I needed to "scratch" an itch for a medium-weight fighter-utilty piece not too long ago, so I went to the SPECIAL PROJECTS catalog, then to 1SKs and picked up a CF Police, and a CS Outdoorsman. (See other thread for Police)
The Outdoorsman, out of the box, like EVERY Cold Steel product I own, is REALLY SHARP. The knife is well finished, with only a SLIGHT stain in the steel on the starboard side of the blade, no biggy, cause it's a worker for me, not a show piece. The grip is nicely textured Kraton, and the pommel is finely finished SS. Now, the sheath is nice leather, which held the thing tight enough, but on a recent hike in the Olympics (COLD!) it got stiff, and the velcro became a bother. Nothing says lovin' to be like impervious kydex or concealex for sheaths. And that is one of one two gripes against this piece.
The knife is great, it did everything real good, except hemp cutting which I simply grabbed my Delica w/serrations for. This it only did well, by the way...not a complaint. My second and only other gripe, is that once I dulled it, I really can't bring it back to that out of the box CS sharpness as much as I would like. CS products shave on delivery; but I have some trouble bringing the edge home on my #204. Maybe it's just me, but I was able to get an UJI by Livesay to get real sharp, so I like to think I can, with time, sharpen ANYTHING.
The blade still looks new and held up well after ALOT of use. The grip, even though I was wearing rouch grip-master gloves alot of the time, shows little signs of wear. I like the pommel for its toughness, and its just anothe sign of affordable quality from CS that I have, to be honest with you, been taking for granted ever since my first factory second Recon Tanto showed up some 10 yrs ago (or there abouts) now.
The "bone breaker" on the spine is useless to me, but thats not to say someone else couldnt find a use for it. Truth be told, it helped my pry some tangeled tire chains on my car on the mountains, and thats about the only time I used it.
I did dress a small chicken with this thing, and it was SWEET! I wish my kitchen knives felt so good in my hand! Now however, I have gone the way of the CLP for lube on the thing, and no longer will be messing with food.
I rek'mnd the thing WHOLE-HEARTIDLY, but I wish CS offered a CONCEALEX sheath for it...that would PERFECTLY complete the package. Now, I have a CS Hunter, and for out and about in the woods and such, even if skinning would EVER be an issue, I would still prefer the balance and size of the OUTDOORSMAN...more of a traditional tanto style, and feels GREAT in the hand!
COOL KNIFE! THUMBS BLOODY & SORE W/DELIGHT!
Steve in WA
The Outdoorsman, out of the box, like EVERY Cold Steel product I own, is REALLY SHARP. The knife is well finished, with only a SLIGHT stain in the steel on the starboard side of the blade, no biggy, cause it's a worker for me, not a show piece. The grip is nicely textured Kraton, and the pommel is finely finished SS. Now, the sheath is nice leather, which held the thing tight enough, but on a recent hike in the Olympics (COLD!) it got stiff, and the velcro became a bother. Nothing says lovin' to be like impervious kydex or concealex for sheaths. And that is one of one two gripes against this piece.
The knife is great, it did everything real good, except hemp cutting which I simply grabbed my Delica w/serrations for. This it only did well, by the way...not a complaint. My second and only other gripe, is that once I dulled it, I really can't bring it back to that out of the box CS sharpness as much as I would like. CS products shave on delivery; but I have some trouble bringing the edge home on my #204. Maybe it's just me, but I was able to get an UJI by Livesay to get real sharp, so I like to think I can, with time, sharpen ANYTHING.
The blade still looks new and held up well after ALOT of use. The grip, even though I was wearing rouch grip-master gloves alot of the time, shows little signs of wear. I like the pommel for its toughness, and its just anothe sign of affordable quality from CS that I have, to be honest with you, been taking for granted ever since my first factory second Recon Tanto showed up some 10 yrs ago (or there abouts) now.
The "bone breaker" on the spine is useless to me, but thats not to say someone else couldnt find a use for it. Truth be told, it helped my pry some tangeled tire chains on my car on the mountains, and thats about the only time I used it.
I did dress a small chicken with this thing, and it was SWEET! I wish my kitchen knives felt so good in my hand! Now however, I have gone the way of the CLP for lube on the thing, and no longer will be messing with food.
I rek'mnd the thing WHOLE-HEARTIDLY, but I wish CS offered a CONCEALEX sheath for it...that would PERFECTLY complete the package. Now, I have a CS Hunter, and for out and about in the woods and such, even if skinning would EVER be an issue, I would still prefer the balance and size of the OUTDOORSMAN...more of a traditional tanto style, and feels GREAT in the hand!
COOL KNIFE! THUMBS BLOODY & SORE W/DELIGHT!
Steve in WA
