Cold Steel R1 Military Classic

D

Doc1911

Joined
Jun 25, 2000
Messages
71
I'm interested in the Cold Steel R1 Military Classic. It's design is very similar to the Randall Model 1, but retails for less than half of the price of the Randall. I own one Randall and love it, but I'm wondering if the Cold Steel R1 is a good quality knife, worth the $125.00 (knifecenter.com) retail price? Is the AUS 8A a good knife steel? Is their tempering a quality job? If I hit the lottery, I'd buy another Randall in a heartbeat, but in the meantime is the R1 worth the money?

Thanks!
 
AUS 8A is an OK stainless stell. It is not nearly as good as Cold Steel claims. Likewise, IMHO their heat treat is pretty good, but not nearly as good as benchmade.

My 2 cents on this, although I have never handled the knife: Coldsteel makes some good stuff, but I would steer clear from anything from them with a retail price of much more than $100. While they are good at making hard use knives for a bargain price, mainly out of Carbon V steel, their material and methods just don't cut it for higher end products. The OSS might be an OK knife, if you feel up to rehandling it (or you are crazy and like their kraton handles), simply because it is made out of high carbon steel and costs much less.
 
The R1 is my overall camping and travel knife and I've taken it all over the world. I've taken it while running along a creek in Taiwan as well as all over the Dominican Republic. Its strengths is that it stands up to use in very humid locales and can take a bit of abuse without making you cringe. A good discounter will sell you an R1 for under a buck forty which makes it very competitive. I've bought three of them in the past year... I give the knife away to a deserving fellow after each trip since it's easy for me to get a quality knife in the states and so much harder out there.

One thing though... the sheaths that come with the more recent knives have not been up to the best quality. They've been a little soft and floppy. If you get one mail order, be prepared to send the sheath back for a replacement, or buy a Blackhawk sheath for it.
 
It's a fine knife, very well made. The one I have was made in Japan, I don't know about current production. The Bark River...$50 more for a slightly better steel but only a brass guard...the R1 has a 300 series stainless guard.
 
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