Review Cold Steel SRK 3V review

A friend took an older version of the SRK with him when he deployed for Operation Desert Shield back in 1989/1990. He claimed that it was prone to rusting along the edge when the blade's protective black coating wore off from sharpening. I chose the Cold Steel stainless "Master Hunter" instead for its shorter, handier (4.5") blade length and increased resistance to rust during outdoor activities.
 
Not a bad review, nothing truly unexpected, though I might have expected the tip of the 3V ones to be a little tougher than the tips of the SK5 ones, the tips are pretty pointy and goood at penetrating penetration resistant materials by design I suppose. How sharp and pointy they are, and how well they slice stuff with the hollow grind are two of the things I like about both models, but just like with the Fallkniven A1 and S1, very similar style knives, I too prefer them rehandled. And I can't say about the 3V SRK but the swedge on my 3V recon scout was one of the sharpest obtuse grinds I've ever had on a knife with a swedge. And to me, yes the older handles felt much better.

AntDog said:
Passive-aggressive much? But otherwise ok review. The SRK has a long standing reputation as a knife that will do everything but doesn’t excel at anything.

None of your findings shock me at all, but your reluctance to find more knife enjoyment by hacking and batonning large trees with knives is puzzling.😁
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LOL, at 60 and (judging by the looks of his hands) much older than the OP, I've found that hacking at batonning anything unnecessarily has become less and less fun as I have gotten older... and have gotten out of a toxic marriage and a toxic career, and don't hate huge chunks of my life anymore:rolleyes: but I do remember some of it fondly 😁 It's probably a good thing that I no longer do R&D for knife comanies and knife magazines 🤣

Plus living in the Southeast US, and having grown up in the everglades, I prefer to look like a normal woodsman who knows his environment and not field an axe or a hatchet I'll never need to use, and take a machete if I expect to be chopping shelter poles or the like. However, I do need to baton pine knots now and then for wet weather fire starter here in a temperate rain forest, and I refuse to carry a fixed blade that can't handle that as I've done it with Moras...

SwissHeritageCo said:
Not a fan of the rubber handle, don't trust it. I did find the shape of it comfortable though (I lock blocky handles).
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Here we're sort of on the same page, sort of not. I am in fact, a fan of the feel of the kraton handles, especially in the cold season, but like you I don't trust them in the long term. I'ved love the Trail Master, Recon Scout, and the SRKs I've had, and I've had them all but the 3V version of the SRK. But I haven't seen any long term reviews of woods / field work with them over several years, and I just can't make myself trust them to not stretch and loosen up over years of hard use, and always sell them off of gift them after a year or two. And I hate that lack of trust, as I really do love the Trailmaster, I've had 4 or them.
 
The only knife that I own with a Kraton handle is that Cold Steel "Master Hunter". It is now well over 20 years old and has been used extensively, including exposure to salt water. Knife is still in great shape and razor sharp. I wouldn't worry too much about Kraton handles. They seem to stand the test of time. If my "Master Hunter" does fail me in the future, I won't be sad. I certainly got my money's worth, and then some, out of it.
 
BootKnifeFan said:
The only knife that I own with a Kraton handle is that Cold Steel "Master Hunter". It is now well over 20 years old and has been used extensively, including exposure to salt water. Knife is still in great shape and razor sharp. I wouldn't worry too much about Kraton handles. They seem to stand the test of time. If my "Master Hunter" does fail me in the future, I won't be sad. I certainly got my money's worth, and then some, out of it.
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Thank you! This is information I had been waiting on. I like the Master Hunter as well, have owned and gifted a few of those also, they are a great size and I like the full flat grind. I just prefer pointy blades like the SRK more. And to me at the price of the SRK and SRK compacts, they make great inexpensive but good quality field knives to gift to family and close friends who are into or getting into fieldcraft studies and don't like the serrations on the SOG SEAL Pup.

Honestly now that SOG and Cold Steel have the same parent company, and the SRKs are made in Taiwan anyway, I wish Cold Steel would make an AUS10A version of the SRKs for salt water environments. The Japanese made stainless SRKs of AUS8 were better than a lot of people gave them credit for. SRK fans just weren't ready for the shift away fron Carbon V no matter what steel they used.
 
alphabetsoup said:
To be clear here, Carbon V is something like 52100? Not that I dislike old reliable low alloy steels or anything, but I can't imagine why Cold Steel doesn't at least offer any stainless SRK. I'd like to see one made of AEB-L.
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Alberta Ed said:
Carbon V, 1095 Cro-Van and 0170-6 are the same steels. Kabar uses 1095 Cro-Van in several of its knives. Good stuff.
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Carbon V is roughly similar to 52100, but has a bit less carbon, and only Chromium as an added component not found in 1095. Carbon V would be expected to have a finer grain structure, and therefore be tougher, because of the small amount of Vanadium.

The exact composition of Carbon V depended on which manufacturer was making the knife for Cold Steel. Cold Steel Carbon V knives were made in three factories over time. The original alloy composition was Sharron Steel 0170-6 which contained small amounts of Chromium, Vanadium, Molydenum and Nickel. This composition today is used by KaBar as 1095 CroVan.

Paul Tsujimoto, used to post here. He worked at all three factories and ended his career as Technical Director of Ontario Cutlery: According to him, the timeline was:
1) Cold Steel Carbon V was first produced in the Alcas Factory (Cutco and KA-BAR) Mid 1980s, Carbon V was originally 1095CroVan / 0170-06
2) Cold Steel moved to Ontario early 1990s. Carbon V started out as 1095CV/0170-06 but while at Ontario, metallurgist Dan Maragni removed the small amount of nickel from the formula.
3) Cold Steel moved to Camillus approx. 1995. Carbon V stayed 0170-06 minus the nickel. Camillus called this alloy "0170-6C" when they used it in their own knives.

When Camillus went bankrupt, AG Russell bought the remaining supply of Camillus 0170-6C steel, They've had some knives made using it. They call the Steel "DM1"
 
knarfeng said:
Carbon V is roughly similar to 52100, but has a bit less carbon, and only Chromium as an added component not found in 1095. Carbon V would be expected to have a finer grain structure, and therefore be tougher, because of the small amount of Vanadium.

The exact composition of Carbon V depended on which manufacturer was making the knife for Cold Steel. Cold Steel Carbon V knives were made in three factories over time. The original alloy composition was Sharron Steel 0170-6 which contained small amounts of Chromium, Vanadium, Molydenum and Nickel. This composition today is used by KaBar as 1095 CroVan.

Paul Tsujimoto, used to post here. He worked at all three factories and ended his career as Technical Director of Ontario Cutlery: According to him, the timeline was:
1) Cold Steel Carbon V was first produced in the Alcas Factory (Cutco and KA-BAR) Mid 1980s, Carbon V was originally 1095CroVan / 0170-06
2) Cold Steel moved to Ontario early 1990s. Carbon V started out as 1095CV/0170-06 but while at Ontario, metallurgist Dan Maragni removed the small amount of nickel from the formula.
3) Cold Steel moved to Camillus approx. 1995. Carbon V stayed 0170-06 minus the nickel. Camillus called this alloy "0170-6C" when they used it in their own knives.

When Camillus went bankrupt, AG Russell bought the remaining supply of Camillus 0170-6C steel, They've had some knives made using it. They call the Steel "DM1"
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Interesting facts. Thanks for sharing. I have always associated Cold Steel knives with Taiwan and Japan, since that is where all of my Cold Steel knives were manufactured. I knew the CS machetes were made at factories in Africa, though. With Lynn Thompson gone, I have heard that some or much (depending on who you ask) of the manufacturing has been contracted to companies in China and that CS's parent company also owns SOG. I just hope and pray that CS quality is not sacrificed on the altar of the almighty dollar! That would be a real shame.
 
50100-B was another name for Carbon V from Sharon steels from what I saw. I picked up some from a knifemaking supply house a few years back and a customer found me whose grandfather had worked for Sharon Steel and he wanted a knife from it! Seemed to work pretty much like 1095, and very close to 52100 with less Chromium, and with some vanadium alloy wise. Think of a slightly higher carbon version of 80CRV2 (DIN version). I think some of the additional alloys made it easier to heat treat than 1095 IIRC? Not much out there with it now that Sharon is no longer making steel and 52100, 80CRV2 and other carbon steels have proceeded to gain popularity. One of these days I will play with the bars I have of it (I think I have nearly 4 bars of it? LOL.)

50100B.jpg
 
I have the SRK in 3V as well and I totally agree about the top swedge being too sharp for my liking. Interesting to note that the swedge on the SK5 steel version of this knife is NOT sharp like that. It's a swedge yes, but won't cut you. So I don't know if I buy the theory that the sharp swedge on the 3V version is deliberate "for combat purposes". If that's true - why don't they do it on the SK5 version which they sell WAY more of vs the 3V model? The 3V's blade thickness profile is different on the flats vs the SK5 version, but CS uses the same sheath for all models, hence why you see many reports of 3V SRKs not fitting in the supplied sheath. That was the case with mine (OD green handle & sheath). It was almost impossible to get in or out. I bought a nice Buck 119 reddish leather sheath and it fits the SRK perfectly after you remove the liner. That is annoying that there is a known misfit between the 3V version (which you pay a premium for) and the sheaths but CS has not remedied it. Either make the blade profiles exactly the same or make a sheath version specific for the 3V blade.
Besides that; mine came razor sharp. I don't do tip stab tests so not worried about that. I also have the SRK-C in SK5 and that is a far more useful practical size version for normal hiking/camp chores.
 
I habe been using the Survival Rescue Knife for many many years , and I have never had my handle fail me.

I trust my S.R.K. knives as much as any other knife I own.

They have come with me on too many adventures to write about. Never let me down!!

I do agree with the comments on this post with respect to the swedge. I do not like the sharp swedge as much as the regular swedge because it chews up batons faster.

If you find your sheath dulling your SRK there is a extremely easy fix!!! Don't drag the edge on the sheath! Fixes the issue immediately!

The handle is one of my favorites. It is comfortable and secure for any task in any environment. Hot or cold, wet or dry, gloved or bare handed. It's simple and it just plain works!! Fits a lot of different hand shapes and sizes because there's no index grooves or finger choiles or any of that nonsense. Always offers secure grip no matter what!!
 
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