cold steel all sizzle and no steak?

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I'm just glad this is going to be settled once and for all. This is it, the last Cold Steel Love/Hate thread ever on bladeforums. This may be one of those moments years from now I can look back and remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on that day.
 
Tsujigiri said:
I'm so glad that bladelover showed up to finally resolve this issue people have been arguing over for years...

But, I'll bite. Cold Steel makes knives that are outperformed and outclassed by other brands in every price range. That's not to say they make horrible knives, just that their knives should be much cheaper for what you get. Think about it. They pay for their advertising; how do you think they finance it? Their costs are factored into your purchase price, so you end up getting basic steel, Taiwanese COO, rough fit and finish, and substandard customer service for a price that could buy you a finer US-made knife with S30V steel and no questions asked repair. Advertising works for some companies to increase the resale value of their product, but Cold Steel's ridiculous campaigns do nothing for the customer. If their knives were maybe half the current street price, I'd buy them. But I'm not going to pay for dumb ads when I could be getting much more for my money.
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They really can't be even 1/4 as bad as you are saying or they would have been out of business a very long time ago....

Instead they are one of the major Knife Companies.

I have been using their products for 25 years personally. ;)
 
This just didn't feel like a proper CS Troll thread without Tsujigiri. Right on schedule!
 
Not that this thread will "lay to rest" this argument but I will go ahead and opine.

Cold Steel knives are high quality, hard use knives. They have a range of price points to meet different customer segments and I think their knives are worth the money.

Now if the topic was Lynn Thompson the person rather than Cold Steel knives the products I would have very different things to say. Let's just say that the nicest thing I can say about Lynn Thompson is that he is a joke. This thread needs to be moved to W&C before I comment further.
 
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Love em or hate em, a topic on CS always gets attention.
 
The OP is new here, and by his own honest admission, is prone to overblown statements in his queries; he referred to them as "enthusiastic" (see, eg: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/884515-worlds-greatest-combat-knife).

To state boldly that this is the final thread on a well worn topic is unlikely since Cold Steel is controversial (I have no opinion here), and an ongoing company that creates new products that will generate discussion. To state that this will be the last thread on this, is like saying that "once and for all" this will be the final discussion on Congress, or the weather.
 
I don't know about you, but I like, enjoy, and own several CS models. That "once and for all" line was funny.
 
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Tsujigiri said:
I'm so glad that bladelover showed up to finally resolve this issue people have been arguing over for years...

But, I'll bite. Cold Steel makes knives that are outperformed and outclassed by other brands in every price range. That's not to say they make horrible knives, just that their knives should be much cheaper for what you get. Think about it. They pay for their advertising; how do you think they finance it? Their costs are factored into your purchase price, so you end up getting basic steel, Taiwanese COO, rough fit and finish, and substandard customer service for a price that could buy you a finer US-made knife with S30V steel and no questions asked repair. Advertising works for some companies to increase the resale value of their product, but Cold Steel's ridiculous campaigns do nothing for the customer. If their knives were maybe half the current street price, I'd buy them. But I'm not going to pay for dumb ads when I could be getting much more for my money.
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I've seen this "I'm not going to pay for nutty advertising" argument before. But who has access to Cold Steel's books, so they can definitively state that the ad costs increase the selling price instead of decreasing the profit margin? Cold Steel could well be controlling the price by selling in higher volume at lower price points to more buyers.

If you don't like CS knives, that's fine. But claiming they're overpriced because you've juggled their P&L statement around to factor the ad costs directly into the MSRP is unfounded.
 
I just got a medium voyager and I think its comparable to a delica. I still prefer the delica because of the steel/ergos but the voyager is cheaper and has a stronger lock I think. To be comparable to a delica is amazing in my book and the new voyagers have sold me on cold steel completely. Finally a decent cold steel product without that stupid painted coating. Also the cold steel commercials are hilarious so just relax. Watch tosh.0 parody and you might enjoy the cold steel ads even more.
 
Huh. I'm not sure I'd want to fight LCT. Not saying I know anything about the guy personally, but I'm not gonna deny that the big man can move. If you disagree, try going to their challenge, go toe to toe with the guy, and please take video. I will enjoy it any way it turns out. As for the marketing, I enjoy it. It's humorous, if a bit misleading, and far from the worst on the market. I think CS just takes a lot of flak because they're so big.

I tend to think that a lot of their knives are overpriced. But some of them are quite affordable and good value for the money. The Cold Steel machetes tend to be just fine, and quite good value, although doubtless lots of people would go for Condor instead. They have some of my favorite throwing stars on the market. In fact, they make a bunch of really fun and affordable products--the clubs are fun to bash things with, and amazingly durable, their polearms are pretty solid, and a lot of their AUS8 value knives, like the Kobun, are excellent value. Sure, there are better knives at better price points for a lot of their products. But all I have to say is that if you don't like their products at the price point, don't buy them.

Marketing, well, they are clearly marketing more to the mall ninja crowd and general public than to knife nuts. Can you seriously fault them for that? Let's face facts. We are NOT the majority of the market. It's hokey, sure. But I find it quite humorous, especially the videos of the CS staff testing their pepper spray on themselves. And I'm not sure I understand how it detracts from the product.

As for the knives, MOST of their stuff doesn't appeal to me. But the stuff that has, I haven't regretted buying. Not because it sucks, just because I don't like the lock design for the folders, and I don't like the balance on their swords. The fixed blade knives, on the other hand, and the novelty stuff, is pretty excellent. They have stuff for all kinds of people and budgets. To my mind, that's smart marketing.
 
I own several Cold Steel products. I like some because they are unusual such as the "Desperado".

I was under the impression though that Cold Steel does not make its products but contracts outside firms to produce for them. Maybe I'm wrong.

I will say that the sharpest knifes I have every owned or handled are Cold Steel knifes.

I also think there are knifes I prefer over Cold Steel but no one makes you buy them...if they aren't your style spend your money elsewhere.

And say what you want about LT but I'd trade bank accounts with him anyday. He's built up a pretty nice business.
 
Sharp Phil said:
The premise of this thread is needlessly inflammatory. You will never "get everyone's opinions once and for all" on the topic.
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Ankerson said:
CS makes good user knives for the ave Joe's price range. :)

The perform as designed and do the job well.
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I own 3 CS knives. I am very happy with them. They have proven to be excellent in every way. They sharpen very easily, have terrific ergonomics, priced excellently, and have single best lock (arguably) on the market today. What's not to like?
 
res1cue said:
In Cold Steel's bread and butter area, the 30-70 dollar range, they are unbeatable.
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Quoted for posterity.
I am getting very sick and tired of all the haters and bashers. Those of Cold Steel, or of any other brand. If you have nothing nice to say (and constructive criticism is still nice) then please just don't say anything.

I received a 4" new Voyager clippoint PE today. I can already say it is the world's best knife in the below $40 range, bar none. Just insane what they can make for $37!! :eek: :cool:
Review to follow.
 
RevDevil said:
I need to pick one of those up philwar. Looking forward to the review. :D
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Ditto. My 4" Voyager should be on its way. I thought it might be a bit much, but the 3" medium is so easy to carry, I'm thinking the 4" will be too. Looking forward to the review.
 
Tsujigiri said:
Cold Steel makes knives that are outperformed and outclassed by other brands in every price range
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I haven't seen such a demonstrably untrue statement in quite a while. Kudo's for effort.
Depending on where you put the emphasis, none of the Tri-Ad folders are outperformed, and none are outclassed, regardless of price class. The only thing one might plausibly find fault with are their edge holding qualities, seeing they're all made of AUS8A (which is widely regarded as a tough steel). Then again, $37 for a 4" stonewashed FFG blade coupled with the Tri-Ad lock puts the new Voyager in a lonely class of its own. Nothing else even comes close.
 
Gadfly22 said:
I've seen this "I'm not going to pay for nutty advertising" argument before.
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OMG dude, you gave me an idea. What if you got vouchers for buying CS products and you could spend them on specific moments in CS video ads? Similar to how a Boy Scout troop can "buy" a mile of interstate.

I want to own 5 seconds of slow-mo where LT himself accidentally cuts off his tie. He claims it's happened before, but I want Absolute Proof and I'd be willing to pay for it.
 
Chuka said:
I think it's funny how there are so many complaints about "beating a dead horse", or "re-opening a can of worms" on these types of threads. Forums are a place for communication and discussion... In any public arena, whether in or out of the net, issues get brought to surface repeatedly, it's how we are!

While discussing things at work or with friends (that may be highly opinionated or inflammatory) do we limit ourselves to discussing it once in our lives? While at the water cooler do we tell our friends and colleagues to Google the debate because we've already "beat that dead horse"? I'm sure that happens, but I'd wager a majority of people are willing to re-hash old questions and dilemmas, it's very common and acceptable (IMHO)... perhaps human nature? It can sometimes bring out new viewpoints/ideas, it can serve to clarify points and issues, or it can turn into an utter pile of crap. That's the beauty of discussion with different people. If you don't want to get involved in the new can of worms, I would perhaps suggest to not jump into the open can yourself.

Just my .02 cents. :D
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I see your post and raise you a sawbuck. The reason I said that was because there are certain topics here on BF that inevitably end in name calling , insulting and bashing. This type of Cold Steel thread is just such a topic, which is why you see the folks who know what these can turn into making light of the thread.

By the way , the end result is that nothing really gets discussed or shared fondly.

Tostig
 
When I first encountered Coldsteel, I really wasn't impressed with their offerings. I had a couple of Tomahawks and a Ti-lite that I found to be extremely lacking in the fit and finish department and I had pretty much written the whole company off altogether.

Recently though I bought an American Lawman on some very strong recommendations and a Braveheart fixed blade on a whim. I was really impressed with the fit and finish of both knives, the Lawman especially. I ended up really putting it through its paces during some winter camping and I was really impressed with it. Might be a little uncomfortable in my hands but that's the worst I could really say about it.

tl;dr: I used to think they were garbage but I've really warmed up to them lately.
 
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