Cold steel

I could argue that the Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter is one of the strongest folders made, for a very low price. An amazing value.
 
I own many CS products, from folders to a hawk (the smaller one with the hammer on the back). I've been pretty hard on many of them too - from prying the wood of door jambs to open interior office doors (they would lock & nobody had keys - long story) & other abuse I did to my old EDC Voyager folder (4" tanto point) - to throwing the SRK hundreds of times alongside the hawk & true flight thrower... They have always held up well for me. My favorite is probably the SRK - no frills, tough as nails, great steel, excellent balance - and I love the kraton handle, even if it is a little boxy.

Regarding CS being better than Camilus or Buck, as I understand it, both of these venerable American knife manufacturers have produced knives for the CS brand name at one time or another. Becker / Camilus fixed blades are just as good as CS IMO. Just depends on your preference - I like the thinner factory edge profile on the Becker line generally speaking. But I don't like their handles as much & the CS blades can be ground thinner easily enough...

Regarding Benchmade being better, well their fit & finish normally is and I'd agree that BM's folders are generally a bit nicer. Not necessarily tougher. Better QC though. Ditto for Spyderco - both BM & Spyderco use better steels in some models and tend to have smoother actions...

But CS's Carbon V fixed blades are superior to BM's stainless offerings in terms of toughness. I don't know of any BM fixed blades in carbon steel actually (?). Same for Spyderco.

CS products are alright in my book :thumbup: - While I dislike allot of LT's marketing tactics, with Camilus going under I am sure hoping CS can find a US manufacturer for their Carbon V blades...
 
CS is good I carry a peacekeeper to help turn the odds in my favor should I need it. Damn thing gets sharp and holds it well.
 
My recent Cold Steel purchase is a Recon-1 folder. With the Axis-type lock. Tanto blade, AUS8A steel. Made in Taiwan. Street price around here was $60
and I must say it is well worth the money. I wouldn't pay retail for it, but at the price payed, I was hard pressed to find better. I own numerous BM Axis models as well, and the fit\finish on my CS sample is just as nice. I have started carrying it daily and hope to see if it holds up as well long-term as the Rukus and 806, 710's, etc.
 
I used to be a steel snob and wouldn't carry cold steel for a few years there after I broke or warped several of the LTC blades. I would only carry microtech, chris reeve ect. I now EDC a cold steel Vaquero Grande and a Sebenza. I cut stuff with the sebenza but not with the serrated vaquero grande. It is there for self defence purposes only. It is seriously fast to deploy and at 6" a very large folder. I am used to it and have to reach down to make sure it's still there every once in a while. Do I like cold steel? They are good knives for the money. Lynns dvd's are funny, and I only spent around twenty bucks on the vaquero grande. And it was worth every penny.:thumbup:
 
i just received my 5" cs voyager tanto. i love it! the lock mechanism feels rock solid. sharpness is sureal. i cannot believe it. i know i can cut through some manilla rope! lol!

i love it so much, i just went and bought a 4" serrated tanto voyager as my daily carrier. the 5" is a little big as a pocket knife. almost 12" fully open!

time to see how long these vg-1 blades last.
 
To: SlamFire-

Honestly, Cold Steel once offered a folder that was a 100% copy of one offered by Camillus. Only it had the Cold Steel name on it. Oops!

There are several threads about the fact that Camillus makes, at the very least, most of Cold Steel's products. Yet, the quality is represented as being better than what you can get from Camillus. As an example: The Cold Steel SRK retails for about $60. The USMC Kabar knife made by Camillus compares closely to it.... and for only $35. Would a lot of people pay $60 for a $35 knife if it said "Camillus," rather than "Cold Steel" on the blade tang?

Lynn Thompson claims that Carbon V is superior to anything out there. Yet, we know what it actually is. How? There are threads about it that explain everything. Search through this forum yourself. To claim that it's better than other steels is just ridiculous.

Unlike Kenmoore, Mr. Thompson gives the impression that all his products are made in-house. Again, not true. As for 420 steel, Mr. Thompson once wrote an article in which he blasted other companies for using this "junk" steel. He also accused them of not bothering to even heat treat it.... Now a few years later, Cold Steel uses 420; and I'm sure Mr. Thompson wishes we'd forget that article he wrote.

These are the things that I find objectionable about Cold Steel. The biggest one being the in-house thing for me. You've clearly stated that doesn't bother you. Well, when a company contracts out to another company, you'll often find that company's name and address on the packaging. You don't see Camillus' info on Cold Steel boxes.

On a bit of a personal note, as far as being "insignificant" goes, when I told a friend about the Camillus connection, she went to her Master Instructor at her Hapkido School. When she told him about it, he researched it, and found it was true! The next day, he banned all Cold Steel products from his School, and told his students why. Mostly because he didn't enjoy paying Cold Steel prices for Camillus products. He found it to be, I suppose "disingenuous" would be the right word. Just wanted to let you know that. :)
 
The Triple-action may be one.
Their older Tanto is another.
My favorite is their excellent Arc Angel balisong (butterfly knife).

They're marketing geniuses when it comes to the general public, but I tend to agree with the forum concensus that it doesn't really do much for us knife people.

They tend to be pretty borderline when it comes to respecting patents and I'm uncomfortable with that.

[Note: I'm posting without reading anything but the top post.]

.
 
I've owned the Recon Scout in Carbon V. I really liked the knife overall. I didn't like the thin handle and the kraton was on the soft side, which made it increasingly uncomfortable with long periods of use. I got it for around $90 and for that price range, I'd get something from either Fallkniven, Ranger or Scrap Yard Knives.
 
Somebody Wrote

"The Cold Steel SRK retails for about $60. The USMC Kabar knife made by Camillus compares closely to it.... and for only $35. Would a lot of people pay $60 for a $35 knife if it said "Camillus," rather than "Cold Steel" on the blade tang?”"


Greater Answers

I have both the Cold Steel SRK and the Camillus USMC both are good but the SRK is much better. The steel is noticably thicker on the SRK and the kydex sheath fits and grips SRK much better The USMC by Cammilus fits loosly in it's Kydex sheath and totally relys on the snaps to hold knife in. I find the Camillus USMC to be on the thin side for a knife that size (7" vs 6" blade of SRK) Camillus uses thin stock I wonder if K-Bar or the older model Camillus uses the same thin stock.

My SRK cost me $39.00 the same as my Camillus. SRK although plain looking definately looks better and has a better finish (smooth black on SRK Camillus is rough) although niether knives have great finishes.
What I did not like was that the Camillus came with a usless (in my opinion) double edge on tip that I had to file down to make it legal and the it was not advertised as having a double edge SRK does not have double edge. Camillus is also fired a bunch of their employees to use cheap overseas labor now that bothers me more than any of Cold Steel's current or past business practices
 
jrc123 said:
they weaponize them because THEY ARE WEAPONS!!!! and who cares how they market thier product. it's america. I'm getting tired of all the knife snobs on here putting cold steel down. sure they have over the top advertizing but obviously that works or they wouldn't do it. they say it gives people that carry a bad image but it really doesn't matter. I mean a horror movie gives it a bad image. unless you live in the country,in a rural area, liberal sheeple will be intimidated by people who carry knives. or anything for that matter. they allways have been before cold steel's advertizing. plus I accully think their advertizing is amusing. and intresting. plus I like the way it makes them squirm. Anyway that being said I still use a 5'' voyager tanto I bought in 96 and I carry it every day to work.(construstion/framer)and I use the hell out of it. I cut all kinds of stuff and also do light prying. 10 YEARS!!!!I've had that knife.and it will take and hold a RAZORS edge. I've broken spydercos and benchmades in the time between.and for the price. My Goodness!! a simple tough as nails knife. I have a few others but thats not my point.
Click to expand...
Agreed, besides it mostly the benchmade and buck fanboys ranting against CS for "stealing" ideas - this was debunked a few months back
 
fdd19 said:
Agreed, besides it mostly the benchmade and buck fanboys ranting against CS for "stealing" ideas - this was debunked a few months back
Click to expand...

I'm often seen "ranting against CS", and a "Benchmade and Buck fanboy" I certainly am not. In my opinion, the two companies you mentioned are definitely following in the footsteps of CS when it comes to originality. For the record, I am a proud Spyderco, Emerson, & Kershaw fanboy.;)

Regards,
3G
 
Without rehasing old information I think my brother coined it best regarding Cold Steel. He said its as plain as the nose on your face, "they make stuff that is fun." He called them "Brat Toys" for guys that never fully grow up. Thompson sees to it that stuff other companies find beneath them or too immature to make is available through them and guys that like those kind of toys keep the company alive. I think its pretty evident that they do move some product.

When you stop to think about what my brother said and see the stuff you can throw, blow through and shoot projectiles with, destroy things, whack things, and basically be a a big brat with like the Delta Dart and other such things as well as the videos from Cold Steel, which I can tell you from personal experience are well recieved by the buying public, it isn't any wonder the sell stuff well. My nieces and nephews loved that Proof DVD so much that when I was home visiting they insisted I leave it with them rather than bring it back to Oklahoma with me, if that is any indication of the majority reaction to it by consumers.

Cold Steel is a fun company to watch. Most of the knives speak for themselves. Unfortunately for the most part, so does the owner CEO of the company though and thats the big draw back for a lot of folks and why they shy away from the toys from CS these days and yes, I've been guilty of that inclination myself even after years of supporting them but I am slowly warming up the 'fun' again as of late.

Sometimes I learn slowly what can I say, call me dense I guess. I am wising up to the fact that people can and do change their minds about things and that a stance from a year ago, or ten years ago, or a quote made by someone in the past may not be the valid today. We all do that, and in fact many petition their public officials to do that everyday. When you stop to think about it it is a bit unfair to hold something like the 420HC steel thing against someone if they re-evaluated some facts, or looked at other new information not available to them before like cost vs profit and other business decisions and then came to a new and opposite conclusion. Hey, it happens. Stranger things have occured. It doesn't really make the man a hypocrite in my book just because he changed an opinion over time.

STR
 
Anyone have any more info on the CS AK-47? Or a link to a review? Any info at all would be appreciated.
 
i have a magnum khukri and i love it. from the budk store the edge was crap.. i got a nice mill file and went to work reprofiling. i put a nice clean edge about 17 degrees then a secondary edge of about 21 degrees on about 1/3 of that primary edge. on the backside i removed the burr when sharpening the primary side. when chopping, this thing is a brute. if you've never used a khukri you'll get used to the sweet spot pretty quickly. i've already blazed a few trails in thick underbrush using a combo of my cs two handed machete and the magnum. the steel keeps an edge once you re-do it, i carried my file with me for the first day, noticed some rolling but once i sharpened it 3 or 4 times it takes a lot to roll it now, if you're chopping into green oak or something really hard it might chip but barely noticeable to the naked eye. overall this is an excellent buy, only cost me $20 and i think well worth it. the only thing i plan on changing is the handle is really rough to be used with a bare hand. i plan on sanding it down to a nice soft feel before going out again.
 
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