Coldsteel knives your opinions.

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coldsteel03

Joined
Jan 10, 2003
Messages
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Hi I'm a newbie here and would like to know your thoughts of Coldteel knives. Oh Yes, a friend over on familyfriendsfirearms.com recommended you guys. Very Nice site you have here and nice to meet you all.:)
 
i have only limited experience, bought a cold stell voyager large tanto. lockup very solid but since i didn't abuse it, can't say much except that i am happy with the knife and the stell performed very well. didn't have to sharpen, only steeling/stropping

and welcome to the forum.
 
Their Carbon V and AUS 8 is regarded as ok. I've heard a couple of bad comments about their 420 sub quench fixed blade.
I have a SRK and it looks ok.
 
Welcome coldsteel03,
If you like knifetalk you'll like it here. I own only one coldsteel knife and that's the Recon 1 folder. The ultra lock went to heck and It is now setting in Ventura Ca. being worked on, maybe. I'll let you know what I think of Coldsteel when I find out how they are going to handle my fiasco. I actually liked the knife but thought it would be way more durable, having said that, I'm sure every manufacturer has a few lemons. Like I said, I like the knife and hope it comes home soon.
later. :D dtsoll
 
I like the looks of allot of their stuff, they are not Benchmade or Spyderco though, I own a couple of Cold Steel knives and like them quite well the CarbonV steel in some of the knives is not bad to sharpen and holds a good edge.
 
I've got a Recon Tanto, I haven't done much cutting with it, but I'll tell you now, it feels good in the hand, and this is one solid piece of metal. I feel like I got a lot of knife for my money, even though the kydex sheath leaves a little to be desired. I find it to be a bit too tight, and the web belt loop is useless, so I removed it and fix it to the belt with paracord. Does the trick, until my shoulder rig arrives from Survival Sheaths. :D :D
 
I really like my SRK, except for the rubber handle and handguard. I also have the R1 which is great... I just lent my ODA to Lowlife for an evaluation, so I guess we can look to him for a review soon.
 
They really don't make anything that appeals to me very much.

Their folder lineup does not seem to contain anything that can tough Benchmades or Spydercos at a similar price point.

Some of their fixed blades seem alright, but "alright" isn't enough when you consider the number of real quality fixed blades you can get from other production makers.

I also think that their prices are frequently rather high. I believe that they want around 200 dollars for a ~6 inch AUS-8 blade with a rubber handle.
 
I've bought a bunch of Cold Steel knives in the past, but still have 2 Cold Steel Voyagers an El Hombre and a Night Force. They're very good knives, but despite Cold Steel's marketing hype, they're nothing extraordinary. Cold Steel tends to step all over other knife companies in their ads just to plug their own products and video. Their recent ad in the March issue of Blade magazine is an example. Anyway, their knives (made for them by other manufacturers) are of good quality, but they're not any better than Spyderco, Benchmade, or Camillus. In fact, it is said that Camillus manufactures their Carbon V knives.
 
Welcome to the Forum, ColdSteel03!

I have a bunch of Cold Steel brand knives and have to say that I like them a lot. The Vaquero Grande and El Hombre make excellent choices for prolonged cutting chores and their Nogales Clip point blades are really on the money for having a lot of belly to cut with and a good point to pierce with. Their medium-sized, serrated Voyager clip point knive is basicly a miniature chainsaw. If you possess a Spyderco Sharpmaker, the funky serrations are a breeze to resharpen.

Once you discover Benchmades, though, you might be changing your Forum title.
 
I really like Cold Steel Carbon V knives. I've got a Recon Tanto, LTC Kukri and a Trailmaster in Carbon V and I love them all. Very stout knives, and the handle is a great fit for my hands -- plus it keeps it's "stickiness" for quite a long time. The Sub Quenched steel sucks. I got a PeaceKeeper in the 420 and it doesn't come close to the Carbon V.
 
They can not be beat for the money just stay away from the 420 steel ones and you will be fine.
 
I currently have 2 Trailmasters, 1 Recon(7.5" trailmaster), a voyager w/clip point blade, 1 Vaquero Grande and a Desparado. Neither knife has ever failed me in any way. While their serrated pattern can be a pain to resharpen, they are wicked cutters.


Cerberus.
 
I really like Cold Steel for the most part.

I think the Voyager line is a great value and competes with Spyderco at that price point every step of the way.

I have never had a bad liner lock from Cold Steel which is saying something so they know how to make a liner lock that does not have play and does not fail easily.

I wish they would come out with more higher end pieces and start adding some G-10 to their lineup.

I had one of their Axis lock type folders and it was a major flop, very disappointing and probably the only CS product I was not happy with right out of the box.

A lot of people dislike them because of their hype and I'm not crazy about it either, but that's just marketing and appealing to a certain audience. A lot of other makers do the same thing and don't catch nearly the heat CS does.

Bottom line is buy what appeals to you and ignore what we think, if you only buy based on what people around here say you won't be happy - you have to buy what pleases you first.
 
If the design you like has the Carbon V bladesteel then I'd go ahead and get one. There is also nothing wrong with AUS 8 at all in my opinion.., but I'd stay away from other steels they use if the knife will be used daily.


"Hunters seek what they [WAT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
I really like most of the fixed blades that Cold Steel turns out. These are a pretty good knife for the price, and if you can buy one of these knives, e.g. a SRK or Recon Tanto in their "Seconds" line with reduced prices, I think you'll have found a great deal on a knife.

I also have a pretty favorable opinion on their Voyager folders, for specific reasons. They're also fairly priced, come with a very sharp factory edge, and if you lose one it won't kill you to replace it. I used to carry a smaller clip point Voyager as one of my "airplane knives", before that annoying habit placed me in the same category as a terrorist...:rolleyes: . Very lightweight in addition to the other points mentioned. I still have a large Gunsite folder that sees a lot of weekend yard duty. For the $50 I paid for it, I think it's a great deal.

Their marketing kind of speaks for itself. Besides the infamous tape, those catalogues with pictures of Lynn Thompson decked out in his cargo shorts and hat, standing over dead Water Buffalo, or Tigers, or other tropical game that he just shot, look ridiculous. Hard to imagine anyone who runs a knife company (doing as much volume as Cold Steel), who seems to be treated so much like a pariah by others in the industry as Lynn Thompson. That would seem to suggest more about him than their tape does. geegee
 
I think for the money they are good knives. I have a Mini- Culloden neck knife, Master Hunter in carbon V steel, and an El Lobo. All have been good knives that I have carried for several years and no ill effects observed. The master hunter was a factory second that has been used hard and skinned over 50 deer, hogs with and it has held up great.
 
My friend had a Voyager Tanto that I thought was a pretty decent knife. Some of their products seem to be quite nice, while others seem to be kind of cheap.
 
Stick with the carbon V seconds, those are a deal.

I picked up my SRK for $30 a few years ago and am finally re-handleing it.
 
Welcome dude! I have quite a few of the Tanto's, I really like them they are very good high performance knives.
 
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