Best Value Folder, Period: Kudu by Cold Steel

Slider817

Slider817

Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
1,736
I know the This title is very presumptuous. There are many great high value folders, like the Tenacious, Rat 1, many CRKT and Kershaw offerings just to name a few. But for a $5 folder I think this knife is in a league of it's own.

http://www.coldsteel.com/kudu.html

Specs
Blade Length: 4 1/4"
Overall open Length: 10"
Blade Thickness: 2mm
Weight: 2.4 oz.
This knife is absolutely amazing. Although it's a two hand opening knife. It opens easily enough by gripping on the large blade. The steal which is Krupp 4116 is not by any means a super steal, it is quite rust resistance, and after cutting up about 75 2 foot lengths of cardboard which it performed marvelously with its thin blade. A couple a minutes on the Sharpmaker got it back to a great edge (Not hairpopping like a Carbon Mora, but great).
After Cutting up a ton of cardboard I hacked on some small branches outside, and the knife held up well, the lock did not fail, and I put allot of pressure on it. No side to side wiggle, but as it care out of the box it had some back and forth wiggling b=which I am not sure, but I think got a bit worse.
But for a $5 knife, who cares, just abuse it, I think it will last a while, mine have.
The knife feels decent it the hand, not great but its a pretty slim knife considering the blade size, which is large for a folder.
The knife for the blade size is air weight, only 2.4oz, albeit there is no pocket clip, the knife is so light you dont even notice it's in your pocket.
This Knife is perfect for just leaving one everywhere, in you car, bag, desk. Great as gifts.
I can't get enough of these, I have about 15.
There is one downside, I believe Cold Steel Discontinued these, but they can still be found pretty easily.
If anyone has some experience with these, please chime in, and if anyone knows of any competitive folders, please let me know.
Thanks
 
I agree 100%. My Kudu get's a disproportionate amount of use compared to my other knives. The thin, highly polished blade is great for food prep. :thumbup:
 
I have the Okapi, but not the Kudu. I got mine for $15.
Its a good, solid work knife, but nothing outstanding.
The blade is ground too thick, and the steel is pretty soft. Doesn't take more than a few feet of cardboard to tire it out.
The handle is compressed Olive pits, and does the job. Both the blade and handle need a good bit of filing to out of the box.

If the Kudu has fixed these problems, and for less money I guess its a winner.
 
I'd rather have the wood-handled Okapi (the knife Cold Steel ripped off...). I had one a couple years ago, and it was really sturdy and very cheap, with a great carbon steel blade. Gave it to a knifeless friend.
 
puukkoman said:
I'd rather have the wood-handled Okapi (the knife Cold Steel ripped off...). I had one a couple years ago, and it was really sturdy and very cheap, with a great carbon steel blade. Gave it to a knifeless friend.
Click to expand...

Okapi isn't an original design. The basic ratchet knife has been around for a couple hundred years.

Anyway if you want to get an Okapi you best hurry. Acorrding to Ragnar's site they're discontinued. One-hundred and eight years is a pretty good run.
 
I've got one and I believe you would be hard pressed to find a better knife for 5 bucks.
 
tabeeb762 said:
The handle is compressed Olive pits,
Click to expand...

Is that what they make the handle from?

tabeeb762 said:
If the Kudu has fixed these problems, and for less money I guess its a winner.
Click to expand...

I don't know if Cold Steel fixed to Okapi's problems to your satisfaction. But I'd say it is an improvement on the Okapi overall, which I guess had a certain charm in it's own crude way.

My only real criticism of the Kudu is that the edge bevel was needlessly thick. You'd think for a blade that had a full flat grind, they'd bother to at least bring it down to a thin and acute edge bevel. But it is pretty decent low cost folder alternative to Sanrenmu. It'd be nice if Cold Steel could expand the line with other low cost designs.
 
I used my Kudu to scrape epoxy off of aluminum test dollies. The epoxy was covered with concrete. After this, the knife was still sharp enough to cut shavings off the aluminum. Very thin shavings to be sure, but shavings by anyone's account. Touched it up on the truck window and did a full resharpening later at home. No complaints for a $10 knife.
 
The ring looks like it would get in the way & annoy me, or am I missing something? If not, it's an awesome deal.
 
jeffphansen77 said:
The ring looks like it would get in the way & annoy me, or am I missing something? If not, it's an awesome deal.
Click to expand...

It is a bit annoying, especially when sharpening. But other than that, it's not that big a deal. But It would be better without it. But you could replace the ring with a something else like a sturdy chain and that would get less in the way
 
The ring works for me as a reminder that it has no guard. If the ring is in the way of my grip, my hand is close to sliding onto the blade. Also, in certain cutting positions, the ring can be looped around the index finger for more security; think using using it as a paring knife. I am cautious when sharpening it on the belt sander.
 
Kudu has vaulted to the top of my list of Great budget folders. The edge out of the box was crap which is surprising for Cold Steel but takes a hair popping edge easily and holds it better than the Okapi. I posted elsewhere that it is an American-marketed Chinese made copy of an African copy of a German copy of a Spanish knife.:D
Once you get the hang of opening and closing it you can have a lot of fun with that ratchet-action.
 
My Kudu cost me about $407. $7 for the knife, $400 for the deductible for the emergency room visit to get my right middle finger stitched...





....you have to be smarter than the knife....
 
jeffphansen77 said:
The ring looks like it would get in the way & annoy me, or am I missing something? If not, it's an awesome deal.
Click to expand...

Apparently in the Caribbean, the ring is an essential part of snapping the Kudu's cousin, the Okapi, open with one hand-tactical style. Had a guy from Jamaica show me how but damned if I can do it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top