Cold Steel Drop Forged Survivalist - Great!

TheTennesseeD

TheTennesseeD

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2008
Messages
160
I just wanted to give everyone who may be wondering about this model an emphatic thumbs up to the CS Drop Forged Survivalist. I received one this week and spent the day doing some customization. This thing is a real beast and it the moment you pick it up it lets you know that. For such a low price, the quality is really fantastic. I had plenty of fun testing it on a downed white oak before I took the paint off and if I had to describe it with one word, I would say "hungry." The two coats of epoxy paint were a bear to get off, even with maximum strength paint stripper. I put in some time with 500grit, then 1200grit wet & dry sandpaper to clean it up with a nice satin finish, a light apple cider patina coat, then rubbed with steel wool. I also gave a coat of Frog Lube (which I have found to be great on the carbon steels) and wrapped the handle with some suede leather I had in the shop. Overall, it was a fun day project and the possibilities to customize this tank are great. Comparatively, It makes my Trail Master feel flimsy. This giant chunk of 52100 seems to have a good heat treat and got damn sharp with just a little work on a couple of water stones. I would say that some may want to remove some material from the handle area for their own balance preference, which could be as simple as drilling a few holes on a press. This blade is about as reliable as it gets. I can't wait to pull it out of nowhere, for all to see, next Thanksgiving where the turkey does not stand a snowball's chance in hell. So I say pull the trigger and get yourself one!

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All of the drop forged knives are very well made. A lot of knife for the money. Personally I don't mind the weight and if I had to change anything it would be a better finish. Nice work.
 
looks great ive got to get one now. I was thinking of wrapping the handle in that cloth gun wrap in camo; leather looks real nice too.great job on that blade,too !
 
I had considered that camo wrap myself and I bet it will work great. I have seen some people use ranger bands around the handle too. Paracord is always an option too, but personally I can abide the feel of paracord handles. I also thought about using baseball bat grippy tape and cut a couple of slivers of neoprene to spot glue into the handle indentations under the wrap to give some shock absorption without being too susceptible to moisture. At some point I may tape the blade off and do a coat of ceramic engine paint on the handle and guard just for the added rust protection.
 
Nice work!
It has a frontier look now. I was thinking about something similar but my skills are limited. I've got one on the way and can't wait to get it. I always wanted a TM or RS with a full profile tang. This should fill the role nicely.
 
I thought about the baseball bat tape,too cause its rubbery, it might not contour as well as your leather wrap or the camo web tape. I agree with tenbeers on that frontier look ,real cool !!
 
Looks great and it looks like another knife is in the works in my future also. Thanks for the pics and info. :thumbsup:
 
I think I'm going to start with friction tape over a paracord wrap. I've done this on several knives and it worked out pretty well.
The tape can be easily replaced if it wears or is damaged.
Chris from Preparedmind101 uses Wilson racquet tape if I'm not mistaken and I may try that also if the paracord wrap adds to much bulk.

I've got several ideas bouncing around so it may take awhile before I'm satisfied with the results enough to keep it one way ongoing.
I'll be checking back here to see if other ideas emerge.
 
It would be pretty cool to mill the handles down and then put a couple of nice slabs of wood or micarta on it. You could actually make the grip what ever width or thickness you'd like. Kind of like an integral made knife if you will.
 
I totally agree about milling the handles.
I had that thought and the sky is the limit as far as materials. Two reason I did not on this one

1. The machining capability is out of my tool range and I am not brave enough to take the angle grinder to it! haha

2. I like (at least for now), the idea that it is always a complete knife...if the leather breaks or gets trashed, I have so many options to rehandle it or have it completely bare (especially in a low rsource/survival situation).

If you do mill one I would love to see the results! Im
sur it would make a fine looking knife!
 
Hey fellas as far as grip tape goes I use gamma grip. It's for tennis rackets but it works great on knives! I currently have my CS bushmans (besides pocket BM) wrapped in it and it's very comfortable! Same on my tramontina machete.
 
That looks great! Good Job. I had the same problem with sheath fit so I took some material off the exterior duckbill, and on the duckbill next to belt loop, I scored with a dremel, then heated and bent back a little bit. Now it works pretty good.
 
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I'm sure there will be others coming up with great ideas on the handle...
 
goldie said:
I wound up using this rubber lizard skin wrap,feels great, the only issue is it made the handle slightly fatter and the top snap wouldn't close on the sheath. Switched out to a tec lock instead. being a lefty it should work better anyway.

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:) Nice ! You even used my favorite type of hi-vis paracord . :p
 
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