Cold Steel CS SRK ColdSteel

There's a very good description of Carbon V and it's history currently under general discussion topics as of 3/28.
 
dawg said:
There's a very good description of Carbon V and it's history currently under general discussion topics as of 3/28.
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Found the topic you were talking about. I heard rumors about a metallurgist who came to the conclusion that Carbon V is 0170-6 steel. Looks like he was right. It's a slightly better version than 1095. Hell, if that's the case, better to spend $35 on a traditional Kabar knife; than $60 on a shorter-bladed SRK. (Those are the retail prices for each one, in NYC).
 
"...better to spend $35 on a traditional Kabar knife; than $60 on a shorter-bladed SRK."

That depends on what you mean by better. True, the 'kabar' is slightly longer, but it is a handle heavy 7" blade versus the blade heavy 6" SRK. The Marine Fighting Knife design has a small metal double guard & a metal pomel too, this versus a more versatile single finger guard & less durable rubber handle on the SRK. Which do you prefer? The SRK's point strength is superior too - and it has a superior sheath.

In another thread I was asking about the Isreali "Comando" knife which is very similar to the Marine Combat knife but the design appears better. Someone was nice enough to send me a link to that knife for ~$50 too - I'd be more inclined to pick that over the old 'kabar' design...

The SRK can be found on-line for ~$45. Check Cheaperthandirt.com for the best price I've seen on it. IMO the superior design & sheath are worth "a few dollars more" :thumbup:
 
Despite the SRK being blade heavy, I've never had a problem chopping with a Kabar knife. The double guard IS annoying, but easy enough to fix; a Dremel tool and a metal file will get rid of that useless top guard in no time. As far as point strength is concerned, get the kabar knife version made by Camillius. (I've owned kabar knives from both Camillius and Kabar. The ones from Camillius have stouter points). As for the sheath, the traditional one suits my needs.
 
Overall, I will have to go with a kabar on this one. However, it is not the traditional style. That style, while still effective, is a bit outdated. I would chose this one over either in a second.

https://www.kabar.com/product_detai...goryId=1,2,3,7&categoryName=Military/Tactical

It has great point strength, it is a little blade heavy, it is fairly light for its size. I also love the handle, the grip you get on that, even though you are wet or bloodied is amazing. It has a much better guard than its predecessor, and the blade is thicker for better chopping. For an overall knife I would go with this one easily. I am pretty sure you can get it cheaper at places like blade matrix or at cheaperthandirt.com.


P.S. In case you haven’t noticed, I swear by this knife. If you buy this knife because you heard it was a good knife from me, and are unhappy with it, I will give you a hug if I ever meet you.

Sincerely,

Cutlass
 
1917cutlass said:
Overall, I will have to go with a kabar on this one. However, it is not the traditional style. That style, while still effective, is a bit outdated. I would chose this one over either in a second.

https://www.kabar.com/product_detai...goryId=1,2,3,7&categoryName=Military/Tactical
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In checking out that one I found these two to be pretty interesting.

https://www.kabar.com/product_detail.jsp?productNumber=1253

https://www.kabar.com/product_detail.jsp?productNumber=1244

I like the tip and the recurve on the first, but it is only 5" (is it really that big a deal?). The camp knife looks to have great chopping capability and the blade section near the guard seems like it would be protected during chopping and stay sharper for cutting chores such as fuzz sticks, rope, et al.

I don't know if the camp knife is one of the Taiwan mades or not. I know KABAR has US and Taiwan made blades in their line up. Nor am I aware of the quality difference if any in the two.

If I didn't already have an older SRK I would be tempted to get one of the above KABARS. I'm tempted to anyway.

I think in the end, after getting some info on steels and user satisfaction as is being done here, a person needs to go handle the semi-finalist selections and pick the one that feels best in hand for you. I appreciate my SRK, but it has a sort of neutral feel to me, like it is definitely separate from me. I have other knives, to include a cheap Gerber Profile, that just settle into the hand as if they were supposed to be there. My old Trailmaster (I miss that blade) felt right at home in my hand even with the long length and weight.

Which brings to mind, someone condsidering the SRK might llook at the Recon Scout which is essentially a short Trailmaster.

All that said, I liked my old CS knives, I'm not sure how the newer ones stack up and if looking again, I would probably end up buying something else as there seem to be some QC issues with CS these days.
 
Whereas Mr. Cutlass is partial to the model he references above (:thumbup: ) I am partial to the "Short Heavy Bowie": https://www.kabar.com/product_detai...goryId=1,2,3,7&categoryName=Military/Tactical

It would fit in somewhere in between the SRK & the Kabar Camp knife linked to above, however, it is far more knife-like than the Camp knife & a bit more 'sword-like' than the SRK. However, I did have to modify the handle - but for ~$40 it is one of my new favorite knives.

Regarding the Kabar short recurved knife, I have the short marine combat version & really don't like the handle - its too small. That and the edge is ground too thick for my tastes...
 
I can't believe that I suffered with a crappy knife for so long before I finally bought this one. It is a good size but I plan on buying the longer knife as well.
 
It's not a bad knife for the money. Don't get me wrong there are better knives out there but not at that price.
 
bishop85gt said:
It's not a bad knife for the money. Don't get me wrong there are better knives out there but not at that price.
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But the SRK is made for Cold Steel, by Camillus. The SRK retails for about $60.

A similar knife with the Camillus name on it would retail for about $35..... like their version of the kabar knife.
 
always found it interesting that the SEALs issue these (srk) to the BUD/S recruits, there's no question that they are rust prone and i can't think of a more rust inducing environment than theirs...although i'm sure they teach them to take very good care of their knives...i would also imagine that they get a pretty good price on them!

no question that they are issued, the documentary on BUD/S that runs on military channel all the time shows a close up and it's definitely the srk.

i'm happy w/ mine, and the recon tanto as well, but when i dive here in FL i use the SEAL pup by sog (crappy sheath though).

i will say that NONE of my other knives come close in edge holding ability to my howling rat.
 
I bought a brand new SRK a few years back, didn't like it very much. It was pretty dull out of the box and it had an asymmetrical edge grind which took forever to sharpen properly. After playing with it for a while I decided to see how tough it was. I stuck the first 1 1/4" of the blade in a little table vise, leaned into it slightly and "TWANG!" Snapped in half like a piece of plastic. Examining the cross section of the steel I was not happy. It really looked like a casting. There were huge powdery pores in the steel and I was amazed at how little pressure it took to break the blade. The blade didn't even bend, it just broke even. I didn't think it would break, but it did and real easy too.
 
...Conversely I have an SRK that I recieved about 5 years ago & it has stood up to everything I did to it without breaking a sweat. This includes allot of throwing which sometimes resulted in blade-on-blade contact with the other thrower I was using along side of it (also a CS - the old True Flight in 1095). I still have & use that same SRK as well as the thrower. I also own the SR Camp Tramp - it is a totally different animal though. The SRK compares favorably with the Marine Combat knife though it is a bit smaller. It is still a 'go-to' blade in my collection & indeed was my 'EDC' during the storms of '04 & aftermath thereof.
 
In my original post, I really weighed the stainless factor very heavily. There's no doubt the maintenance issue is huge - but on the same token, knives are one of the oldest tools known to man...and stainless in knives is only a recent addition! The rust issue shouldn't be as much of a factor...
 
Tweakmeister said:
In my original post, I really weighed the stainless factor very heavily. There's no doubt the maintenance issue is huge - but on the same token, knives are one of the oldest tools known to man...and stainless in knives is only a recent addition! The rust issue shouldn't be as much of a factor...
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The flip side of that arguement is, if rust was never really a huge issue; no one would of taken the time to create stainless steel in the first place. People used carbon steel knives for the longest time because they didn't have much of a choice!
 
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