Disappointed

R

Roycerichards18

Joined
Sep 22, 2022
Messages
6
good day everyone.
I have always heard great things about cold steel and have seen more than one knife model that was eye porn to me.
After watching a cold steel video showing a piece of meat cut in half/stabbed/slashed to pieces in a very short time I pulled the trigger on a Tokyo Spike neck knife.
It was delivered yesterday and I am sending it back. This blade can’t cut thin white paper once. I’m hoping this was just a bad day at the factory. Definitely not what I was expecting for my first Cold Steel knife
 
Sorry about your issues. Cold Steel is extremely consistent in regard to sharpness.

Did you happen to put the knife in the Secure-Ex sheath at all? Sadly, the sheaths they supply are garbage and can/will wipe away a hair popping edge after just a few insertions, depending on how much contact the edge has made inside the sheath.

You could try another sample if you aren't into sharpening, but keep in mind that even if the next one is razor sharp, a few insertions in the sheath will wipe that away.

Sadly, when you buy a Cold Steel, you have to factor a new sheath into the cost.
 
I was aware of the 4116 steel and how quickly it loses it edge. However, this knife was in a sealed box and plastic brand new.
I pulled knife out of sheath carefully because I am aware of the sheath issues on blades After pulling blade out I examined blade and it was definitely not sharp. If I was sent a knife that was as sharp as the one seen in Cold Steels video I would be more than happy.
I’m assuming the video is representing a new blade out of the box with no additional sharpening?
 
Sorry to hear about your experience, however I would like to point out that cutting through hanging meat and slicing printer paper are not really comparable measures of sharpness. A knife needs a keen edge to slice cleanly through paper while it only needs a decent working edge and good geometry to cut through meat. It's an apples to oranges comparison.

For what it's worth, most knives I have bought came "sharp," as in they could cut printer paper, but had edges that were relatively obtuse, did not cut particularly well, and did not last long. I generally expect to have to sharpen and re-profile the edge of most new knives I receive (unless it's a Spyderco, but even then I've had to make adjustments on a few).

Since it's not terribly expensive, I suggest you keep the Spike and use it to practice sharpening. That way you'll be more confident when you obtain a newer, fancier knife. However, if it does not spark joy then ship it home and move on.
 
Roycerichards18 said:
good day everyone.
I have always heard great things about cold steel and have seen more than one knife model that was eye porn to me.
After watching a cold steel video showing a piece of meat cut in half/stabbed/slashed to pieces in a very short time I pulled the trigger on a Tokyo Spike neck knife.
It was delivered yesterday and I am sending it back. This blade can’t cut thin white paper once. I’m hoping this was just a bad day at the factory. Definitely not what I was expecting for my first Cold Steel knife
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Tokyo spike isn't really the knife if you want slicey...The spike series are very thick behind the edge and are meant for stabbing.All my CS knives i got had very sharp edges out of the box.

Try some of their hollow ground knives :)
 
I have a Tokyo Spike whose edge I was similarly disappointed with... However, just using a the honing rod from the kitchen knife block was adequate to improve the edge quality enough so that it could nicely slice paper. Maybe they didn't really do a great job with the finishing touches in the sharpening department at the factory. I also agree that the Tokyo Spike is not the knife you want for a slicer... It's basically just a fancy shank.
 
Same as above - I don't think their line up of the neck hanger style, one piece knives were ever very sharp. In fairness, the blade is thick but not very tall, so there's not much room to put a nice low angle edge that's going to be sharp.
 
It could be a bad sample or maybe they are made differently today. Both are probably about equally possible.

My Tanto Spike purchased in 2015 was very sharp, but that was years ago and things could have changed.

IMO the Spike series is a more specialized series of knives and wouldn't really recommend them as first knives from CS. Generally I'd recommend the Recon or SRK for general use knives and the Mini Tac for those wanting something small.

Stay away from the new edgeless machetes.
 
Benjamin Liu said:
It could be a bad sample or maybe they are made differently today. Both are probably about equally possible.

My Tanto Spike purchased in 2015 was very sharp, but that was years ago and things could have changed.

IMO the Spike series is a more specialized series of knives and wouldn't really recommend them as first knives from CS. Generally I'd recommend the Recon or SRK for general use knives and the Mini Tac for those wanting something small.

Stay away from the new edgeless machetes.
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I never had much use for a Cold Steel machete. There's just too many good machetes on the market with very low prices. I can get a Tramontina for about 10 bucks. If I want to fancy machete I buy Ralph Martindale crocodiles $ 12 the Tramontina does not come Sharp. But the Martindale comes Sharp. I wouldn't waste my money on a cold steel machete. They're not too good. Overpriced from South Africa
 
Vlade said:
I never had much use for a Cold Steel machete. There's just too many good machetes on the market with very low prices. I can get a Tramontina for about 10 bucks. If I want to fancy machete I buy Ralph Martindale crocodiles $ 12 the Tramontina does not come Sharp. But the Martindale comes Sharp. I wouldn't waste my money on a cold steel machete. They're not too good. Overpriced from South Africa
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You should try the CS Bowie Machete...basically a big knife. Love mine.
 
GAGL said:
You should try the CS Bowie Machete...basically a big knife. Love mine.
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I have a cold steel black bear Bowie machete. It doesn't work as good as the other brands. It's too stiff and too heavy I find it to be more of a knife than a machete. A good machete will Flex and for the price that I can get them at. Dirt cheap As you said. It is more of a knife than a machete we use the living hell out of our machetes. They're used probably twice a week. You got to fight back the woods with them
 
kreole said:
If I could offer advice, you should learn to sharpen. Factory edge sharpness is the cherry on top when it comes to quality, not the whole cake.

And every knife needs sharpening eventually
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This isn't advice, it's snark. He received a substandard or even defective product.
 
I have a drop point spike. Zero issues whatsoever. The steel is what you expect, the sheath doesn't cause any noticeable issue. Maybe you just got a lemon. Every cold steel knife I purchased was always well made. Most of these were before the GSM acquisition, so it may not be reflective of nowadays. And I never buy top end stuff, either.
 
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