Cold Steel Trailmaster steel now O1 instead of SK5?

H

halbschaf

Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
191
Hi Guys
I need your help!
Finally I decided to get the CS Trailmaster. After a long time this knife has arrived here in our city in Germany, but from the advertisement I learned that the steel they use now is 01 instead of SK5. Sales people confirmed this, but I have my doubts, because they also confirmed that AUS 8 steel is the same as 440 C, and that´s not true.
Does anyone here knows about this issue, and if so, what´s the reason for changing? Till now I have had the impression, CS praised the capability of the SK5. Which of both is the better choice?
Would be great if I can get an info.
Thanks a lot in advance
Holger
 
This question will probably get more responses in the Cold Steel sub-forum but from my understanding, O1 takes and holds an edge better than SK5 (said to be similar to 1085) and is slightly tougher depending on heat treat. But I'm no steel expert and this is just based on what I've read but most seem to appreciate the change from SK5 to O1 steel.
 
Yes they did switch. They will be gradually switching to O1 across the TrailMaster and Recon Scout. I have an O1 TM, and I LOVE it. It is such a great hard use, beat the snot out of steel. Pretty easy to sharpen up. It WILL rust though. I forced a patina with mustard and A1 steak sauce. It is now a neat dull grey color. There are several threads on the CS sub forum on this topic. I for one am super happy with the switch. When the Recon Scout comes out in O1, I will be all over one. :)
 
Even with using all day I doubt that anyone will notice the difference in performancebetween O1 and SK5.
 
I would be comfortable with 01 steel. I don't think you have anything significant to concern yourself about. Of course, you could probably find an SK5 version for sale without too much difficulty.
 
O1 is excellent steel and a fine choice for knives like the TM and RS.

shqxk said:
Even with using all day I doubt that anyone will notice the difference in performance between O1 and SK5.
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You're probably right. SK5 is good stuff as well. Personally, I would shop around and see which version I could find a better price on, and use that.
 
I have the SK5 recon scout, and its a great blade. SK5 is a type of spring steel so its a good performer. Have not had a change to use the O1 model, but it is definitely an upgrade. The O1 will probably make the better blade and hold an edge longer. Some part of me wouldnt mind a 1055 version. CS does a really good job on their 1055 and it would probably drop the price to a more affordable level and be a solid performer. Just a thought... But if you got an O1 version count yourself lucky, its a good steel.
 
Thanks so far, so I'll not hesitate purchasing this bowie in O1. By the way - till now I didn't have had a knife with a kraton handle. Will it be still nonslip over the time? And the plastic sheath - the knife fits solid and with no rattle noise. But after a lot of sharpening and when the blade gets thinner, will it still be the case?
 
halbschaf said:
Thanks so far, so I'll not hesitate purchasing this bowie in O1. By the way - till now I didn't have had a knife with a kraton handle. Will it be still nonslip over the time? And the plastic sheath - the knife fits solid and with no rattle noise. But after a lot of sharpening and when the blade gets thinner, will it still be the case?
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Kraton is just a type of rubber, so yes over a long time you will have a slight smoothing out of bumps, but its still grippy stuff. Have had mine for awhile and it has not broken down at all so I think you will be good to go. The sheath is not bad, its a snap in securex plastic sheath. I removed the handle snap on mine to make it carry how I want it too and I have had to reheat the mouth of the sheath once before to make it grip tighter, BUT I highly doubt you are going to thin the knife to the point of making it not hold in the sheath. The sheath retains by nubs under the guard not on the blade surface. Kind of hard to explain but there yah go lol.


Modified sheath...


and a pretty old pic for giggles.
 
halbschaf said:
Any idea which hardeness rc the 01 - TM has?
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I heard that it was 57-58 HRC, but i can't say for sure. I will say the factory in Taiwan seems to do exceptional heat treats for moderate priced, production knives.

I like SK-5, but O-1 is a great upgrade for no additional cost.

With a great Secure-Ex sheath included, i think the Trailmaster O-1 is a better deal than ever.

While i'm not the biggest fan of Kraton, (i prefer Micarta,) it offers great grip, shock absorbation and good durability. Trailmasters have been around long enough that there are lots of guys who rehandled them when/if the Kraton ever wears out. FWIW, i know a guy with a 20+ year old SRK, and my cousin has a master Hunter from the 80's- both have been used and the Kraton is still great and grippy.


P.S. I'm really looking forward to the O-1 Laredo coming out!
 
I would not hesitate buying O1 from CS.

It should be an upgrade from SK5 as far as edge retention goes. There is a reason many custom makers use 01 by choice, and why many of their customers love it.
 
Not really a fan of the Trailmaster, but if CS put one out in 1055, I'd be all over it. The 1055 in their machetes is great.
 
For those wanting a trail master in 1055 while not quite it Cold Steel is releasing a new for 2014 the 1917 Frontier Bowie in 1055. Looks pretty brutal and awesome though it's a but bigger and heavier than the TM specs being 17 5/8" OAL, 12 1/4" blade, 1/4" thick and weighing 23.8 oz.

That being said my next purchase myself is a TM and BK9 and I too can't decide if I should get an sk5 or wait for an 01 scouring for information. What I've gathered is that 01 is superior with the same heat treat in edge retention and wear resistance but is more prone to rust and maybe a little less tough than sk5.
 
The main issue when a change like this happens is marketing, and authenticity. O1 is a widely recognized steel in many areas of knife making. but also in areas like woodworking. CS innovates a lot but can get caught in the entry level overthrow area where newbies buy their first knife, then spew on the company when they see their first few higher end knives. CS should get at least the same credit as some other makers who may have been in the biz 24 hours but are selling an ultimate survival knife in O1. So over the last while CS has been upgrading their offerings.

O1 is a great steel, my favorite all around tool steel. But a lot of that is stuff that is good for me as a maker: cheap (not necessarily for a CS), fully ground, easy to work, can be heat treated in an open flame, etc... Sure it is an admirable, fabulous HC steel... designed for something else. Enter the battle between steels made for springs, vs steels made for gage blocks.

The other question to me is what this stuff really is. I'm sure it isn't the Starret stuff I buy in brown envelopes. What makes this stuff O1? While I can go to the metal supply and pick up for maybe 100 bucks enough steel to make all the knives I will need for a lifetime (say a 4" by 36" plate of 3/16. That is a huge input cost for a mass maker, and this stuff isn't sand it is precision ground stock, there isn't any totally cheap option.
 
Protactical said:
The main issue when a change like this happens is marketing, and authenticity. O1 is a widely recognized steel in many areas of knife making. but also in areas like woodworking. CS innovates a lot but can get caught in the entry level overthrow area where newbies buy their first knife, then spew on the company when they see their first few higher end knives. CS should get at least the same credit as some other makers who may have been in the biz 24 hours but are selling an ultimate survival knife in O1. So over the last while CS has been upgrading their offerings.

O1 is a great steel, my favorite all around tool steel. But a lot of that is stuff that is good for me as a maker: cheap (not necessarily for a CS), fully ground, easy to work, can be heat treated in an open flame, etc... Sure it is an admirable, fabulous HC steel... designed for something else. Enter the battle between steels made for springs, vs steels made for gage blocks.

The other question to me is what this stuff really is. I'm sure it isn't the Starret stuff I buy in brown envelopes. What makes this stuff O1? While I can go to the metal supply and pick up for maybe 100 bucks enough steel to make all the knives I will need for a lifetime (say a 4" by 36" plate of 3/16. That is a huge input cost for a mass maker, and this stuff isn't sand it is precision ground stock, there isn't any totally cheap option.
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This is kind of an old thread, but I'm interested in your post. What do you mean by "What makes this stuff O1?" Which "stuff"? Are you doubting that CS is buying O1, or that the definition of O1 is vague?
 
O1 is a great step up in steel. I for one, am looking forward to it. Cold Steel is upgrading their steels in many of their knifes. The Master Hunter and other knives are getting 3V! Great stuff.
 
Protactical said:
The other question to me is what this stuff really is. I'm sure it isn't the Starret stuff I buy in brown envelopes. What makes this stuff O1?
Click to expand...

Protactical makes a good point... there is a range of acceptable purity, and carbon and alloy content that lets a manufacturer "call" a steel "O1". There can be a fair amount of variation from one mill to another, and from one batch to another. Starret is one of the suppliers that sells only clean O1 within very tight specs; what this means for the maker is being able to really dial in the heat treat and be sure of consistent performance, and be sure of not having a lot of impurities.

It's a bit amusing to me when people talk about O1 being their favorite "tool" steel... it really was the bee's knees about 90 years ago, but compared to modern tool steels it really fits in better with the simple "carbon" steels. There's only about 1-2% alloying elements in it, and contrary to popular belief they're not there to form lots of carbides, they're mostly for HT purposes. To help keep the grain-structure from blowing up during austenizing, and to allow it to be quenched in oil rather than water (much less risk of cracking thin pieces that way).

All that being said, even "not the best" O1 still makes very good knives. Its main selling points in my eyes are high toughness and being really easy to put a very fine, scary sharp edge on. It definitely requires a fair amount of attention to keep it from rusting, and it's going to stain pretty much no matter what you do short of powdercoating it... but many, many users simply don't care about that.
 
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