CS Laredo Bowie Questions

Sharp Knives 86

Sharp Knives 86

Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Messages
783
Ok so a friend of mine picked up a Cold Steel Laredo bowie recently and yesterday I had a chance to check it out a little. A very nice knife to say the least. Admittadly I was all set to get a Trail Master but now I'm not sure. Most of the reviews I've seen and read are mostly positive however one criticisim I've seen is the Laredo only has a half tang. Is this true? If/when I get a Laredo I was thinking of having a stag handle put on it, (c'mon this knife would look awesome with a stag handle) but if it only has a half tang, would a stag handle be more prone to breakage? Also I hear the sheath on the Laredos somtimes scratch the blade, is this still a problem with current models or has CS fixed this?
 
Yes the sheath that came with my Laredo puts a scratch down the blade, annoying but it's not too bad of a scratch.

The tang goes about half way down the handle, then it is welded to a thick steel cable thing that is connected to a threaded bolt which screws into the butt of the handle..... sounds and looks complicated, but it is realy quite sturdy. Someone on this forum rehandled theirs and took pics of the exposed tang, there is a thread about it somewere on the maintenance forum...

It is still a pretty cool knife for the money. :thumbup:

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Thanks. So there shouldn't be a problem with anything if I had a quality stag handle put on it? Reason I'm asking is I had another bowie a long time ago (when I was teen and stupid and didn't know how to properly treat my knives) that had a stag handle and a half (push) tang and when I was chopping a bunch of 2x4's with it, the stag broke where the tang ended and the tang itself bent a little. I'll have to confess though the knife was cheap and the stag handle wasn't great either but ever since, I've allways been weary of knives with half tangs.
 
The CS Laredo bowie is a very stout knife, you needn't worry about it being useable in the wilderness etc.

There are several very good youtube videos showing it in action with various folks.
 
Decide for yourself.
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Fully radiused blade shoulder's, one piece integral brass guard/bolster. The cable tang is a good variation of a classic design. It lends itself to the balance, weight, and strength of the knife.
 
The cable tang has shown to be very strong and I can't recall hearing about anyone having any problems with one. I had a Mar Temp Taiwan made Laredo in SK-5 and I didn't have any problems with scratches from the sheath but I know that some of the Chins made blades had issues with sheath scratches. It is really solid and well blade blade and is definitely worth the money. I'm not a huge fan of the handle but that can always be changed.
 
i rehandled one for a forum service member who took his overseas. he wanted to use micarta and have a loveless style handle. it was pretty solid when it was put back together.
 
Sorry about bringing this thread back from the dead, but do any of you know of anything else made with this cable tang construction method?
 
richard j said:
i rehandled one for a forum service member who took his overseas. he wanted to use micarta and have a loveless style handle. it was pretty solid when it was put back together.
Click to expand...

Apologies for resurrecting this thread but do you have pics of this modified bowie?

Are there any other forum members who have modified their Laredo Bowie's?

Kindest regards,
10-7
 
10-7 said:
Apologies for resurrecting this thread but do you have pics of this modified bowie?

Are there any other forum members who have modified their Laredo Bowie's?

Kindest regards,
10-7
Click to expand...


10-7, check out this site:

http://www.sunrisecustomknives.com/repairs/repairs.php

3rd knife down is a modified Laredo.

I've never used this guy; but I've heard good things about him. From what I've heard about the Laredo, it's not a too difficult mod.
 
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