Cold Steel Fish Knife

S

Sharperthansticks

Joined
Sep 19, 2017
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I cook a lot of salmon, so I usually need to cut a big filet into multiple pieces. My kitchen knives, which are sharpened at 2x25degrees on my WorkSharp KE/Blade Grinder just can't get through the fish easily, so I purchased a Cold Steel fish knife. Being a snob, I don't even know what 4116 steel is (the steel the knife is made of), but I didn't care, since wear resistance against fish shouldn't be much of an issue at all. Wow, this thing is great! No struggle at all with this one, whereas I had to saw back and forth and back and forth and back and forth when using my kitchen knives, even though they were honed to at least 1500 grit. The blade on the Cold Steel is made out of quite thin stock, which just makes it a pleasure to use. It's 8" long and it comes with a sheath, too. I'm quite happy with this $23 purchase.
 
For filleting, thin stock is key. Krupp 4116 is a steel very widely used in the German kitchen knife industry, and for a good reason. It's very stainless, easy to sharpen and holds an edge for a reasonable time. I have many knives in 4116 and I'm always surprised at how their edges hold up well while used for ungrateful tasks, like cutting on plates, bamboo boards, etc.
In my experience, performance wise, it's in the 420HC league.
 
midnight flyer said:
Always good to hear about a great work knife! Certainly priced right, too.

I would encourage anyone looking for a sturdy work knife at very fair prices to check out the Cold Steel catalogue of knives. They seem to have something for everyone these days at all price points.

Robert
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Do you work for Cold Steel?
 
I've bought more than a dozen Cold Steel knives -- the first tanto, SRK, Master Hunters, American Lawman, Recon 1, Red River Elk Skinners, California Drop Point and a bunch of others I can't remember -- and they all cut well. The Tri-Ad lock is brilliant, the strongest back lock I know of. Never had a complaint about any of them.
 
I have had many Cold Steel products over the years. I have always thought they offered good value. My CS Kitchen knives are VG10, which is no longer available, and superior to many other knives I've used, including some very well known brands. The rubber handles tend to bother some people when they first try them, but the blades are first rate. They are the only kitchen knives I own that it doesn't freak me out when they end up in the dishwasher.

If you do a lot of Salmon, you might be interested in this: there's a knife designed especially for salmon fishermen. It was designed by Artur Ullis of Tacoma, WA, who ran a sporting goods business until 1982. He tried to get a patent for it, but that never happened. It's basically a fillet knife with a spoon on the handle for removing the kidneys from the fish. It is one of the very few "kitchen" type knives I know of that comes in both left and right handed versions. They were made originally in Germany, but later in Mora, Sweden. The middle knife in the photo below is an Art Ullis Salmon Knife.

1Kwx9yr.jpg
 
eisman said:
I have had many Cold Steel products over the years. I have always thought they offered good value. My CS Kitchen knives are VG10, which is no longer available, and superior to many other knives I've used, including some very well known brands. The rubber handles tend to bother some people when they first try them, but the blades are first rate. They are the only kitchen knives I own that it doesn't freak me out when they end up in the dishwasher.

If you do a lot of Salmon, you might be interested in this: there's a knife designed especially for salmon fishermen. It was designed by Artur Ullis of Tacoma, WA, who ran a sporting goods business until 1982. He tried to get a patent for it, but that never happened. It's basically a fillet knife with a spoon on the handle for removing the kidneys from the fish. It is one of the very few "kitchen" type knives I know of that comes in both left and right handed versions. They were made originally in Germany, but later in Mora, Sweden. The middle knife in the photo below is an Art Ullis Salmon Knife.

1Kwx9yr.jpg
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Thanks for the info! That fisherman's knife is cool, but it would be wasted for me, since I do all of my salmon fishing in the fish section of my local Safeway supermarket; the fillets magically gut and pack themselves for easy distribution. :)
 
Sharperthansticks said:
Do you work for Cold Steel?
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Not sure why you would ask that question unless you're trying to figure out if I am a shill for Cold Steel. Fear not... I just appreciate a good knife at a good value. For me, Cold Steel provides both.

As a blue collar guy I have a real affinity for no-nonsense, hardworking tools. I don't like small handles, handles that are hard to hang onto, or knives that aren't comfortable to use when using over long periods in difficult conditions.

I actually bought my first Cold Steel knife at the urging of a member here on BF that turned out to be another blue collar guy. We chatted away from th he group and he gave me a list of mods he did to his American Lawman to make it suitable for use on the ranch where he worked.

Did the same on the AL I bought and off to the jobsite it went. It has been spared no task as I bought it as a semi-beater. After nearly a decade in rotation with other knives (some knives only get one day if I get them dull) I use in Construction, it is still an excellent knife. Great egos, good steel from the old cryo Aus8 days, great G10, etc. I use it as needed, occasionally clean it up (and off) with charcoal lighter fluid, oil it and sharpen it and it goes back in rotation.

Since about 5 years ago, I bought the Ultimate Hunter and the Bush Ranger. Both are outstanding work knives. I think Cold Steel puts this effort into building good knives and doesn't seem to worry about trends or having a studio artist design there offerings. To make that point, I bought my AL for about $45 ten+ years ago and it is still stout. Bought the Ultimate Hunter about 4 years ago for about $90 in the CTS-XHP steel. The last one purchased about 2 years ago is the Bush Ranger at $110 delivered with S35 blade and great contoured G10 scales. Again, bought the Bush Ranger at the suggestion of a fellow BF member and just couldn't be more pleased.

Don't know how you could find a better value for the quality and price point of any of those knives. That being said, I have friends that have purchased their less expensive offerings and they love the (just like you seem to like your first CS). Great fit, great finish and nice steels.

Don't have to work for a company to appreciate their product.

Robert
 
DocJD said:
:) Cold Steel is just generally so good that they engender a loyal and enthusiastic following from those with experience and discriminating tastes . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
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Wow, wow, wow. Don't get over enthusiastic here. Cold Steel does offer some "great value for the price" items. Here under my gateway drug and first kitchen knife set (bought 8(?) years ago). Still in use, by the way, but relegated to the ungrateful tasks...
AVq1NvD.jpg


My strong opinion is that people with experience and discriminating tastes will migrate from those to higher end stuff or just start with KAI or Tojiro or whatever numerous offerings there are out there which overwhelm Cold Steel by far.
 
DocJD said:
:rolleyes: Yes , that's somewhat "obtuse" ! ;)
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Actually, it isn't, for very thin blades. Pure slicers, like fish filleters and ham slicers, have very thin blades. It is beneficial (for edge integrity) to sharpen them at a more "obtuse" angle. They will still slice with authority but the edge will hold up much longer. 25 ° per side seems a bit much, but I use currently 20 ° per side so, yes, what I said.
 
unwisefool said:
You mean they are sharpened at 50 inclusive? No wonder they don't cut, that's pretty thick for a kitchen knife. Most of mine are 30 to 40. 50 is what I use for my hard use outdoor knives
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I suppose it's a pretty wide angle, but I get tired of constantly having to sharpen them, so I try to put a less aggressive angle on those softer steels.
 
DocJD said:
:rolleyes: I've been accused of this also , but alas ...unfortunately I receive no compensation whatever . Not even a thank you note ! :(

:) Cold Steel is just generally so good that they engender a loyal and enthusiastic following from those with experience and discriminating tastes . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
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True.
I first discovered Cold steel knives when looking at my then current favorite brand of knives in a b and m store about 6 years ago. Asked my friend at the store to pull out one from under the counter glass top for me to hold. I held the American Lawman in my hand. Light, seemed sturdy, and had very good ergonomics. A black blade--yuck. Then I held another, the Recon 1. Strong feeling knife, with even better ergonomics. Another black blade, ugh. A few weeks later I ended up getting one of each of each of these since they came with premium xhp steel at a bargain price. Now some of the very best users (work knives ) I own. And I ve come to believe that the black blades make the knives look more like tools to non knife people, and less threatening than the satin bladed knives.
 
Ive been using Cold Steel knives since the 90s great knives; ive used trailmasters and recon scouts just as long,as well as others.One of my favorites right now is the newer drop forged survivalist w the plastic inserts in handles. for 70.00 52100 steel, its unbeatable.I remove the nylon part of the sheath add a teklok so it rides higher did that w all my cold steel fixed blades.
 
Stabbing a hanging 400 lbs tuna is so Cold Steel !
 
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Planterz said:
Am I the only one that upon reading "Cold Steel Fish Knife" had thoughts of videos of people hacking wildly and brutally at giant groupers or tuna hanging from meathooks?
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Nah...

I think that it finally got old to knee jerk with venemous commentary on LT's circus style marketing every time Cold Steel was mentioned just got old.

It always seemed to me that most of the hard missed the fact that they became part of LT's marketing machine themselves when they tried to outdo one another by proclaiming how disgusted they were by his videos, then discussing his videos, then declaring they couldn't purchase a CS product after they had seen LT's videos.

No telling how many eyes and ears were driven to CS's site and videos out of curiosity alone. Brilliant marketing as I have never talked to anyone off BF that was offended. They thought the vids were silly and LT was a little over dramatic, that's it.

I think LT cracked the old trope in advertising: "Call me anything you want, just call me!"

Robert
 
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