Cold Steel Rajah 2

P

panama

Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
128
Just got it. Blade says made in Taiwan, not all that encouraging. A massive knife, really massive and heavy. This one will pull down on your pants like a heavy gun. Lock requires one to really push it in deep to release, nice. The knife has a surprisingly good balance to it. Grip is nice. The blade flick out and locks open with surprisingly little effort. Blade design is of course superb. Blade has a lot of body. Would inflict simple awful wounds similar to a fixed blade field knife and it is a folder. Blade is sharp out of box but I have seen cold steel knives with much sharper blades. I think this knife is more of a novelty folder rather than an everyday carry knife. It is massive and very heavy. Could one carry it every day, yes. I think these knives will sell well initially and then the demand will drop as people become aware of their size and heft and I expect it will go down memory lane and be discontinued, just a hunch.
 
I saw the video on the newgraham website, that knife is huge. Not sure its my cup of tea though. Good luck with it, let us know how it performs over time.
 
panama said:
Blade says made in Taiwan, not all that encouraging.
Click to expand...

Which of Cold Steel's blades aren't made in Taiwan? The ones made in China. Maybe some still made in Japan. Taiwan's been manufacturing a lot of good quality knives, it's OK.

Thanks for the review. I really like the design, but then, I like monster folders. :)
 
IMHO 5 inches is the maximum sane length for a folder's length. If you need more (as in the 6.5 inches on the Rajah) you should be using a fixed blade. However, the recurve appeals to me and if CS made a 4 or 5 inch bladed version I'd probably add it to the never ending list of knives to buy that has been growing steadily.
 
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I should add that cold steel wrapped the Rajah with a red sticker preventing the knife from opening until you take it off, that explains that while the knife is big like a fixed bladed knife it should not be considered the same as a fixed blade and should not be used as a fixed blade for chopping and field work. So they are saying it looks like a sturdy khukuri don't use it like one. I believe it has something about bones in there too. That being said the wounds from this knife in a self -defense situation would be the worst of any folder I ever saw including their other 6" folders. The blade on this knife at thickest point is probably about 1/4 inch thick. Big. The momentum combined with leverage from length, the blade curve design, etc. would really make for punishing wounds. I am fond of a Randall #1 but I think this Rajah would be a way more mortal knife in combat. I never saw a folder like this and by my own admission I probably have too many knives - not unlike others here <smile>. Now when can I get my hands on the 7 1/2 inch Espada which is probably a more impractical knife by far but I can't wait to get one. The espada is a take off on the Navarra but most of those require two hands to open and the cold steel will have the wave feature and probably flick open readily like the Rajah.

On country of manufacture the high end Cold Steel blades say Japan. I am open to your thoughts about Taiwan blades being perfectly acceptable.
 
Taiwan manufactures knives for many companies. Depending on the company and the model? Very good knives. Their Cold Steel knives are good.
 
I should add that cold steel wrapped the Rajah with a red sticker preventing the knife from opening until you take it off, that explains that while the knife is big like a fixed bladed knife it should not be considered the same as a fixed blade and should not be used as a fixed blade for chopping and field work. So they are saying it looks like a sturdy khukuri don't use it like one. I believe it has something about bones in there too. That being said the wounds from this knife in a self -defense situation would be the worst of any folder I ever saw including their other 6" folders. The blade on this knife at thickest point is probably about 1/4 inch thick. Big. The momentum combined with leverage from length, the blade curve design, etc. would really make for punishing wounds. I am fond of a Randall #1 but I think this Rajah would be a way more mortal knife in combat. I never saw a folder like this and by my own admission I probably have too many knives - not unlike others here <smile>. Now when can I get my hands on the 7 1/2 inch Espada which is probably a more impractical knife by far but I can't wait to get one. The espada is a take off on the Navarra but most of those require two hands to open and the cold steel will have the wave feature and probably flick open readily like the Rajah.

On country of manufacture the high end Cold Steel blades say Japan. I am open to your thoughts about Taiwan blades being perfectly acceptable.
 
Wow! This is one big knife. I just received mine today and I agree with everything Panama says. It's massive, rock solid, short of shaving sharp and requires a real, conscious, two handed effort to unlock. Waves open pretty well after a little practice.
 
So what's the blade steel? I don't see any reference to what the blade's made from. Great looking knife,
but if they don't advertise what the blade's made out of, that's a bad sign. That's why Gerber started
doing just before they became a junk knife maker.

139887065_o.jpg
 
Confederate said:
So what's the blade steel? I don't see any reference to what the blade's made from. Great looking knife,
but if they don't advertise what the blade's made out of, that's a bad sign. That's why Gerber started
doing just before they became a junk knife maker.

139887065_o.jpg
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the picture does not do it justice. That blade is huge.
 
That's not quite true about Gerber not revealing their alloys only right before they slid.

Gerber did not reveal what alloy they used for most of their blades, even in the '70s.
 
I was just reading the Cold Steel ad copy on a dealer website, first for the Rajah and then for the Espada. I don't know why, but the write up on the Espada was goofy, just throwing out words without doing the research. First they identified the sword from which they took the name as coming from Extremadura in the northwest of Spain. It's in the southwest. Next, why take the name from a long, thin sword when this is a broad, thick knife, a direct descendant of the Moorish navaja? Gaahhh ...

I think I'm buying the Rajah, though. :)
 
I think I forgot to mention that the Rajah 2 has metal liners inside the polymer handle on each side. This is a good thing to me in that it adds strength.
I was able to flick mine open one handed (not talking about wave here) right away. It requires a hard flick of the wrist to throw that blade out to open but once the blade reaches the point of no return it clunks into place nicely.
While I think the knife is great, it is not an EDC piece. It will pull your pants down like a pistol and I think many of you will opt to carry a 3.5 to 5" blade due to lighter weight. This Rajah will of course deliver a chopping blow approaching a "real" Kukri or Bowie and that is worth a lot of compensating value in a folder. The cold steel Ex. Large Vaquero gives you a 6" blade with a recurve design that will do some damage and is far better suited for EDC. That being said I am guilty of premeditated purchase planning regarding the Rajah 1 which they say will take the pounding and is even slightly heavier. It's just a folding knife like no other, a gotta have kinda thing. Thanks.
 
I just saw Tom Hank's movie Castaway again last night. Now that's a guy who needed a knife! If you'll recall, he first learned how to chip rocks to produce blades, then he got a cheap pair of ice skates. Somehow he managed to remove the rail and attatch it to a piece of wood with rope made from twined strips of bark. He was able to use that skate rail for years. (I imagine he kept the other one in his safe just in case.)

Anyway, the Rajah2 is not my kind of a knife. Way too heavy. I think the Voyager Extra Large XXC/S is ideal. Good quality steel, light, strong as an ox. Also, the clip of the Rajah is placed almost smack center of the handle. I have no doubt that it's strong enough to be used as a fixed knife, as my huge Voyager is very strong and the Rajah is supposed to be even stronger.

Oh, and about the Grivory. How does it compare to Zytel? I love the Zytel on my Recon 1, as it is smooth and feels great in the hand.

cast%20away%20SPLASH.jpg
 
The XL Voyager is a clip point Vaquero Grande. They came in the same steel with the exact interchangeably same handle. But the VG is flat ground and the XL is hollow ground and I've beaten on my VG for years. The XL I destroyed in no time.

I would also like to know what Grivory is. I bet it's a fiberglas reinforced nylon like Zytel. Got no problem with that, Zytel always holds up for me, and the Rajah needs no more weight. :)

Add: Thanxalot for keeping this thread going, guys. I am never going to be able to resist this knife ... grrr
 
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