c.s. master hunter loose handle

S

spidanzas

Joined
Feb 11, 2015
Messages
45
Hello guys,.. long time. sent back a san mai mstr hntr b/c kraton handle was loose & 'rattled', not fully adhered to tang. even after only used for 'kitchen prep!' I s anyone familiar w/ CS cust srvc?
 
I have never owned a coldsteel knife. I try to avoid kraton for that reason. I want to see that there is a tang. From what I know that usually isnt a problem. They probably wouldnt sell many fixed blades if that was the case, because most of their fixed blades have the kraton handles,
 
My CS MH from 1994 and SRK from 1990 both have Kraton handles that are solid. But Kraton handles from any company can infrequently come loose
as they are epoxied to the tang. The occurrence is not frequent enough for any Company to change their use.
CS Customer Service is very good especially if you phone them. I presume that's who you sent the knife to?
 
I've had great luck with Cold Steels customer service but I would probably call them before sending the knife back. I've never seen a Master Hunter with a loose handle but have seen a few big choppers where the handle became loose over time.
 
Is it really such an issue that it needs to be sent back ? I'd squirt some glue in there. I recently got a fixed Recon Tanto and the sheath snap was on the weak side. So I gave the male side of the snap a couple of medium swats with a hammer to flair it out, works fine now. I suppose that monkeying with a knife voids warranty so I see that side of it. But I figure that I can deal with minor issues on my own. What happens if the grip loosens 2-5 years down the road ? Squirt some epoxy in there of course, deal with it as part of tool maintenance. But to each their own of course.
 
One of the reasons I avoid kraton handles. I would love a master hunter with micarta.
 
I've had Kraton and similar material knives for 35 years now. Not one has gone loose on me. Of course I have lots of micarta, leather and various
wood handles too. But in my opinion the Kraton handles offer two attractive features, one is that they are very maintenance free. A Kraton handled knife used
to dress game or fish need only be left in a bucket of freshwater. The second feature is that they are invariably lighter than their full width tang better handle material
versions. And wearing a fixed blade, weight does count sometimes. Kraton is affixed to the tang with epoxy so it;s not surprising that some do fail. But the numbers are
small. There are some folks who talk like Kraton melts in sunlight or something. Doesn't happen so easily or often.
 
KenHash said:
I've had Kraton and similar material knives for 35 years now. Not one has gone loose on me. Of course I have lots of micarta, leather and various
wood handles too. But in my opinion the Kraton handles offer two attractive features, one is that they are very maintenance free. A Kraton handled knife used
to dress game or fish need only be left in a bucket of freshwater. The second feature is that they are invariably lighter than their full width tang better handle material
versions. And wearing a fixed blade, weight does count sometimes. Kraton is affixed to the tang with epoxy so it;s not surprising that some do fail. But the numbers are
small. There are some folks who talk like Kraton melts in sunlight or something. Doesn't happen so easily or often.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ken, some good stuff in there. I used Isopropyl alcohol to get fish stink off the blade, after the last use.
 
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