I have both the large one and the small one. The large one says "mini hunter" (official name for the small one) on the blade under the Pendleton name. The whole logo thing is also a little crooked. Silly folks at Cold Steel! Or rather silly folks at some unnamed factory in Japan.
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Anyone else have a Cold Steel Pendleton Hunter
- Thread starter Carl64
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- Apr 27, 1999
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I assumed that the silly factory was in Taiwan. Have you used them for hunting? How do you like the way that they work?
I don't use them for hunting. I bought the small one first when I was looking for a small fixed blade. Then I felt like getting a larger fixed blade, just for general use and playing with, and there was the large model. However, I can offer some detailed comments. There are some good and bad things...
The kraton handle is molded together very precisely. You can hardly see the seam between the two halves.
The blade is ground out amazingly well. It's 3/16" steel with a nice hollow grind down to a fairly thin edge, about 1/32" just before the edge bevel. It's very sharp and the edge bevel looks like a low enough angle.
The edge design is such that the very edge at the base of the blade hangs below the tang. I like this because you can sharpen it all the way back without the tendency to get a recurve over time.
The sheath is simple molded plastic but it works good enough. The part of the handle that would be the "guard" is thicker than the handle just behind it (although the handle bulges out towards the middle), and it bumps past two lumps on the inside of the sheath to hold itself in. The mini version doesn't work so good in this way, but the large one is good.
The first bad thing is the steel. I haven't tried the big one yet, but the small one doesn't hold a good edge very long. It gets a little deformed and doesn't cut as cleanly after only a little use. It's not terrible, but the same as the Voyager models. The larger model is the same steel, so don't expect any pleasant surprises there. I don't know what kind of edge retention you need for skinning, but there are better things out there. But the bevel on this one is so good that it might keep up with better steel ground into a blunter shape. It also isn't all that bad, because I once used a Voyager to cut up a very large quantity of boxes that had to be broken down for disposal. It held up to do the task, even though it didn't retain the razpr edge very long.
The second bad thing, in my opinion, is the handle shape. It doesn't feel like it was made for any particular grip style, and isn't impressively comfortable in any specific hold. It seems best for a straight fist, like an upward stabbing grip. If you want to place your thumb on the spine of the handle or blade, you will wish it had a choil for your index finger. The index finger location is the widest part of the handle (besides butt and guard) vertically (you can see this in pictures), but the thinnest part horizontally. Not very good for what I think is called a sabre grip. But the plus side is it isn't terrible for any particular grip either. It's still a fairly beefy handle and if you want multiple grip options maybe the simple shape is better. However, maybe I don't know what is best because I have never skinned a deer.
The third bad thing is the balance of the knife in the sheath. I like to use sheaths without the snap restraint. This sheath and knife hold together enough to do that, but without the snap restraint the knife wants to tip over. It's a fairly heavy knife due to the thick stock, and it balances about 1" behind the handle guard. It would be nice if there was a longer solid plastic layer running up the back (it's mostly flexible nylon) so the knife/sheath together would "hang" from a higher point.
I paid $40 for it. It's a simple design, very well made from average steel. It feels like a solid knife for the price.
The kraton handle is molded together very precisely. You can hardly see the seam between the two halves.
The blade is ground out amazingly well. It's 3/16" steel with a nice hollow grind down to a fairly thin edge, about 1/32" just before the edge bevel. It's very sharp and the edge bevel looks like a low enough angle.
The edge design is such that the very edge at the base of the blade hangs below the tang. I like this because you can sharpen it all the way back without the tendency to get a recurve over time.
The sheath is simple molded plastic but it works good enough. The part of the handle that would be the "guard" is thicker than the handle just behind it (although the handle bulges out towards the middle), and it bumps past two lumps on the inside of the sheath to hold itself in. The mini version doesn't work so good in this way, but the large one is good.
The first bad thing is the steel. I haven't tried the big one yet, but the small one doesn't hold a good edge very long. It gets a little deformed and doesn't cut as cleanly after only a little use. It's not terrible, but the same as the Voyager models. The larger model is the same steel, so don't expect any pleasant surprises there. I don't know what kind of edge retention you need for skinning, but there are better things out there. But the bevel on this one is so good that it might keep up with better steel ground into a blunter shape. It also isn't all that bad, because I once used a Voyager to cut up a very large quantity of boxes that had to be broken down for disposal. It held up to do the task, even though it didn't retain the razpr edge very long.
The second bad thing, in my opinion, is the handle shape. It doesn't feel like it was made for any particular grip style, and isn't impressively comfortable in any specific hold. It seems best for a straight fist, like an upward stabbing grip. If you want to place your thumb on the spine of the handle or blade, you will wish it had a choil for your index finger. The index finger location is the widest part of the handle (besides butt and guard) vertically (you can see this in pictures), but the thinnest part horizontally. Not very good for what I think is called a sabre grip. But the plus side is it isn't terrible for any particular grip either. It's still a fairly beefy handle and if you want multiple grip options maybe the simple shape is better. However, maybe I don't know what is best because I have never skinned a deer.
The third bad thing is the balance of the knife in the sheath. I like to use sheaths without the snap restraint. This sheath and knife hold together enough to do that, but without the snap restraint the knife wants to tip over. It's a fairly heavy knife due to the thick stock, and it balances about 1" behind the handle guard. It would be nice if there was a longer solid plastic layer running up the back (it's mostly flexible nylon) so the knife/sheath together would "hang" from a higher point.
I paid $40 for it. It's a simple design, very well made from average steel. It feels like a solid knife for the price.
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2000
- Messages
- 45,835
Have both. The large one is a nice enough design IMO, but I have not put it to the test on a deer yet. I can say though that the CS Master Hunter makes quick work of a deer.
The smaller Pendleton is tiny. When I saw it, I laughed. Wound up sticking it in some camping gear to use as a food prep knife. Reminded me of a paring knife.
As for crooked logos, this sounds familiar. I recently bought a CS stockman slipjoint, and the logo had been put on upside down. After inquiring about this flaw, I received an email from CS saying: "Unfortunately, our entire shipment of Classic Stockman's came with the logo upside down. You can easily remove the logo and rotate it 180 degrees. Thank you."
How's that for Quality Control? It's the do-it-yourself version. I sent the knife back.
The smaller Pendleton is tiny. When I saw it, I laughed. Wound up sticking it in some camping gear to use as a food prep knife. Reminded me of a paring knife.
As for crooked logos, this sounds familiar. I recently bought a CS stockman slipjoint, and the logo had been put on upside down. After inquiring about this flaw, I received an email from CS saying: "Unfortunately, our entire shipment of Classic Stockman's came with the logo upside down. You can easily remove the logo and rotate it 180 degrees. Thank you."
How's that for Quality Control? It's the do-it-yourself version. I sent the knife back.
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2005
- Messages
- 322
Hmm. I "was" considering buying a Cold Steel Master Hunter. Was. Not now, after reading this thread so far, which indicates the following:
1. The Pendleton's edge holds poorly
2. Cold Steel's quality control is poor
3. Cold Steel's customer service is uninformed about their own product, and indifferent
I can put up with mediocre product quality, if that's reflected in low price, but I don't think it's worth the savings, if the customer service also sucks....but then product and service are both ingredients in the total package, so what do we expect? I'll pay a few dollars more, for more value, thank you very much. (Or in some cases, a few dollars less, for more value...e.g. Frost's knives).
Thanks for the heads-up, people.
1. The Pendleton's edge holds poorly
2. Cold Steel's quality control is poor
3. Cold Steel's customer service is uninformed about their own product, and indifferent
I can put up with mediocre product quality, if that's reflected in low price, but I don't think it's worth the savings, if the customer service also sucks....but then product and service are both ingredients in the total package, so what do we expect? I'll pay a few dollars more, for more value, thank you very much. (Or in some cases, a few dollars less, for more value...e.g. Frost's knives).
Thanks for the heads-up, people.
). It can do a lot of cutting, it just doesn't retain a fine edge as long as better steels. Most of my knives are better, but it's definitely not in the poor category.