all of the various parts might still be different than the suppliers that produce other windlass parts, they could be just putting up contracts and accepting bids. So, even though the blades are made by (I'm not sure who makes the katana) someone who makes other katana, it's believable that the saya is coming from someone who does not make the saya for the other blades the same blademaker makes.

And where r u from bro ur back yard looks beautiful

The factory edge on my Cold Steel Shamshir wasn’t great to begin with either. After 30 minutes of work with a work sharp it cuts like a demon.

i purchased the o-katana from cold steel. the kashira was simply pressure fit/glued on. lost forever to the void very quickly in casual transportation. otherwise fun for the price

I have a damascus steel katana that I bought from a Malaysian seller, which does not come with a hamon, I asked him about it and he told me that the hamon was not necessary because the tempering is complete, I asked him about the type of steel and he only answered, high carbon hardness HRC60, I bought it because I liked the design and from the description it could cut hard targets like bamboo, at that time I didn't know as much about katanas as I do now, but after resharpening it a bit and setting the edge well for hours, I cut rice fiber mats and bottles, cardboard dowels, etc. and kept shaving the hair off the legs as if the edge had just been settled. I bent it almost 50° without deforming a millimeter and came to the conclusion that I had made a good purchase. I don't think the hamon is anything more than something that they say they have to carry, but although today I prefer them with hamon neither this nor any other 5160 spring steel carry it and they cut wonderfully, I think that this sword in particular is 1060, one day I will make a video of all the ones I have, mostly because I would like to show them to people, thanks for your videos, they are really inspiring, best regards from Seville (SP)

I have a cold steel chisa,and the heft lends itself to different style,more body position,and foot work,than sword swinging.fyi.

Great review. But Cold Steel should market it as "Katana like sword ", like their Kukri, is a Kukri like knife.

I'm considering buying this sword solely because it is a Cold Steel sword with an excellent wear and tear reputation after cutting 'things' for years. I've always respected the owner as he did the 'Dog Brothers' sparring meet which is brutal.This will be my Zombie killing sword! Although you can't kill what's already dead. Are there any other swords that are nearly indestructible after multiple cuts through bone and flesh?

The koiguchi looks very wide compared to what I'm used to

Then what knife would be recommended

Can you make a review about Samurai Swords Store?

What are your thoughts on buying one of these and remounting it? It would seem like this could be a great production blade to modify given the robustness of the blade.

Please review a cheness yamakami ko katana, I just got one and I like it, its a wide blade like the cold steel warrior. Its not extremely sharp but sharp enough to cut pool noodles. Fit and finish aren't great but not that bad either, I'd love to see what you think of this blade. For the price, $250, it's a good deal I think but I'm really wanting to hear your thoughts.

I did a review of this sword months ago. I had the same issues you do here. The difference is I was told that it didn't preform well because I suck, or because I should have "sharpened it beforehand". Makes me wonder if you'll get those criticisms, or if people will stay quiet because you're an established sword reviewer.

Can you do a updated review on swords of Northshire maybe a different kind of steel from your first video?

I've been a Cold Steel fan for almost 30 years. I have over 100 of their products. Half of those are blade types. I don't buy anything else. I'm just not impressed when I see the other brands and especially when I hold them. I'm not interested in Tatami contests although it is obvious from Cold Steel testing that their blades are more than adequate. If they can cut 400 lbs of bone and flesh in 1 smooth cut then that's my idea of a blade in my collection. I want durability and to be able to use it in the Apocalypse. You can have the "pretty" ones. I have had the 6 inch serrated Vaquero Grande folder for almost 30 years as my EDC in my right pocket. I bought the Rajah ll in March 2020 for my left pocket EDC. You can't find 2 better knives for self defense that will last in combat long term. But everyone has their opinions.

At 21:50 you speak of Chutzpah. Is there a Japanese word for that?

Where can I get a custom wrap?

since it's cold steel shouldn't those pants be full of meat?

Can you review another dragon king katana?:’)

The cracks are a deal breaker for me period unless I get it for $100 or less. I might even buy a Saya from another sword manufacturer

Why did you not try to destroy this sword like you do other brands???

I bought the cold steel crane katana a few years back, the sword was trash and the tsuka was dificult to take off because of that stupid paper they put around the nakago

What name katana?

1055 spring steel blade

What are the Cold Steel business practices that Matthew's alluding to?

which is more durable cold steel chisa katana vs hanwei xl katana?

Nice review 👍🏼 slowwww down a bit though.. it’s ok to have gaps between the words 😂👍🏼

Shouldn't the habaki be "crimped" into the bohi ?n

At least yours came with an edge. Mine came dull as a butter knife which was worthless.

I've had two of these. Fantastic beater. Way too high of a price point for what it is. Both swords handle wrapping came undone in the first few weeks of owning them. I have other Katanas that are more than a decade old, hand wrap never needed to be re-done or replaced. I rewrapped these at first, but it continued to loosen. Replacing with a higher quality fabric wrap solved it, but not everyone has the know how or patience to wrap it themselves. I have a few other beaters in the $200 range that outperform the warrior.

23:05 there was the good slice.. not hacking

What is your favorite "budget" sword?

It’s funny how it has a decent point of balance and it’s not overly heavy, yet still feels dull and awkward in the the hand. From my perspective, it’s way too wide at the habaki and even for so at the kissaki especially compared to historical examples. Not enough profile/distal taper perhaps. I have nothing against Cold Steel. They make very tough stuff, but their swords have always had that problem. The are built more like axes and cleavers than the actual swords they are based on, and that detracts from what makes a sword good in the first place (well balanced, fast, yet powerful). Too long, too thick, too heavy. As the great Walter Sorrells said when it comes to Katana “Sometimes less is more”.

I think of it as more of a zombie apocalypse sword than a sword fighting sword.

Buy and review a sword from Angel Sword

Hanwei Raptor seems to be a better sword for the money

Musashi’s sword was very heavy, if a heavy sword is good enough for Musashi, it’s good enough for you.

1060 steel perhaps. You cannot brake it or even bend it when hitting.

I bought mine for $215 and no cracks. For 200, its worth it

Is it full tang?

If you don't stop all that humbleness lol, you are good at the kenjutsu style you practice from what I see at least.

Cold Steel looks as if it’s not a brand I’d ever buy

Talking about the weight distribution, I think you'll like this video :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qUUDb20NWpY.html He shows that changing the tsuba can help you adjust the balance.

Young tarantino

Is this dude on speed? Why is he talking so fast?

First commenttt!!!!

I guess i have one of the better ones lol. Had it 10 years or more.

If the sword would have been way cheaper (200$) I would buy it, but at 300-600$ It's not worth it.

Have to agree, poor value for the money. Glorified wall hanger, to me seems ridiculously expensive for what your getting.

Is it true many samurai lost their ears practicing? Watch your ears Matt

600$ O _ O

Damn! You talk really Fasst!

I bought the shorter Chisa (I think is what it is called) version of it and I could puke, because it is crooked. The blade isn't straight. This is the bane of my existence. I only bought 3 swords yet and 2 out of them are bent or have a angle between the blade and the grip. I was plagued by this issue before ever buying my first sword though. Basically every larger knife I bought either has a bent blade or that angle between the blade and the handle. Is that normal somehow or am I just ridiculously unlucky? I don't get it. What is so hard about making a straight knife or sword? Especially since nowadays most of them are just made out of plates of steel that get ground into shape? It is mind boggingly annoying.

Reviews and item where you cannot actually say you’ve used it for its purpose.