18 May 2010

Review - Cold Steel Sharkie

I recently ordered a Cold Steel Sharkie (manufacturer product site:  http://www.coldsteel.com/sharkies.html ).
Search Amazon.com for Cold Steel Sharkie

This is a short review of the product that may be helpful to someone who hasn't had a chance to handle one.  I know from my own experience that it was a little hard to picture exactly what this product would be like from just pictures of the marker alone.


The Sharkie is basically an over-sized Sharpie-like permanent marker.  The selling points are that it is not only significantly larger and heavier than the typical marker, but it is also made of much stronger material.

Here is the Sharkie compared with the Sharpie I carry every day.


According to Cold Steel, the marker body is made of glass-reinforced plastic called Grivory and has walls 4-times thicker than "similar markers."

It definitely has a very tough feel to it.  I don't plan to do any destructive testing on it any time soon, but it is a very solid chunk of plastic.  It also has a slightly rough texture which helps with a solid grip.  It is not slick plastic at all.

I have fairly large hands and the Sharkie has a solid feel when grasped in a fist and a serious chunk of marker extends beyond the fist.


So, in addition to being a nice fat marker that isn't going to break in your pocket or bag, it has potential as a self-defense tool for times and places where more lethal tools are not available.

Cold Steel mentions in their own product description that the Sharkie can be used as a Yawara stick.

This thing would be great for hammerfist strikes.  It also becomes a fist load weapon by nicely filling in the interior of the fist and adding some amount of mass.  My one sample was 67 grams (over 2 ounces).

Note that it is NOT designed to be a stabbing weapon with the cap off and the more slender writing tip exposed.

  1. The heavy-duty cap is attached with heavy-duty threads.  It takes several turns of the cap to remove it.
  2. The writing tip is not extra reinforced.  It is probably as strong as any Sharpie, but it does not have a metal tip or any metal reinforcement.
  3. The heavy-duty cap can not be reattached to the butt end of the marker like on the typical Sharpie.  You can not push the cap or screw the cap onto the other end of the marker to extend the length of the tool with the writing tip exposed.



One last thing I noted:  the markings (e.g., the shark mouth, the SHARKIE label) are very, very durable.  I thought I would take a little scrub pad and rub the image and the lettering off of the marker (just to make it even more clear that this is nothing more than a fat marker as far as anyone else needs to know).  Well... rubbing the marker down with a scrub pad that would have taken rust off of steel did nothing to remove the lettering off of the Sharkie.  In fact, it did nothing to the marker body at all -- no scratches, no roughening of the texture.  I could have tried some really coarse sandpaper or taken it to the bench grinder, but again I only have one of these and I don't plan on doing any destructive testing on it at this time.

Search Amazon.com for Cold Steel Sharkie

Disclosure:  I have no relationship with Cold Steel other than purchasing some of their products through a 3rd party.  I was not compensated by the manufacturer in any way for this review.

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