Cold Steel Magnum Tanto XII is STUCK in sheath?

Ok I think I got it figured out. The thumb ramp is confusing because at least on mine no amount of pushing on it will get the blade out.

Like WVtalakis is saying the mouth needs to separate a bit and if I touch to the left of the thumb ramp (which I guess causes more separation than the ramp), I can get the blade out.

Actually it works pretty good now... but man that blade is in there strong. The solution for me was to hit my thumb more to the side of the sheath and not the thumb ramp.:thumbsup:
 
I really find some of these issues bizarre on here! from knives the get blunted in seconds (secure ex) to knives that get stuck to the point of a grown man being unable to remove it from a plastic sheath!

Maybe I am just weird ;) I can buy a pair of shoes in size 10 and they fit without trying them on... same with clothes,size large fits me.... some of my friends have a mental breakdown over purchasing such things. Even knife handles that don't work in people's hands! I can use every knife I have ever brought from cheap to high end... tiny to xl espade size.. or maybe I am just lucky or again.... maybe its me thats weird!
 
strideruser said:
I really find some of these issues bizarre on here! from knives the get blunted in seconds (secure ex) to knives that get stuck to the point of a grown man being unable to remove it from a plastic sheath!

Maybe I am just weird ;) I can buy a pair of shoes in size 10 and they fit without trying them on... same with clothes,size large fits me.... some of my friends have a mental breakdown over purchasing such things. Even knife handles that don't work in people's hands! I can use every knife I have ever brought from cheap to high end... tiny to xl espade size.. or maybe I am just lucky or again.... maybe its me thats weird!
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Can't say about the weird, but definitely lucky.
 
thelastbestplace said:
Ok I think I got it figured out. The thumb ramp is confusing because at least on mine no amount of pushing on it will get the blade out.

Like WVtalakis is saying the mouth needs to separate a bit and if I touch to the left of the thumb ramp (which I guess causes more separation than the ramp), I can get the blade out.

Actually it works pretty good now... but man that blade is in there strong. The solution for me was to hit my thumb more to the side of the sheath and not the thumb ramp.:thumbsup:
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yep. that is how I do it as well. trying to pull out straight or using thumb ramp much harder and awkward. I dont have a xii or ix ones. i have all the other sizes though in 3v and San mai. same issues though with the secure ex sheaths on those.
 
I've got the IX and XII in San Mai, and all of the tantos except the XII in 3V. They all have some wonkiness with the sheaths. And yes, the way I get them out of the sheath is to sometimes have to push the two halves apart from one side. That always works to let them out of the sheath.
 
Easy fix.


Instead of trying to pull harder to get the blade out, simply spread the two halves of the sheath apart with your thumbs with a little force and then gently tug the handle to release the guard from the sheath.

Now that the blade is free don’t put it back in. Boil some water then pour it in a bowl, let it sit for a couple minutes. It should be scalding hot but not boiling. Dunk the opening of the sheath in the hot water and swirl it around for about a minute then let it cool off and the water drain. Once the sheath is completely dried try out the blade then thank me. 🙂
 
My San Mai Magnum Tanto XII comes out the sheath by thumb pressure downwards on the thumb ramp.

My 3V Magnum Tanto IX comes out by thump pressure pushing backwards on the belt loop side of the thumb ramp.
 
I'm sure most people would prefer leather sheaths if they sold them. The sheath on my original Tanto is very good, and the Magnum line had snaps which are better than the velcro of my Tanto sheath.

The problem is they've been off the market for years.

It would be easier to buy a custom sheath.
 
I recently (OCT 2022) had this Secure-EX release issue (or rather no-release issue) with a new Natchez bowie purchased from a reputable CS dealer. My search on it lead me to this thread. So – I appreciate everyone’s input/insight/experiences and I’ll add my own.

First: Issue is resolved. Extraction force is now estimated at 8lbs. Before – I bet it would have taken 1000+lbs of pull … not sure, because I never was able to remove it. I used the technique described earlier of pulling the top of both sides apart to get the retaining nubs away from the guard and then using a third hand to remove the blade (actually, held upside down just above the floor and shook it). I sanded the rough parts of the nubs down a bit and lubricated them. Really, I think they were only rough because the guard had been digging into them. This improved things but it still didn’t work ‘right.’

So what I did was: use a Spyderco ceramic file to chamfer and smooth the edges of the bottom of the guard down in the 4 spots where the guard contacts the nubs. Now it works as intended – good retention but the guard will force the nubs apart rather than dig into them.

I will say that the guard not only seemed to have sharp edges prior to this, it had a little rim built up on it, possibly from being a punched part that wasn’t fully deburred, making it want to dig into the sheath nubs rather than ride over them.

I touched the top of the guard with the file also to make insertion easier.

Quality check: insert / remove blade 7x, inspect for any flecks of the sheath on the guard. It took me a few iterations before I had smoothed the guard sufficiently to pass this check.

Final recommendation: I recommend not altering the sheath at all (don’t sand down the nubs unless they have already been roughed up and need smoothed). Rather, smooth out all rough edges on the knife guard using a fine file.

Obviously, if you plan on keeping this knife as a collector, you are probably not going to do this. That said, long term, I can’t imagine any other approach working (if your knife has the same manufacturing flaw that my knife had) because the removal of nub material by the guard over time would eventually render the sheath unusable.

To Cold Steel: At your low-end offerings, whatever. At this price point (2nd most expensive fixed blade knife listed on your website today), one could reasonably expect the knife to be usable when it shows up.
 
If you wedge your thumb between the inside of the sheath and the handle, it will spread the half's and the knife will come right out. If you just pull hard without doing this, it wont. I actually prefer it that way, With practice it's easy to deploy quickly and it will NEVER fall out.
 
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Wow, folks here aren't kidding... I just received a Cold Steel Magnum Tanto II as a Christmas gift and upon putting it in its Secure-Ex sheath, I can't get it back out! It's stuck in there good and won't budge no matter how hard I pull. What's more, the sheath doesn't seem to have any give to it, so I cannot push/pull the opening apart at all!

What's especially remarkable is that I also received a Cold Steel Outdoorsman, but it comes out of the sheath no problem, presumably because it has a different blade guard.

I'll probably just leave it alone for now because the last thing I want is to spend Christmas at the ER because I sliced myself open trying to yank it out of the sheath while holding it in some awkward fashion.
 
Uncle Buckmaster said:
Wow, folks here aren't kidding... I just received a Cold Steel Magnum Tanto II as a Christmas gift and upon putting it in its Secure-Ex sheath, I can't get it back out! It's stuck in there good and won't budge no matter how hard I pull. What's more, the sheath doesn't seem to have any give to it, so I cannot push/pull the opening apart at all!

What's especially remarkable is that I also received a Cold Steel Outdoorsman, but it comes out of the sheath no problem, presumably because it has a different blade guard.

I'll probably just leave it alone for now because the last thing I want is to spend Christmas at the ER because I sliced myself open trying to yank it out of the sheath while holding it in some awkward fashion.
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Just a thought: you could tie a cord through the lower eyelets and stand on the loop of cord while pulling the knife handle with both hands. That’s unfortunate.
 
Pry the sheath outward by wedging the tip of your thumb and index finger between the handle and lips at the top of the sheath. Then pull. Should come out.
 
Well, I managed to free it from the sheath, but it required me to essentially pull just about as hard as I could with my fingers on both sides at the mouth of the sheath then tug on the handle.
I ended up having to do this twice because I wanted to test if I had somehow over inserted the knife into the sheath or something, but no, it requires no notable amount of pressure to get the knife down into the sheath, yet a substantial amount to get it out once it's been fully inserted.

I think I might have honestly bruised my right thumb in the process, but at least it's free. I think I'll lube up the inside of the sheath generously before I give it another try.

I have other knives with similar sheaths by other brands such as my KA-BAR USSF Fighting Knife and Schrade SCH37 Extreme Survival Knife, but neather of those are the least bit difficult to draw from their sheaths.
 
hermit dave said:
Pry the sheath outward by wedging the tip of your thumb and index finger between the handle and lips at the top of the sheath. Then pull. Should come out.
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This is the answer. I have one and if I don't do this it will not come out of the sheath.
 
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