Cold Steel Marketing

[Makael]

I love CS and own over 60 of their various products. Showing off that your tools can handle extreme abuse at IMHO are a great value in price. If I had what's often considered the strongest lock on the market I'd show it off too. I think L. Thompson means well. The thing that I dislike about him is the frivolous law suit threats. The CRKT "virtually a fixed blade" and the San Mai that has been around for hundreds of years. I understand he paid for the rights to the term (I believe and may be wrong) but to threaten small time makers is a douche move. Yet he has the Eland/Kudu line a modern Okapi, and the Twist Lock a modern Opinel, I'm sure there is more. Overall I love their products. I seldomly hear a complaint about their knives as a tool but most all complaints are about LT marketing.
I watched an interesting video right after the CRK Sebenza failed after 45 pounds and the CS beat it out. It was the about the "Justin Bieber effect". Not that I could even pick Justin Bieber out of a police lineup. The video was essentially if you love Justin Bieber you are talking about him. If you hate Justin Bieber your talking about him. Either way people in the knife community are talking about CS. Love them or hate them.... Any publicity is good publicity! Burn me at the stake if you want CS puts out a good knife at a good price and they know it.

Do they actually build anything?

 

[Makael]

This is kind of crap people dislike.

Cold Steel’s own website claims that “CRKT’s locking mechanisms perform ‘worse than many other comparably priced knives, and far worse than lower cost knives manufactured by Cold Steel.’ The complaint also alleges that Cold Steel is entitled to unspecified monetary damages caused by CRKT’s ‘blatantly false claims.’ …”

This is an almost unprecedented move. Unless I am mistaken, this is one of the few times that two major players in the knife industry have become embroiled in a legal battle over the conceptual nature of the sales pitch one of them uses. That pitch does not directly name or target the plaintiff. If I read the lawsuit summary correctly, Cold Steel is essentially claiming that CRKT’s success, selling what Cold Steel considers inferior knives, must somehow come at Cold Steel’s expense, so they want money for this.

Embattled industries like gun and knife manufacturers cannot afford to give the liberals ammunition. If they can claim knife makers are selling dangerous products with false advertising, they can gain more support for legislation restricting and banning knives. Bringing a competitor’s conceptual sales tactics to the attention of our court system can therefore only hurt the knife industry.

The libs are already looking for any means of attacking knife owners and banning their tools. This is just what they have done with our guns. While the jury is still out, it looks like Lynn Thompson and Cold Steel may have handed the libs a very useful weapon in their war on your tools.


Read more at http://mobile.wnd.com/2015/06/dont-bring-a-lawsuit-to-a-knife-fight/#QwwsVLxf2KZLsd8R.99

 

[Makael]

Quoted

“As anyone who has attended a NRA Annual Meeting or seen one of Cold Steel’s videos will know, Lynn Thompson is a showman. This lawsuit, to me, comes under the heading of lawfare – using the courts against your competitors – and is frivolous. I don’t think it really has much to do with false advertising or a concern for the customer but rather a different way to draw attention to yourself and your company. The timing of it is also suspect. It was filed two days before the opening of the June 5-7 Blade Show. This is the knife industry’s version of SHOT…

My personal response to this lawsuit will be to vote with my wallet. I won’t be buying any new Cold Steel knives in the future. I don’t approve of lawfare and I won’t subsidize it with my consumer spending. In fact, I may just have to buy that CRKT Liong Mah GSD knife I fondled handled at the SHOT Show

 

[Makael]

 

[berzerker]

Timex did it, BIC pen did it. Over-the-top advertising sells products. If you want subtle ads, read the New Yorker.

 

[Makael]

Timex did it, BIC pen did it. Over-the-top advertising sells products. If you want subtle ads, read the New Yorker.

You don't get it.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Makael perhaps you've mistaken this for the Political Arena, where your comments would be well within the rules.

 

[Dallas T]

It’s not like they’re on network tv shows commercials or something! You pretty much have to YouTube them or directly search for them...... sooooo don’t watch the cold Steel videos.

 

[berzerker]

You don't get it.

Actually, I do “Get It,” in terms of your position. My comment was aimed at the over-the-top videos. In terms of what you dislike; Harley Davidson has done far worse with it’s lawfare over the years - and I assume there are others. [Discussing Lawfare will quickly turn political, and I don’t do politics online.]

 

[Makael]

Makael perhaps you've mistaken this for the Political Arena, where your comments would be well within the rules.

My bad, letting it go anyways.

 

[gazz98]

I like it. I don't know how many times I've been wandering the streets and come upon a pig hanging on a hook. Me stabby stabby. Or a rope hanging from the ceiling. Me slicey dicey in one, clean pass.

I like to make sure I'm wearing sweatpants when I do it and, of course, I tuck my shirt into my sweatpants.

I always assume someone has their cellphone out and is taking a video and it's going right to utube.

 

[Yonose]

Do they actually build anything?

Nope.

 

[SharpieB]

I like it. I don't know how many times I've been wandering the streets and come upon a pig hanging on a hook. Me stabby stabby. Or a rope hanging from the ceiling. Me slicey dicey in one, clean pass.

I like to make sure I'm wearing sweatpants when I do it and, of course, I tuck my shirt into my sweatpants.

I always assume someone has their cellphone out and is taking a video and it's going right to utube.

Same here but I always wear sandals and black dress socks with my sweatpants. The chicks dig it.

 

[midnight flyer]

Makael perhaps you've mistaken this for the Political Arena, where your comments would be well within the rules.

No kidding. A lot of real, raw hate on exhibition here. Pretty bad when you post 4 or 5 times in a row, seeminglyseemingly to respond to your own posts.

Personally, I have such the complete distrust of the press, reporters, investigators, editors, I never really trust what I read until I have something close to full context. There are a lot of lies out there about Lyn is I found out on this very forum. Even the "truth" can be easily skewed to make haters hate more. They are such easy targets... easily manipulated.

Back on track, Lyn is Lyn. This thread subject comes up regularly, enough that the same people that always respond to this should feel like they're being trolled. Everytime this comes up, the same people post with the same responses

I think Cold Steel Knives as a product speak for themselves. It seems everyone pretty much agrees they put out a good product at a fair price, which is more than I can say for some of their direct competitors. Their marketing doesn't bother me, and I think today I have probably watched one full Lyn video. I figure from the screeching around here that if I have seen one I have seen enough, so no interest in watching another. Maybe I am too jaded in my years but the one I watched didn't bother me that much. I have a lot more to be outraged about (work, family problems, personal health issues) than to give more than a glance to some knife maker clowning around on his videos or marketing efforts.

Robert

 

[SW-EDC]

I like Cold Steel. Bought my first one, a Voyager tanto in the 90's. My first "real" knife.
I've been buying CS ever since.
My only gripe.. get an auto Cold Steel!
No excuses. Protech is in SoCal too!

 

[Mick_1KRR]

Like the marketing or not, they actually walk the talk when it comes to this obsession people have with “hard use” nonsense. Unlike 99% of companies claiming hard use by making the blade stock thicker on a frame or liner lock

Lynn is a big kid, clearly loves his job, no flavour suits everyone tho, and some of their knives are actually very good (not that ninja crap). Plus It’s simple really, if a person wants to discredit cold steels claims and make them look silly, just make a video of you breaking the triad lock with hard use, or another knife outlasting it in a torture test. Until then im pretty sure they've earned the right to boast about their lock.

 

[RickyBobby]

As far as the general public perception is concerned, I doubt that anybody that isn't shopping for a knife will ever come accross their vids.
Is it cheesy and sometimes weird, yeah!
At the end of the day I don't really care.
I own a couple of their offerings, they're good affordable working knives. I think that the kids that got "conned" are ahead with their CS compare to anything they would have bought at WallyMa a gas station or paid msrp at a big box outdoor store.

 

[Comeuppance]

Gripe about Cold Steel's marketing all you want, but consider United Cutlery's "M48" product videos:

I'd rather have a laugh and then be presented with a viable, durable, and useful product, but that's just me.

 

[dirc]

View attachment 903687

you know what I think is really bullsh*t about all this nonsense?

It's a simple, literal description of the steel, in a foreign language. I just don't think such generic things should be copyrightable, honestly. It's like, well, if I try to say I've copywrighten the word 'knife' but in a foreign language, or any word.

San=3 (the number) & Mai=unit counter for flat objects
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Mai

so - what normal folk (non-lawyers) see when BS is trying to be passed as legit, is the same thing Shakespeare said about lawyers 400 hundred years back...

 

[Yonose]

I would take a cold steel over a reate any day of the week. At least he's honest about what he's doing.