Cold Steel Assegai Spear with Short Shaft

Amazing product! The spear head is heavier and sturdier than I had expected - fairly thick stock and razor sharp. I was expecting a lighter gauge steel but was pleasantly surprised by the heft of the head. For up-close self-defense without a firearm, it would be hard to imagine anything more devastating or effective. That said - the shaft is just okay. A part of me feels that an awesome head such as this deserves a better shaft. But for the price, the package is hard to beat. I had to sand down the tip of the shaft to get it to seat deeper into the socket of the head. My sanding efforts resulted in the shaft seating an inch deeper than before the sanding - better, but not perfect. There is still a one inch gap between the bottom of the socket and the end of the tapered tip of shaft. That's no big deal as I wrapped that area (along with the bottom end of the shaft) with grip tape. Final length: 38 inches. The sheath seems to perform its function perfectly - snug fit and total protection. Pros: Amazing steel head Handy size Good balance Nice sheath Cons: Just adequate shaft Requires some sanding to make shaft fit deeper into socket Final thoughts: An amazing product! I like how Cold Steel brings modern, economical manufacturing processes to produce highly effective edged weapons. And make no mistake about that - this is solely a weapon, with no other non-weapon applications that I can think of. So why would anybody NEED something like this? I guess a lot of people use them for hunting. But boy, I can think of far more humane ways to dispatch an animal. As for me, I would feel fairly secure going into the woods with just one of these.

This is one big wicked spear head. Sharp and should be very strong. It dwarfs my CS Bushman which I have mounted on a shaft. I noticed a number of people complaining that the sheath does not fit when mounted on a shaft. It's a kydex sheath! Warm it with a hair drier or heat gun carefully and it can be shaped to smoothly accommodate the slight bulk of the shaft. Note also that there are two little bumps that lock the blade in the sheath. Modify them if you want the sheath to slip off very easily!. The nylon strap will hold the sheath on without them of course. The short shaft seems well finished for a working tool. That is, it's not glossy or super smooth but would certainly do well if you want it for a close quarters hog spear. I am thinking of making a longer shaft of hickory or white oak. The screws for mounting the head are rather tiny, but slightly larger screws should be easy to find in any hardware store.

This Assegai Spear with short staff is an execellent weapon, like all Cold Steel products. They design their products to be working weapons, and succeed. I own 8 Cold Steel products, they have never dissapointed me. This iklwa, because that is the sound when you pull it out of your enemy, is as near as I can tell an improved version of the Zulu weapon. Again, that is what Cold Steel does, they see a weapon and forward engineer it to the 21st century. I agree with a previous review about the staff not fitting. So I whittled it down. And then I drilled the holes. People buying weapons should be able to whittle and drill. Apart from the work to make the shaft fit, it is excellent. Very well made and sharp blade. Looks accurate. So you have to work at it, but then you will own a very good working weapon.

Cons ..Sheath fits too tight. A little file work on the sheath nubs will fix that. Retention strap a bit too short, hard to snap in place. Pros...perfect walking cane length for my neighborhood.....So Cal. Coyotes in my yard, neighbors cats and small dogs occasionally victims. 20 minutes away from my house..."wilderness" area hiking, biking etc where mountain lions have attacked folks and killed two people not too long ago. This "cane" will be effective if ever needed. I'll make a protective walking tip for mine.. Big plus...it came paper.shaving sharp with a light protective coating. Note, the lion attacks were from behind..victims were stalked, not confronted. PS... my wood handle fit perfectly. It can easily be replaced, if required.

The ideal feature of this is the sheath. The shaft is short and the sheath will hang from your belt or waist strap, and is barely noticeable. The sheath is so well tuned that the security strap can be released and the spear will still hang down on my waist. When in lion areas, we simply undo the safety strap and and walk with the handle hanging. This blade can be pulled out in less than a second. A perfect display to ward off a curious Lion. I have little hesitation in charging at a Lion with this. The idea is to get them running away rather than you running away. Longer shafts can be purchase at any local hardware where broom handles are sold. if you are using this for hunting. We used large diameter aluminum tube to sheath around where the blade is attached and this makes the whole thing quite solid. This is the same spear used for hunting by Bantu and Baka in the Rain-forest. There is well known footage of an elephant being toppled by a hundred cuts from this spear. Also have seen a single Masai charge and take down a young male lion with a longer version. It is a bit on the heavy side and would be perfect for trail use as a lighter metal alloy.

I have been looking for a hunting spear for some time and this was sort of an impulsive buy but totally worth it. So many knives or edge weapons i have bought on the internet have left me disappointed. They come totally blunt and low quality steel. This spear was razor sharp, it actually shaves hair. It came covered in honing oil in the case which when i put it back in the case it gets covered again and seems to prevent rusting. The handle is the only part that isn't ideal but it came as described. Nice wood, but way to short to do anything with, just grab a dowel from home depot. good hunting!

I purchased this spear to use in my martial arts training. The Head is durably made and seems sharp enough. The attachment is a combination of the shaft of the handle being cut down enough to slide into the ferrule of the spear, but then the shaft of the handle is affixed via 2 screws. Simple and safe. both screws snapped off when attaching the spear head to the handle. So, I would recommend pre-drilling the holes prior to using the screws which come with the spear. The handle, which I believe is ash, is durable, however the stain and lacquer which come on it are functional and that is about it. Due to the screw debacle, while enough of the screw exist to provide a semblance of safety from the head flying off from the handle, I really don't want to take that chance. So I purchased a red oak 36" dowel and in the process of fitting this down, staining, pre-drilling and then attaching to the spear head. Again, the spear head is excellent, the things which come with it are not. Speaking of which, the spear sheath doesn't quite fit the spear head. Perhaps I was given the wrong one, but I spent a lot of time with it. If you place the head in the sheath minus the handle, it fits. Add the handle, no fit. Personally for my practice I do not need it, but others may have a problem with not having a fully functional sheath.

Exactly as described, I can't vouch for its effectiveness since I haven't stabbed any intruders with it but it looks to be good quality.