The Rajah III is basically a scaled down, more pocket friendly, version of its big brother the Rajah III. Designed by Andrew Demko, it shares almost all the major features of the Rajah II including a Tri-Ad™ lock, thumb plate opener, ambidextrous pocket clips, and a Grivory handle with steel liners for extra strength and rigidity.
The Rajah III’s handle offers a number of grip options due to its carefully sculptured shape and cross section and is particularly well suited to the reverse grip thanks to a unique thumb shelf built into the butt.
This knife is an excellent cutter, great ergonomically and rock solid.
I love my Rajah's. I bring my Rajah 3 along with me when the Spartan is just too big for my pockets. The Rajah 3 has a very comfortable grip and I love the flip action when I pull it out of the pocket. It came razor sharp. Though half the size of its pig-sticking brother the Rajah 2, I carry the Rajah 3 with confidence.
If you aren't looking for a big knife, but love different/exotic blade styles, the Raja III is THE knife for you. Like its bigger brother the RII, the RIII comes with the same build quality, quality grind. And similar handle depth. Because of similar handle depth, after I EDC'd the RII which the weight was noticable, with the RIII I noticed the bulk instead. But that was only in extreme bends like a squat etc. The Grivory handle grip has been improved, no traction tape needed now, but the pocket clip is a little snug, easily adjusted though. In-pocket carry and even coin/watch pocket without clip is plausible. Bottom line: looking for quality kukri blade for EDC, this is THE knife.
This is a knife that's been my edc for years now. It fits the hand great in forward or reverse grip and had a great blade shape for pull cutting and even thrusting if the occasion arises. The steel is of course not the best out there but so far it works for me. The tri ad lock is extremely secure and I love the thumb plate for its wave type opening, it is faster than an automatic knife when seconds count and seconds do count. Great knife. Get one.
The kukri blade allows for a large cutting edge. This is a wide knife when folded up so you will notice it in your pocket. The AUS-8A steel can rust in more humid environments. It's softer than some other steels but can be easily sharpen to be hair popping sharp. One thing to note is that when you first use the plate opening feature the Tri-ad lock will stick. After maybe 10 or 15 openings the lock will not stuck anymore. I suggest softly opening the knife with the plate the first few times. Build quality: 5 stars Materials: 3 stars Aesthetics: 3 stars Personal likability: 4 stars
This knife is in that nice Cold Steel Sweet Spot of price and quality, where they have a history of succeeding. My one and only complaint with mine, which I bought years ago was that slickness of the handle. Now with the added texture that complaint is out the window. The blade shape is an amazing utilitarian design for everything from slicing to chopping to thrusting, and the Demko Triad Lock is fully utilized. This is a beefy, serious use knife that will last you decades... and not just if you're nice to it. It'll shrug off abuse like its nothing. I am curious though in regards to the blade's specs... I wonder if BladeHQ made a mistake with the blade steel, I believe this particular model is supposed to be in BD1 steel instead of their old AUS8A. Either way, highly recommended but hopefully they see this review and double check. -Zach from Texas
This is an absolute beast of a knife, like most Cold Steel knives, but it suffers from being so heavy and wide. Great knife if you don't mind chunky knives, but it is too chunky for me and does't see pocket time
Good knife bad pocket clip