The Voyager, Vaqueros and several other folders marketed by Cold Steel are your basic bare bones users designed for heavy use. They do market better ones and they do market worse ones also. For the money the two above are quite a lot of folder truth be told. Trust me the locks from CS are consistantly among the best made, strongest, and most reliable in the industry from my own observations and comparisons of them on the inner workings side by side with others I've seen on my bench to rebuild after taking off the FRN handles to redo them in titanium and Micarta or wood.
The Ultimate Hunter folder from Cold Steel is one that flies below the radar of many just as several other models from them do and yet these folders are among some of the best bang for the buck in high quality reliable and strong locking knives available for the working man. Its a big knife but what a knife. OMG its a good one for $55 and some shipping.
I have my fair share of complaints and concerns about Lynn Thompson like everyone else around here. I'll be one of the first to admit that he is certainly no angel but he is a black belt in marketing, and as much as you can find to say bad about the man, and some of his doings he does see to it that his company and those he contracts with to make what he sells make some of the best locks in this industry. I personally know many law enforement officers using CS knives that beat the snot out of them daily and have relied on them steadily for many years.
I don't buy many CS knives these days but I supported the company for many years and the reason was I knew the locks were good from seeing them up close and personal to compare them to other companies I had also seen up close and personal on the inside. Truthfully there are draw backs though like with anything else. The warranty could be better on Cold Steel folders in my opinion. For that matter they could provide a little more leway with the end line users even if the warranty did remain as it is, seeing as CS promotes beating the hell out of the knives themselves to prove their worth but will not allow you to do same without void of the skimpy warranty of the product.
Fortunately for me I only needed a warranty call from them for one knife and they mailed me the new thumb stud without charge and not needing the knife. I owned a lot of CS at one time. They were the majority of my users in fact, but the reality of the warranty finally set in with me. Why spend the money with them when you can spend equal money with Spyderco, get a better blade steel, every bit as good if not better lock and deal with a man of Sal Glesser's character with a far better customer service and support as well as warranty? Some don't like the opening hole. For those Cold Steel is a great choice. For me Spyderco in a side by side comparison on the 'user' line is the hands down choice these days 90% of the time.
STR
