Do you think that cold steel would be much more succesfull if they.......

I've liked every Cold Steel knife I've bought, and chances are I will buy more. I do not care for their high dollar knives, and I am not a fan of ALL of their designs; but they do make some quality knives that are fairly priced and appeal to my personal tastes.

I think if they wanted to sell more knives, they might do away with some of their non-knife products. Who knows though, maybe they sell a lot of non-knife products? I just don't see how they sell a lot of spears...and some of their "specialty products" seem a little weird.
 
I think they are successful. People around this forum are probably 5 to 20 times as picky as your average consumer. Besides, I love some of their stuff, especially the strongest lock ever made (besides the Opniel collar lock).
 
I buy most of my Cold Steel knives through eBay and have done well. Some knives I buy from Cold Steel itself, but only if there's a closeout of special deal.

Keep in mind that CS sells at Manufacturer's Recommended Suggested Price (MRSP) which, really, no one in their right mind would pay. It's essentially retail. I bought two Konjas when they were being phased out and just bought three Rajah Is because they, too, are being discontinued. My Rajahs showed up today and included four Tootsie-Pops, one chocolate...oooooh, choc-o-late.

I've found the prices I've bought my knives at to be very reasonable, and while some folks here pooh-pooh Cold Steel products, I believe their heat treatment to be outstanding. Although my Rajah I knives were beautiful, I can see a bit why they're being discontinued. They're a bit blocky with sharp corners. As a display or carry knife, I suppose they'd be okay, but if I'm going to go out camping or hunting, I'm going to carry a Rajah II. They're more suitable for chopping or hacking. So make sure you know there may be a reason a particular knife may be being phased out.

I don't want to pay more than I'm paying now for CS products, but what I'm afraid is happening with them is that they're increasing the strength and price of their knives without improving the blade quality. In buying a knife, you're really buying both; however, I think CS are strong enough as they are...or were. It's like cable television. I want cheaper prices and fewer channels, not vice versa. Unfortunately, as an old girlfriend of mine used to say, you don't always get what you want.

I'm not paying over a hundred dollars for a knife. Okay, I did for the Rajah I because it sold for $300+ and I got mine for a hundred. But if I hadn't gotten them for a reduced price, I would have settled for the Rajah II, which I think is probably a more practical buy for $85, which is what I paid. The handle is rounded and the knife can be used brutally with no real fatigue. Besides, these knives are huge and strong. And sharp. Many CS knives are sharp.

I don't regret buying knives on the cheap, but I stopped buying Benchmade because most of them sailed past the hundred dollar mark. Many Spyderco knives also are over a hundred. If CS goes in that direction, well, I have enough knives to outlast me...easily.

AUS8 is fine with me, and I've found that even CS's 440A is better than anyone else's I've seen. If my serrated blades start shedding teeth, that will be an issue -- but that hasn't been a problem. I'm afraid CS is so smitten with the Tri-Ad locking system that they're going to start using it in all the knives they can. And then the knives will increase in size, weight and price.

That would be...unfortunate.

.
 
The Rajah I looks nicer, but the all sythetic handle version is much more hand friendly and loaded with comfy, radiused grooves.
 
The closeout Spectre I ordered arrived today. Also in the box, five lollipops. And a catalog with the DVD.

What is Cold Steel doing wrong? I doubt I'll watch the whole DVD or even eat the lollipops but the catalog is great. Full color, detailed information on the steels they use, great pictures of the knives with specs. Not bad advertising at all.

This is a very successful company with an owner who enjoys what he's doing. I don't think I like the way he presents himself. Still, that has nothing to do with his knives, which do sell very well.

Cold Steel is hardly going to get any more successful by following the advice of people who don't understand this.
 
Confederate said:
... just bought three Rajah Is because they, too, are being discontinued. My Rajahs showed up today and included four Tootsie-Pops, one chocolate...oooooh, choc-o-late.
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He bought 3 knives and got four lollipops and I got 1 knife and five.
I bet Confederate is wondering what he has to do to get some respect! :p
 
I've gotta learn how to get someone's else's comments into my post! Anyway I agree with what gwknife said on the first page. No other company makes the range of over the top items that CS makes. Obviously many people don't like what they make but I dig a lot of their stuff. Also as Esav said, their catalogue is indeed great. I look forward to getting a hard copy of their new catalogue for months and I get a kick out of perusing it for months after I finally get one.
As a vegetarian ,the videos showing them hacking up various carcasses does gross me out a bit and I have to admit Thompson comes across as a pretty crude individual. Having said that though, I just read the intro page to Emersons new catalogue and Emerson's right wing preaching is just as offensive to me as anything Thompson does.
However the truth is, I'll continue to buy from both companies simply because I like thier stuff.
 
Larry Turko said:
I've gotta learn how to get someone's else's comments into my post!
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Simple. At the bottom of each post, lower right hand corner, is a button marked Quote. Click that and a box will open up for your reply with the quoted post in it.

You can even edit out the parts of the quote that aren't relevant to your reply.
 
Oh, Cold Steel.... It's like I'm watching them all over again in SOG now. I can't wait for SOG's first "living the warrior lifestyle" instructional home video....

I will be the first to say Lynn Thompson is an effective businessman; he's kept Cold Steel afloat now for sometime, when other well known companies have folded. Having owned a few CS knives over the years, I've liked some of their products; the Voyager series for EDC use comes to mind. Decent steel- not over the top superb, but not machined junk either. I don't, as a rule of thumb, knock AUS-8 too much, because it can produce a good blade with proper grinding and heat treat. Not too expensive, either. VG10, S30V, D2, 154CM, etc. would all bump up the $$$ significantly, depending upon your pain threshold.

I guess my biggest reservation with them is that, I've never fallen in love with one of their knives, I guess. I've carried a few other brands, and some Spydercos, a SOG or two, and Kershaw, and even one, yes one CRKT knife I really loved (although the blade angle required serious regrinding).

I just laugh at those videos, though. I mean, post-9/11 I was in the Navy, and changed up ratings (no small feat) and did a stint with a Special Warfare detachment, did my bit for God and country and what-not, got shot at, the whole bit. Now I carry my knife and my Glock or my Sig everywhere I go, but even I don't feel the need to keep a katana behind every door in my house.... Guess I just can't get onboard with living the warrior lifestyle 24/7.
 
septer said:
Allan45, if you dont mind, were was that Black Rhino sold for $60.00.

Thanks.
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Close out on their 2ndary website. (try ltspecpro.com It is their website as well, with lower prices)

I ordered two my self. One for me and one for my pappy.

I actually do like the cutting demo's. Cutting through entire pigs bone and is actually a very good demo of what a knife will to to a person. Same weight, same general anatomy.

The Japanese used to cut humans in half. They rated a blade by how many entire bodies they could cut through. So a 5 body blade was one that could sever 5 human torso's bone and all.

Now, obviously, that won't fly today (although child molesters would be great candidates).

Pigs, and large goats are actually a great analogue for humans.

Several sides of ribs stacked together will show you if the blade will snap off at the tip when it hits bones. Which is actually much more common than you would think.

cutting mats, and bamboo poles is also a good indicator of how a knife will cut.

Those shipping cardboard tubes they cut are also not near as easy to cut through as you would think. I have recreated that same cut with two choppers (a Cold steel Trailmaster in sanmai, and a Busse FBMLE. The FBMLE made that cut very easily (in fact, I was able to cut through two tubes at the same time if I remember correctly). The Trail Master did not. I tried several times, and I could not make a complete cut through the tube. The knife kept rolling in my grip making it about 3/4 though. (which I have pics of of course, but people have seen those already on here).


Cold Steel knives for me, were the gateway to better knives. Busse's, and customs too.

I still have and use a double handful Cold Steel products.
 
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HandofCod said:
I posted this thought on another thread but I'll repeat here too - whenever I see those godawful marketing vids I always think LT looks just like that chubby kid who recorded himself as an imaginary Jedi with a broom stick light saber.
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HaHaHa, I never connected the 2, but you are so right! Lynn is a nerd at heart, playing with big boy toys. "Maybe if I shoot a big enough wild animal, girls will finally notice me..."

bladefoolish said:
I think the steel and quality of the older knives are much better than most of what they are producing today.
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Sadly, I totally agree. I have about 5 models from the older years and couple of more recent ones, and the difference in quality is quite noticeable.

Ankerson said:
Cold Steel changed the whole knife industry back in the 80's and we wouldn't have most of the quality or variety of products that we do today if it wasn't for Cold Steel.

I don't care if you like Cold Steel or LCT or not, he gets the credit for it.

Most of the people here aren't old enough to remember what most knives were like before the 80's and into the 80's. our choices were crap at best with very few exceptions.

If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have the high performance knives that we do today and we would still be using junk that fell apart like the old days. Well some of it is still junk and falls apart today but you get my point.
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You know, as much as I can't stomach their marketing, I think you are right about this. They definitely pushed the industry forward, and for the better. The sheer variety of models they offered was refreshing. And I LOVE kraton handles.

Esav Benyamin said:
I doubt I'll watch the whole DVD or even eat the lollipops but the catalog is great. Full color, detailed information on the steels they use, great pictures of the knives with specs. Not bad advertising at all.
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Yes, the DVDs are a combination of funny and sad, but I do love looking through their catalogs. It is probably one of the best knife catalogs out there.

I think the general consensus of most of these threads is that they are an annoyingly silly company attitude-wise, but they sell a solid (if at times overpriced) product.
 
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