Cold Steel Outdoorsman

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I've got an Outdoorsman that I picked up at a gunshow at least 15 years ago, probably more. It's marked "Cold Steel, Inc. Ventura CA Made in Japan". There is no indication of blade steel or any other info. The sheath is black leather, with a Velcro-sealed strap and marked only "Japan". I just dug it out of a box where it has hidden for many years, unused and forgotten.

How can I determine which steel is used in this blade? For some reason I seem to recall thinking that it was San Mai III but I can't see any sign of the lamination line.

Any Cold Steel gurus out there who can help me out?

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Most likely AUS8A...if it was SMIII it would say it (and you would see the lamination line). If it is really old, it could be Cold Steel's "400 Series Stainless" that they used way back. Can't see the pics for some reason...does it have the bonebreaker spine?
 
Yes, it does have the bonebreaker spine as well as the thumbrest jimping. The blade stamping actually says "Outdoorsman by Cold Steel, Inc." I missed the word "by" in my original post.

It is a pretty good-looking knife IMHO...but I'm apparently not smart enough to post a pic to share here. Working on it...

Got it! Pics in first post.
 
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On the earlier san mai steel, the transition line was not really as visible. I had an old trailmaster in San Mai and you could not see the lamination line. In the later versions you could. I believe they altered the process a bit to make it more obvious, as a selling point.
 
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Bigfattyt said:
On the earlier san mai steel, the transition line was not really as visible. I had an old trailmaster in San Mai and you could not see the lamination line. In the later versions you could. I believe they altered the process a bit to make it more obvious, as a selling point.
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i've seen pics of SMIII knives where it is hard to see the line, but all the ones I've seen in person have been easy to see. Regardless, other than some very old Tantos that were SMIII before they used the Master Tanto name, as far as I know, all CS SMIII blades are marked as such. If you see a CS blade marked as SMIII but it doesn't have the line, it is fake.

Now that I can see the pics, the OPs knife is a 3rd gen Outdoorsman with AUS8A blade. 1st gen had no bonebreaker, 2nd gen had bonebreaker but different jimping, and then 4th gen was SMIII.
 
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My old trailmaster in San Man was marked. In pictures of was very difficult to get it to show up. In person, I could, but it was not a bright like the new versions. I only have about 10 old crappy photos, and could not see the line in any, for sure.
 
Many thanks to all, this is exactly the sort of info I was seeking. Very interesting to learn about those archived catalogs.
 
As G Scott points out, your version appears in the 2001-2005 catalogs, but it is also in the 1988 catalog. That one is a 2nd gen, with different jimping, and the ends of the bonebreaker are more rounded. Prior to that it only had the jimping and no bonebreaker. Another tidbit...the sheaths for the old versions (at least 1st gen and possibly 2nd) had the velcro strap reversed...when on a belt, the end of the strap was between the sheath and your body. Only thing I can think of is that it made it less likely to get snagged on something and releasing while wondering thru the woods. But at some point they started using the same sheath as the Tantos.
 
Bigfattyt said:
On the earlier san mai steel, the transition line was not really as visible. I had an old trailmaster in San Mai and you could not see the lamination line. In the later versions you could. I believe they altered the process a bit to make it more obvious, as a selling point.
Click to expand...
I have an old master tanto with the brass fittings and also the newer master tanto in stainless. Between the two the lamination line is wider on the old one but you can still see the lamination line very well on the newer one. It's just a tad skinnier on the stainless model but you can definitely see it from a distance.
 
^ Well, thanks for posting that! It got me thinking...I knew that I had a Magnum Tanto II that dated back to roughly the same time that I bought the Outdoorsman. Maybe that was the San Mai II blade I was so certain that I owned?

Just rooted it out of the closet...and sure enough, there's that distinctive lamination line, just the way I remembered it (although on a different knife...). This is like finding spare change in the couch cushions, but much cooler! :)
 
Nice find and I believe that knife in san mai is worth more than a little change. I know what you mean though, Congrats.
 
Yup, SMIII is basically discontinued, so prices are going crazy, especially Magnum Tantos and Natchez Bowies.
 
I really like my Aus8 outdoorsman which I purchased many years ago. I still think that the name is totally inappropriate for a knife that looks like the Outdoorsman. Whose first choice would it be to use that knife for camping or hiking?
 
Larry Turko said:
I really like my Aus8 outdoorsman which I purchased many years ago. I still think that the name is totally inappropriate for a knife that looks like the Outdoorsman. Whose first choice would it be to use that knife for camping or hiking?
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Obviously , it's for fighting , but only OUTDOORS !:rolleyes:
 
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