Cold Steel Natchez Bowie in SK-5 steel?

J

jonthamo

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Feb 26, 2011
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Hello forum, I'm new, so please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong that I'm not aware of. Thanks!

On to my question. In the 2011 online catalog on the Cold Steel website, they're advertising their Natchez Bowie in SK-5 steel. I find that it is a very handsome knife, and am wondering if I should purchase one. My questions for you guys are:

If you've ever had a Natchez Bowie, how durable was the point?

Again, if you've owned one, how rust resistant is the blade? (I live in Canada, not really a bunch of humidity or anything, but I want to use it as an outdoor knife)

Thanks,
Jon
 
Never owned the knife, but SK5 steel is not stain resistant at all, chromium in it is rather residual, 0.3% max.
It's the Japanese equivalent of AISI 1080 steel, nothing fancy, good carbon steel, but not stain resistant.
 
Thanks for the response! I know it won't have good stain resistance, but will it be an alright bush knife? Will I be able to keep rust off if I'm using it outside?
 
Just got mine and must say the handle is a lot better looking and feels better that the san mai.my only complaint is the kydex sheath and the q.c is not quite there yet as mine has gaps where the guard meets the blade and the guard is a little off center.otherwise not a bad knife,very sharp,and has a nice feel to it.
 
I only recently bought my SK5 Natchez bowie and haven't used it for anything yet. I can however say that the knife looks and feels great. I can't see any aesthetic flaws in my particular knife but maybe I'm not as fussy as Pigsticker is.
I'm not sure if Pigsticker is complaining about the quality of the kydex sheath or the fact that the sheath is kydex. Again, to my eyes, the sheath looks perfect and in fact I was very drawn to the SK5 model pecisely because it has a kydex sheath.
I'm going to install a Spyderco G-clip on my Natchez and carry it in the front pocket of my hiking pants, which has the bottom of the pocket cut-off, so any length knife 'fits' perfectly.
I carry my Esee Junglas that way and I find it very comfortable. Having the knife in the pocket means that the sheath and knife move with your leg as you climb instead of sticking straight down as it would if the knife were attached to your belt. I've passed dozens of people on the trail with no one knowing I was packing some heavy metal which is a huge plus considering the mindset of some members of the public.
 
My Leatherneck was in SK-5 and I just put a patina on it. Keep it dry and oiled and it should be fine. The Natchez is a fighting knife more than an outdoors knife, for that a Laredo would probably be a bit better, or a Trailmaster...
 
I totally agree that for a survival situation there is obviously much better choices, but that's not to say that this won't be able to get the job done. I just bought some accessories for my Natchez to make it a bit more useful in the wild. I got some matte black paracord (for the obvious reason to string it through the sheath for what ever you would need paracord for * which is quite handy*) I got a firesteel for it, and I am going to attach a leatherman nylon pouch to it.

I'll make a video when it is all set up and talk about how it would help in survival. :)
 
I could be wrong but isn't that bowie one of the cable tang knives? If it is I personally wouldn't go chopping anything too hard with it. I was always under the impression that's a "fightin" bowie.
 
I have no idea what the the exact tang looks like, and that's why I want cold steel to start showing all of the tangs in their catalogs and web site.
Hopefully it's NOT all cable tang and just the very end for the brass pommel to be put on. (but after I made my video the handle *just the wood* started to wiggle and now there is a good amount of "play" this is because instead of riveting the wood to the tang they [sandwiched] it between the hand guard and pommel so if any part of it isn't perfectly flush, you'll get some wiggle too.

Well anyways the blade itself is still very solid and sharp so I still like it.
 
There's an x-ray pic floating around on the web that shows the CS Natchez (original) and the CS Laredo.
The Natchez has a full length tang and the Laredo has a half length tang with cable welded on the end.
I think i have it saved on my hard-drive somewhere.
 
xraycoldsteellaredoandnatchez.jpg

Laredo and Natchez
xraycoldsteellaredoandnatchezpic2.jpg

Natchez and Laredo
 
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The natchez has the stub tang/cable combo. There's a thread on another forum specializing in that brand showing a Natchez with a smashed handle. The general opinion is that it's a fighter design, not really made for real rough duty. I have a CS Gurkha in SK-5 and it's great steel. Very tough and holds it's edge well. Take care.
 
According to the pics i posted above its the Laredo that has the Stub tang cable combo. The Natchez has the full length but narrow tang with pommel attached via threaded nut.
 
tholiver said:
According to the pics i posted above its the Laredo that has the Stub tang cable combo. The Natchez has the full length but narrow tang with pommel attached via threaded nut.
Click to expand...

This was identified as a Natchez with a smashed handle from the forums dedicated to CS. Probably can't link the thread, but here's the pic.

i-792.jpg
 
Wow that looks like a Natchez! Thanks for the pic!
Dang! So at some point the Natchez had a real tang as in the xray pics but then they changed to the stub tang and cable combo.
That certainly puts me off buying one!
 
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I'll come out and say I bought myself one for fathers day. I bought it to own and to play with but for a serious dedicated chopper I am going with my Busse family, Rangers and Becker knives. They were made to do that stuff. This knife with its thinner tip, swedge and handle construction wasnt made to chop big wood and thats just fine with me. I like the knife because its a big piece of Shiny sharp steel that feels good in the hand, it sure feels like a fighter to me. I really like the knife actually and its a bit of a cool conversation piece along with all of my custom stuff. I have cut nothing more than arm hair with it (unlike my other big knives) and dont plan too, wasnt designed for it but I am sure it would chop in a pinch. Sometimes you just buy stuff cuz you like it even though you might never use it as intended, this knife fell into that category for me.
 
Had a knife with a cable tang once. The handle used to make a clicking noise when it was moved vigorously in a slashing motion. The noise drove me nuts! lol. I figured the cable wasn't set solidly in the handle and was hitting the hollow inside of the grip. Of course that was a cheap no-name import knife $50 ish (or less). I eventually removed the handle, cut off the cable and lengthened the tang by cutting away part of the guard end of the blade. Then i made a new guard and put on a new handle. As it is now its functional but pretty ugly (it was my second mod project). It sits in a ducktape+cardboard sheath in the bottom of my tool bag ready to be used for situations where i don't want to use a good knife.
 
The Natchez is still a very nice looking knife!
However I just don't understand why they would switch to the cable tang. I had been waiting months for my Canadian knife dealer to get them in stock, now i'm glad that i had to wait.
The money i was going to spend on that will be put towards other edged items (likely the new ZT flipper) !
:)
 
It's a sexy knife, just not meant for chopping it seems. The consensus is that it's a fighter and it looks the part. I'm sure the cable tang has a purpose, but I do not know what it is myself. It's been stated, and I believe, the cable system is more costly and time consuming to make, so there's a reason for it's use. I personally like many CS designs a lot and have found the models I've owned to be very strong and a solid bargain. Take care.
 
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