Daring little dagger takes a stab as a defensive secondary.

This was a challenging review. Not so much because of the knife, but the usual tests I do. I’ve focused mainly on the cutting ability of knives and a lot of what passes through my hands falls on the larger side. The Contingency Dagger from Colonel Blades is a small knife. On top of that, daggers are made for, err … penetration—I’ll leave it at that.

From my knowledge, the dagger would be excellent for a backup, self-defense blade. It’s light, concealable and with sturdy AUS-8 steel can and will penetrate. Right off, I like the overall feel of the knife, designed by veteran and author* Tom Marshal, and find the handle very well thought out. It comes with a Kydex sheath, fully adjustable for great security. But the way it shipped, it already had excellent positive lockup.

All that said, no matter what a knife has to cut. I recommend that everyone test their knives to see how well they perform. It’s like going to a gun range with a new pistol—know its capabilities, both good and bad. I don’t like surprises and do not think you do either. Let’s find out the Contingency Daggers’ cut-abilities.

Light-Duty Cutting Tests

My regular bond paper was soggy after a rainstorm, so I used graph paper. It has the same thickness as 20-pound bonded, so it offers a comparable initial edge test. At first, the dagger ripped the paper, given that I approached the slices at too shallow an angle. Once I corrected for the knife’s steep grind angle, it cleanly shared the paper. The factory edge seemed like a 220-grit, sharp but not fine.

Next on the roster came thin cardboard, single-walled. The dagger quickly sliced through the material without any problems. The cut ends had a full curl to them because of the grind, which was expected. The diamond-shaped texture on the handle proved its worth here, giving the dagger a positive feel and great control.

I grabbed some 8-ounce leather for skiving and the Contingency’s blade made nice crunching sounds as it parted the hide. It was easy to control the thickness of each cut as the AUS-8 blade steel found the medium it liked. While I had the leather out, I did some straight slicing. WOW! Here, the dagger cut aggressively. Again, the handle texturing made control easy.

Heavy-Duty Cutting Tests

I couldn’t resist doing a little whittling with the dagger. It made coarse curly cues after I adjusted the cut angle more steeply. After settling into a rhythm, the dagger comfortably shaved through. Using it in this fashion reminded me of a survival school trick for making the base wood for a hand or bow drill. A dagger excels at making these fast. I carried a small dagger for survival, they are excellent in the role, if you know how to utilize them correctly.

I knew I would be taking a chance with 1/2-inch sisal rope, but I had to give it a shot. A lot of pressure is required to get a full cut on the material, and it made the edge prove its retention. The dagger gave a nice sounding crunch with 20 cuts. I switched to 1/4-inch braided cord, where it made 50 cuts in all. Not bad for this small dagger.

Overall Take

As a backup blade, the Contingency Dagger is phenomenal. I really enjoyed the handle’s texturing while cutting. The blade is wide enough to bring down the grind angle for a better cutting edge, or it could be hollow ground.

Contingency Dagger Specs
Blade Length: 3.5”
Overall Length: 75/8”
Steel: AUS8
Grind: Flat
Blade Shape: Dagger
Handles: Textured G-10
Coating: TIN black
Sheath: Kydex
MSRP: $80

*Tom Marshall authored the book Close and Destroy, published by our sister publication, Gun Digest, and is available at GunDigestStore.com.