Sierra 3 Tactical Knife Review: Strong, Tough, and Combat Ready

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A good fixed-blade tactical knife should be an integral part of everyone’s combat and survival loadout. Offering extreme versatility, a fixed blade allows you to take on the enemy hand-to-hand, fashion a shelter for survival, perform emergency first aid, and much more.

The Sierra 3 is a good, if not a great, tactical knife. Handforged in Poland, it is all function, giving you everything you need and nothing you don’t, with a razor-sharp straight edge blade, grippy Micarta handle, and black Cerakote finish.

SIERRA 3

IS THE SIERRA 3 WORTH THE COST?

Yes. The Sierra 3 tactical knife is highly functional and ergonomic yet beefy enough to be used as a survival knife.

Price-wise, it’s on par with other highly quality brands such as Benchmade, Winkler, Microtech, Toor, and Bradford knives.

OVERALL

Created by Simons Knives, the Sierra 3 is an extremely solid tactical knife worthy of any battlefield. Right out of the box, the blade made from tough O2 steel is sharp enough to shave the hair off your arm.

The Sierra 3 weighing 303 grams, has a full length 0.185 inch tang with ribbed micarta scales on either side. This is a ton of steel and it rivals knives such as the SOG SEAL Team Elite for toughness and sheer strength.

The ribbed micarta scales feel fantastic in your hand. The ribbing is deep enough to secure your grip while wearing gloves but not so deep that it’s uncomfortable in your bare hand.

The finger choils on the Seirra 3 are also deep and ensure a strong grip in any circumstance.

The Sierra 3 isn’t as stabby as some tactical knives, but what it lacks in stabbiness it makes up for in sliceness with its nearly 5-inch straight-edge blade.

Overall, the Sierra 3 is a fantastic blade with excellent craftsmanship. Every inch of this blade shows the creator’s skill and passion.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

When I first pulled the Sierra 3 out of the box and held it in my hand, the knife’s strength and the handle’s comfort immediately stood out.

It was thick and heavy, yet it still felt great in my hand. The ergonomic design of the handle is spot on, and the rear jimping is perfectly placed on the spine to aid in your grip.

The long straight edge is aggressive and functional just as a tactical knife should be and the edge was razor sharp.

The Cerakote coating is nice as it aids in rust prevention and the aesthetics of the blade. That plus the green and black Micarta handle give the whole blade a solid tactical feel.

IN THE FIELD

The Sierra 3 has so far been able to handle everything I have thrown at it. From shaving kindling for fires to batoning the spine to help cut through thicker pieces of wood.

The weight of the knife has also made it very useful for chopping and clearing brush and branches.

This high level of functionality and being able to do anything you want it to is one of the reasons why I am such a fan of tool steel such as O2 and D2 steel.

I have yet to run into any issues using the Sierra 3 in the field.

QUALITY AND DESIGN

BLADE

BLADE STYLE

The Sierra 3 has a strong, thick drop-point blade with a full straight edge and a classic sabre grind.

The more rounded tip and thick spine take away from the stabiness of the Sierra 3, but the ability to slice and cut is huge with all the reality space on the cutting edge of the blade.

BLADE MATERIAL

Made from Austrian K720 (O2) tool steel, the Sierra 3 is perfect for hard-use fieldwork. O2 tool steel is a carbon steel which is easy to sharpen, has great edge retention, and is extremely tough.

O2 steel makes the Sierra 3 an all-around great hard-use knife. You can use and abuse it, and then when you’re done, bring it right back to hair-shaving sharpness.

The only drawback to O2 steel is its low corrosion resistance. So, in wet and humid environments, you must ensure you dry and oil your knife consistently.

REAR JIMPING

The Sierra 3 does not have a ton of jimping on the spine, but sometimes less is more. The small amount of jimping that has been added to the spine is at the perfect spot for thumb placement.

When you have the knife securely in your hand with your thumb on the spine, your thumb effortlessly lands on the jimping. This helps to ensure a solid grip as you use and work with the knife.

HANDLE

HANDLE MATERIAL

The handle of the Sierra 3 is made from tested and true Micarta. Micarter, being highly customizable and fairly grippy material, is great for tactical knives.

The Micarta scales have been given decent-sized ribs the length of the handle to comfortably fit into the folds of your hands and increase your grip on the handle.

FINGER CHOILS AND HANDLE SHAPE

The rear of the Sierra 3’s handle is fairly straight at the top but slowly curves until you get to the bottom, where there is a steep curve toward the fingers.

This ergonomic style of the spine allows the Sierra 3 to fit flawlessly into the natural shape of the hand.

On the front of the handle, the Sierra 3 has an individual deep choil for the index finger and one large and deepening at the bottom choil for the other three fingers.

The curve on the bottom and the recess on the front of the handle help the user greatly in preventing the knife from slipping out of their hand, whether bare or gloved.

LANYARD HOLE

The Sierra 3’s rear bottom corner, along the spine, has a lanyard hole built into it, and it comes with a short piece of cord for a wrist loop.

This is a great little addition, as you can tie a pretty good piece of 550 cord to the hole. 550 cord can come in handy in nearly every situation, whether tactical or survival.

FULL TANG

One of the most important aspects of any knife is the tang, the steel that extends into the handle. Cheap knives will have reduced tang that is short and thin.

Quality knives, such as the Sierra 3, have a full tang that extends the full length and width of the handle. This makes them extremely strong and durable.

Not only does it have a full tang, but it’s 0.1850 inches thick, adding to the massive strength of the Sierra 3.

SHEATH

KYDEX SHEATH

The Kydex sheath for the Sierra 3 is well-made. It’s tight and fits the knife quite snuggly. It also has a decent hold at the top when you fully insert the Sierra 3 into the sheath.

The Kydex sheath has three metal loops at the bottom, which can be used to strap the knife onto gear or potentially attach a universal belt clip.

The rear of the sheath has a separate piece of Kydex that holds the nylon webbing used to attach the Sierra 3 to your belt. This is a solid choice as nylon webbing is extremely tough and will hold up in any environment.

FUNCTIONALITY

The Sierre 3 is pure function, made for combat and survival situations. It is a big, strong, tough, and highly durable knife that can handle nearly any environment easily.

The K720 O2 steel is a solid choice for a field knife. It is a fairly well-rounded steel that is extremely tough, so it can handle a lot of field abuse.

It has great edge retention, so it stays sharper longer, and it is easy to sharpen, so when it eventually dulls, you can easily bring it back up to a razor-sharp edge.

The nearly five-inch-long straight-edge blade with a drop point provides a large cutting surface. Although the Sierra 3’s penetrating power isn’t as strong as some other tactical blades, its cutting ability is top-notch.

The ribs on the Micarta handle offer solid finger placement around the handle, and the finger choils help secure the handle in your palm. Even when wet or gloved, your hand will stay locked into the Sierra 3.

Finally, the Sierra 3’s Cerakote finish and green and black handle make it perfect for nighttime operations.

The Sierra 3 is a highly functional tactical and survival knife that benefits everyone who uses it.

WHAT I LIKE BEST

COMFORTABLE GRIP

One of my favourite aspects of the Sierra 3 is just how comfortable it feels in your hand.

The slightly curved handle, with the ribbed Micarta scales, and the deep finger choils really snug the Sierra 3 into your hand.

The Micarta feels nice in the hand with a gentle texture helping you hold onto the handle a bit more with out being to aggressive.

BLADE STYLE

Although I have owned many duel edged knives and knives with serrated edges have their place. I am a huge fan of straight edged knives.

I believe, through years of experience, that straight edged knives offer greater versatility and are overall more functional and for me function is king.

That being said the Sierra 3 offers a lot of edge which makes cutting, slicing, carving, shaving, etc. a breeze.

CONCERNS AND CRITICISMS

SHEATH CUSTOMIZABILITY

The two main concerns I have with the knife arent actually with the knife itself, but with the sheath it comes in. Tactical gear is all function and ease of use.

The Kydex sheath the Sierra 3 comes in is well made and designed, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t offer me a lot in the way of customization.

It was made to be worn vertically on your belt and unless you start drilling holes in the outside edge you can’t really hold the knife in any other fashion.

When I am putting together my tactical load out I want to be able to choose how I wear my knife, whether vertically or horizontally on my belt, or strapped to the MOLLE on my carrier, or any other way that best suits me.

SHEATH TO KNIFE HOLD

My other main concern with the sheath is the strength of the hold on the Sierra 3. The two mate very well together and the Sierra 3 seats very well into the sheath, but it does not have the strongest hold on the blade.

When I am in the field, and I’m moving through dense foliage, or just getting in and out of my armoured vehicle I need to be confident that, even if snagged, my gear won’t fall off me.

And although the Kydex sheath again is well designed and the two pair well together, and there isn’t as tight a hold as I would like to see for a tactical knife.

CONCLUSION

When you buy the Sierra 3, you are getting a hand made, well built, solid and highly functional tactical and survival knife.

Its beefy build means you can use and abuse it all day long with out fear to accomplish your goals and tasks.

Afterwards thanks to the O2 steel you can give it a quick sharpen and have the blade sharp and ready again for follow on tasks.

Thanks to its comfortable and well designed handle it’s highly functional in any environment and in any weather, although if you’re operating in a wet climate you’ll need to make sure you have a bottle of oil to help prevent rust.

In the end, fixed blades are an essential piece of gear and the Sierra 3 is a very solid fixed blade.