Behemoth pocket cutlery......CS Rajah II!

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Ok, despite the gloomy overcast skies here I managed to get some pics done of my latest acquisition.......







The Cold Steel Rajah II is a monster. I seriously can't call it a knife, it's more like a folding short sword! Via my own measurments I get a closed length of 8 inches. Measured from the end of the frame to the tip of the blade comes in at 6 1/8 inches with a thickness of 3/16 of a inch. Straight across the overal length comes in at 14 inches even. Frame thickness comes in at 11/16 of a inch. Weighing this thing on my postal scale it comes in at a few ounces short of a full pound, according to CS it weighs 13.4 ounces.

It's built stout as well. The Grivory handle is full lined with recessed stainless steel liners that run the full length of the frame on both sides. The frame is held together by 3 double end torx bolts and a large torx pivot bolt. The blade runs off a pair of phosphorous/bronze bushings giving the blade a relatively smooth action......



The lock bar is 3/16" thick and short at only 2 3/4". It pivots on a solid stainless 1/8" thick pin. The blade stop is also a solid 1/8" thick pin but is surrounded by a slightly larger diameter stainless sleeve inside the frame where the blade makes contact. The locking system is the TRI-AD lock which is apparently designed to use this blade stop in such that all force applied to the blade goes through this stop and through the entire frame instead of on the lock bar. The lock bar is stout and the spring pressure is fairly heavy. It locks up rock solid.



The 3/16" thick Kukri-style blade is made of AUS-8 stainless and is flat ground and finished in a smooth bead blast. The edge is a V-bevel and evenly ground on both sides it's entire length and came out of the box hair-popping sharp. It easily shaved a patch right off of my arm with little effort. The blade sports a ambidextrous thumb disc right above the blade's tang. It is nearly 1/2 a inch wide by 9/16 of a inch long, and about 1/8" thick. It's torx bolted to the spine of the blade and is serrated on both sides which gives your thumb good purchase. It works very well, and despite the stoutness of the lock bar spring the blade opens fairly easy one handed. Although for people with small hands or short thumbs I can see this knife/shortsword being a bit of a pain to get open one handed.

The Rajah II came with two black-coated pocketclips, one for either side of the frame, but they only allow for Tip-Up carry. While I am a "Tip-Down" kind of guy, with a knife this big it doesn't really matter as it's unlikely I will ever carry this thing in the front pocket of my pants. That said, regardless of hand size pulling this out thing out from Tip-Up you will have to adjust the knife in your hand to get to the thumb disc for opening.......here a Tip-Down position would negate such an action and put your hand and thumb right where it needs to be on presenting the knife.

Anywho, on to the size. Here's some shots to give you an idea of how big this bad boy is. Here is the Rajah II along side a Case fullsize Large Folding Hunter, a very big slipjoint in it's own right........



And here's some crappy pics of the Behemoth in my hand. To give you an idea my hand is approximately 4 inches across the palm and a bit over 8 inches from the base of my palm to the tip of my middle finger.........





The Rajah II is a beast, and the build quality is very good.....fit and finish is excellent. Overall it's a great knife, albeit not very practical. But who cares about practicality! 

I like it! 

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[AHB]

Good review & great pics..    
Looks excellent for killing smaller zombies..  

[Benner]

They are monsters aren't they.    They look great for the money.

[Gareth]

I love the look of this even if it's not very practical.   It certainly counts as a folding machete in my book.

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AHB,

Thanks......yeah, in the right hands it'll work even on bigger Zombies!

They are monsters aren't they.    They look great for the money.

A monster they are, and they definitely aren't bad for the money. Citadel makes something similar in a bit smaller frame I have been wanting as well. There's is a linerlock with Buffalo Horn scales and a forged DHN7 steel blade........



........but it costs the same as these much bigger and heftier CS's. I'm still probably going to get one though! 

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[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Damn

That really is a beast in the finest CS traditions

If only I could think of just one reason to justify it beyond lust

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If only I could think of just one reason to justify it beyond lust

That right there should be enough! 

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[Benner]

Can you actually open it with speed?  For example, can you kinda launch the blade with the wave or it it a continuous motion until it locks up?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

If only I could think of just one reason to justify it beyond lust

That right there should be enough! 

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Sadly not on my income

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Can you actually open it with speed?  For example, can you kinda launch the blade with the wave or it it a continuous motion until it locks up?

Benner,

I have not tried it in Wave fashion but with a good quick flip of the wrist you can flip the blade to fully open without touching the thumbdisc. But you better be holding onto the knife really good.......alot of blade to be flicking out there.

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If only I could think of just one reason to justify it beyond lust

That right there should be enough! 

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Sadly not on my income

They ain't that expensive really, costed me only $92.00. But then again I am not sure how much these are going for on your side of the pond.

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[Benner]

About £110 over here 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

If only I could think of just one reason to justify it beyond lust

That right there should be enough! 

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Sadly not on my income

They ain't that expensive really, costed me only $92.00. But then again I am not sure how much these are going for on your side of the pond.

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Over the £100 mark I think

I dare not order one stateside just to have custom's confiscate it

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About £110 over here  

At the current exchange rate that is about $158 dollars, that is right at actual MSRP for these and a bit too much for this particular model. That sucks!

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