cold steel laredo bowie

H

harm

Joined
Nov 13, 2005
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i retail production knives as well as make custom knives[the retail is a small sideline].i had a Laredo in stock and it was sold recently to a good friend.while an impressive looking knife it seems to be poorly made.the guard fit is terrible if compared to the san mai trailmaster.the handle looks fine at first glance but is terribly shaped.this is why it was returned to me.when looking down the length of the blade from the butt end the handle twists to one side.it's not that the entire handle is turned on the tang,it is actually shaped that way.is this a problem with all Laredo bowies or just this one?

if this is in the wrong section,i trust our esteemed moderators to move it
 
i like them but for a supposedly high end knife from CS i'd expect better.i've seen the Hells Belle[the guy who bought the laredo has 4 - he's a knife fighting instructor and bowie collector] and while the guard fit is also crap the handle is neat.i personally dont expect much in the way of finish from any production knife but certain things i wont let pass.i emailed the customer care[?] dept yesterday and have had no response.but i'm assuming they're off for the holiday.we'll see
 
that's really disappointing.i like the Laredo,trailmaster,san mai trailmaster,recon scout etc.i expect more from the Laredo
 
Thanks for the info. For those interested, check out the Paul Chen line of historical bowies, I don't know a whole lot about them, but they look nice, and they are made with high carbon steel.
 
Walking Man, Checked out the Vicksburg and a couple other Bowies at Paul Chen,they didn't give much info on the high carbon steel. Anybody know which steel?
:confused:
 
The steel is 1065,less edge retention than Carbon V,but tougher.
And less association with Cold Steel.Information came from Thom Brogan in an Email as his browser is reading only today.Thanks Thom! :thumbup:
 
on a positive note i received a reply from Cold Steel's customer dept.they'll repair or replace the knife
 
Harm, Good to hear CS's customer service dept. is going to fix you up. :thumbup:
 
I've noticed that Cold Steel pays a lot more attention to their folders than their fixed knife designs. The quality of their steel I've not seen challenged; however, most complaints center around their steel and rubber stock fixed knives.
 
I purchased a brand new CS Loredo Bowie about 6 weeks ago. I considered the build quality as excellent. I was a bit disappointed in that I expected the blade to be a bit sharper than it was, but that's not a problem as I don't expect to actually use it. However, a couple of weeks later I noticed small areas of corrosion appearing on the blade. The first area was about one inch from the tip in the middle of the width. A couple of weeks later I noticed tiny line going up and down the blade exhibiting obvious corrosion. Since receiving the knife, it has not been stored in the sheath. About two weeks after receiving the knife, upon seeing the first spot, I purchased Tuf-Cloth and began using it liberally on the knife. That hasn't seemed to slow the appearance of corrosion. The knife is sitting on my desk in my air conditioned home, and there has been little handling of it.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Could this be the result of a quality problem at CS?

It is pretty disappointing to pay $200 for a knife just to watch it go to hell.

Thanks,
Inhancer
 
if u live on/near the coast the climate is real bad for unprotected carbon steel
 
Sometimes the polishing compound used in finishing the blade has microscopic steel elements that can speed corrosion. If you take some Semichrome and polish the blade by hand, then leave a thin coating of one of these teflon-particle miracle oils like Break Free, you shouldn't have a problem.

Your reference to air conditioning when it's about twenty-something degrees outside makes me suspect, too, that the environment may be a little more tropical than I'm used to. Also, some folks have skin oils that almost immediately corrode carbon steel (I know one fellow I won't even let touch my blued guns because of his propensity of leaving permanent fingerprints). In short, there may be a number of reasons you're experiencing this.

But then, that's why they have stainless steel. I bought most of my guns in the '80s and nearly all are stainless. I have one blued Beretta 70s that has a trace of rust, and nothing I've been able to do will completely stop it; however, I have been able to arrest it and watch it closely so it doesn't get away from me. Unfortunately, once corrosion starts in a particular place, if you don't get rid of all traces, it will invariably become problematic.
 
i had an early satin trailmaster for many years,& even coated with oil it rusted from just being in a display stand,never used.its the nature of the steel,theres no stainless properties.even the new coated ones will show corrosion on the edge if left in the sheath or unprotected.ag russell has a product called rust free which may help.on the plus side, ive never had a bad cs knife.all have been perfect.i like the coated trailmaster better,ill chop up a cabbage with it, wipe it with a sponge, & it still looks new.the loredo bowie would probably turn purple...............
 
My father left his K-Bar Navy knive in a sheath for years without rust and it had all the blue worn off. Still, it's not a great way to store knives. I have some stainless ones in storage in my attic which I'll probably bring down based on this. My stainless guns don't seem to be a problem, so I never figured the knives would be a problem.
 
leatherbird said:
Harm, Quality control appears to be an issue at Cold Steel. :)
Click to expand...

I don`t like to disapoint anyone, and I won`t badmouth another knifemaker in public. But the truth is COLDSTEEL doesn`t actually make knives. They design knives and then contract with other knife companies to have them manufactured for them. That`s why some of their blades are stamped "Seki Japan", while others are unmarked. Different models are made by different companies, or the same model may be made by different companies at different times.
There is no COLDSTEEL "factory" per se.
 
There is no COLDSTEEL "factory" per se.
Click to expand...

I think most are aware of this. Still the ultimate problem is with CS, they're the ones that decide what quality is acceptable from the contractor/sub contractor.
 
for inhancer:

I use, and have for many years AG Russells Rust Free. I keep it on my carbon knives and they all are spot free. Best 5.00 you can spend IMHO.


Cerberus
 
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