Cold Steel's Move to 440A?

UltraSteele

UltraSteele

Joined
Dec 12, 2002
Messages
163
I'd really like to know if anyone has an opinion on Cold Steel's move to 440A as thier main steel for new knives? Thier AUS8A was fantastic, even if a less-premium steel than newer ones.

A Cold Steel rep told me the reason they made the switch was they wanted to get thier "using knives" to real users, and the best way was to go to the less expensive steel. True, the prices are lower, but Im really disappointed with 440 in general.

Can anyone tell me why they have done this? Can AUS8A REALLY cost so much more than 440A? Why can other reputable companies crank out high quality 8A at lower prices, (Timberline comes to mind) but not Cold Steel?

For some of those designs, I'd raher pay more for the better steel.
Anyone?
 
Personally, only reason I'd konwingly buy a 440a blade is if I really needed corrosion resistance, and then would rather have a 420, or non ferrous(talonite/stellite/titanium) blade. I think it's a real shame they did this, and that I'll be sad when I finaly kill my AUS8 Voyager(or more likely, keep sharpening it till there's nothing left. :) )
 
I agree with you fully 440A is a piece of junk steel. They should have at least gone to 440C if they wanted the 440 family. I think that the true costumer of a good knife would buy quality at a greatter price then junk for cheap. Benchmade got it right and so did CRKT don't what Cold Steel is doing but they are shooting themself in the foot.

CRKT uses AUS 6,8,10 in most of their knives and still keep the cost down all while making a decent knife. No BM, AlMar or Microtech but hey they are still great piece for fair price.
 
Nimravus-

Yeah, I thought they are shooting themselves in the foot too! While 8A is no longer THE best steel, most agree no one does it like Cold Steel. I thik they will really hurt thier reputation by going to 440A.

I just bought a couple of thier new knives because I love the desigh and build quality. I generally stay away from 400 series steel on principle, but hey- this was Cold Steel!

Well, while the knives did arrive shaving sharp, I had used one for some very light pruning (I mean like a minute's worth of soft greenwoods and a few leaves and stems) and the blade was crappy. Not dull, but you could see the edge was chewd up, you know?

Mr. Thompson and Co, please go back to what you do best!
 
While I doubt that Cold Steel will admit it I'm
fairly sure that Camillus is making some of their
knives on contract now. That would account for the
440A blade steel. Camillus has used 440A in many
of their production knives for a long time.
 
I think though that CS has probably calculated that if they lower their price a bit the sales volume will go up. And for the average custumor, it doesn't matter wgat the steel is, you could say "premium forged butter cutting steel" and people would like it.
 
When Cold Steel first came out, I really liked their stuff. A lot of quality stuff, and relatively affordable. But lately it seems like they have strayed from that. They seem to be impressing themselves rather than their customers. And their customer service level has dropped as well.

I ordered a few items out of their latest catalog that they sent me, and didn't hear anything from them. When I finally called, they said that one of the items was not available yet. Their catalog didn't say that, and at no time did they make any attempt to tell me until 6 weeks go by and I call them.

And then their attitude on the phone was, 'Well, you can wait for it to be ready, or you can cancel that item off of your order and we'll ship whatever else is available.' My response was option 3, I cancelled the entire order.

Jubei
 
After I bought an Oyabun, I concluded that CS have very little to do with the production of their low end knives.

Put simply it's not much of a knife: The blade arrived fairly dull, one swipe at a small branch left a small but distinct ding near the tip and the blade was left blunt. The Kraton handle is a bit rough in spots too. (The sheath is pretty good though - why can't the magnum ix have one of those?)

I have a memory of knives called the Peacekeeper 1 and 2 being advertsed some ten years back in a UK gun magazine. (I remember it clearly - not imagining it)

Were CS producing these back in 92? I have little doubt that the lower end knives are made by some other company,
but the recent recollection of the ad some ten years back
makes me wonder if they simply slapped their name on some existing knives?

It's economics no doubt, but was the decission finally made on the basis that the Dollar is taking a bit of a pounding at the moment, and that AUS is a Japanese steel?

A magnum IX may cost about 4 X the price of its Korean-Made
cousin, but for every IX they sell,they probably sell 10 of the Oyabun.


I just bought a Magnum IX in fear of it being replaced by a 440 version. Yes it's panic buying, but this one has been on my wants list since the very start.
 
Why can't they afford it?? Spyderco cranks out $50 dollar knives with S30V and VG-10 and I don't see them going bankrupt...
-Kevin
 
This really upsets me...I just got into knives good, and I just purchased a Scimitar and a Vaquero Grande with AUS8A steel...Im happy with that steel, and I was looking forward to extending my line of CS knives with AUS8A steel...but I definatly wont be buying any cheep 440A knives...It makes me sad becuase I really love some of their designs...and for them to FINALLY be getting on the right track with their products, they go and do something stupid like this.

I honestly hope Lynn smartens up and keeps certain knives in production with AUS8A steel. :(
 
The new designs are great. I have the tanto point Pro-Lite, and its really comfortable on my hand. Just what I've been looking for.

But the 440A steel... I've got to do some tests with it, but it seems like poor quality 440 to boot! I'll post as soon as I can with an update... maybe a review?

Cheers,
Bill
 
This 440 series steel of Cold Steel is a classic Made in China knives..

Their aus8 and carbon V are Ok..
 
Well, to make things clear...are they going to keep making some models in AUS8A, or have they officially stated that they are moving away from all forms of steel except for 440A?
 
Sorry guys- to be fair and accurate, they are producing some new knives in 440A, coverting others (Like the Recon1) to it.

They are continuing to produce many of thier current product line in their AUS8A and Carbon V, as usual.

So no, so far Cold Steel hasn't said "Everything will be 440" or anything like that...

Thanks, Fireshaker- my bad.
 
You might want to check out the Knife reviews and testing forum, but from what I read in the past 440C performs better than AUS8 and is about as good as ATS-34.
Just because it says 440, don't mistake it for junk.
And as far as AUS6 goes, well, my book is still out on that.
I think it's about as good as a very good 440A knife.
 
Originally posted by Walking Man
You might want to check out the Knife reviews and testing forum, but from what I read in the past 440C performs better than AUS8 and is about as good as ATS-34.
Just because it says 440, don't mistake it for junk.
And as far as AUS6 goes, well, my book is still out on that.
I think it's about as good as a very good 440A knife.
Click to expand...



440c is fine, what we're talking about here tho is 440a...

I'm just concerned that this is the thin end of the wedge.
 
The 440 issue is that if a maker is reluctant to tell you what kind of 440 steel they're using, then it is most probably the cheap "A" type. 440 B is an adequate steel while 440C is considered a very good steel. Why just say 440 if you're actually putting in the good stuff? It would be a major selling point that you're not using. Hence, if they just say 440, it is most probably 440A. If they just say 400 series, then I would think that it's 420 steel.

As far as I know, Cold Steel does not market any knives made in China. Their best quality knifes are made in Japan, USA, and Taiwan and in my opinion, in that order of quality.

As for steel performance, I seriously can't tell the difference between 440C, AUS8 or ATS34, but I can tell the difference between price. It also depends upon what you want to use the knife for. I recently visited the Dominican Republic where 420 would have made a great diving knife, where AUS8 worked very well in the Mountain Jungles, and where ATS34 rusted in a sweaty pocket.

I think that a pocket knife made to sit close to the body has to take into consideration the climate and sweat, so 440a is somewhat of a compromise and not necessarily a bad move.
 
All of the above may be true...but I don't sweat much. :P

The thing is, CS was just starting to get on the good side of some knife nuts by sticking to their guns with 8A...now by catering to the less knowledgable knife buyers by droping to 440A, they're putting the more hardcore knife people who woudln't mind having a decent steel for a decent price that they're not afraid to use and abuse.

Thats just my opinion though.
 
Cold Steel never did cater to knife knuts like us. We tend to be a picky bunch, picking the good and the bad out of lineups and identifying those who consistently make good knives.

Cold Steel is in the business to make money and this is purely profit motivated. Now, I certainly hope that they do not make their entire line out of 440A as for the present time, the have "something for everyone".

For those who lament the change, there is always still CRKT who make excellent knives at very reasonable prices.
 
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