Does anyone remember a time when they liked Cold Steel knives?

[sdt11670]

In a nutshell, I don't care for the way they did business. Things may have improved now, but I get the impression they haven't.

CS makes some great stuff; I still have several of their old catalogs. I liked their products for a time, but I finally just got tired of all their hype. Their are so many other good products on the market today - I'd take a Spyderco or Benchmade over anything from CS.

Watching their videos is entertaining, but watching a dozen or more different knives get bent & worked over gets kind of boring after a while. I also heard several first-hand accounts (from personal friends of mine) of dealing with their customer service - mediocre to downright mean.

Lastly, for a long time Lynn Thompson had a nasty habit of testing/destroying competitors' knives, then talking about them in really negative terms. (I don't know if he still does this.) It was no wonder that CS couldn't get any feature articles written about them for what seemed like years.

My grandpa used to say: "Be careful what you say about someone. You may find yourself sitting next to them in church next Sunday."

I know there are some pretty passionate CS devotees out there, so let me say ahead of time, my apologies if anyone is offended.

thx - cpr

First off i am glad that their are companies that are willing to show us flaws in their competitors blades, but then again they should show us their flaws as well... second Spydies as well as brownings and cs and i think some berettas are the same knives with different designs (were made by the same makers of the same steels using the same heat treat) but the cold steels usually have stronger locks. I sold some of my favorite spydies because i liked my much less expensive cs folders much better.

 

[yoz's friend]

this is a classic case of monkey see monkey do..i have several cold steel knives(recon scout,kobun, 5'' voyager,2 hawks and a peacekeeper I) i ve used the scout for a field knife for 5 years and have done everything with it
dress game, hack bones,chop wood i even used it to dig a hole once. i cant imagine a better knife for the money.the voyager i carry every day for about 4 years and i treat the knife like i could care less about it, i mean i beat on iti thrown it, dropped it, cut wire with it.i would buy another one in a second.and the pocket clip is still in place the hawks are fantastic (i use them for throwing) i admit i dont use the kobun much at all.the newest is the peacekeeper I i bought of ebay for about 30 bucks. i figured okay ill torture it for 30 bucks to see if its crap like you guys say.ive used it to chop 2x4s and a 2x12 plank and ive been throwing it at a target in my cellar which has an indoor outdoor carpet over concrete which it has bounced of off a half a dozen times. this knife has not only survived this abuse with no damage but it has great balance for throwing.i should buy 2-3 more of these.you guys are crazy and i im going to have to be a little rude and say that some of you are not only full of shit but have no idea what you are talking about. i havent tried to break cement blocks or cut rebar or any such stupidity. but come on these are great knives.i admit as to never having watched a coldsteel video so i cant comment on lynn thompson, but just cause you think the guys a jack off doesnt mean his knives suck.im gonna continue to beat on the peace keeper and try to destoy it but i never have had a double ege knive thAt could take this abuse and ive had a lot of them.gerber mark I and II,guardian I and II.and this is the best by far.the only thing i dont care for is the rubber grip and crossguard.i come on this board to learn and read peoples evaluations because i always assume that the next guy knows more than i do.but when i read these off the wall, obvious bullshit reviews it makes me wonder how many walther mittys are out there.im not trying to insult everyone as there are a lot of very knowledgable people here but i always get a laugh at all the rambos in these cold steel threads. i just hope it doesnt influence people who need a real good affordable knive because they are truely being cheated. okay flame away.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

this is a classic case of monkey see monkey do....you guys are crazy and i im going to have to be a little rude and say that some of you are not only full of shit but have no idea what you are talking about. ...i admit as to never having watched a coldsteel video so i cant comment on lynn thompson, but just cause you think the guys a jack off doesnt mean his knives suck.....i come on this board to learn and read peoples evaluations because i always assume that the next guy knows more than i do.....but when i read these off the wall, obvious bullshit reviews it makes me wonder how many walther mittys are out there....im not trying to insult everyone as there are a lot of very knowledgable people here but i always get a laugh at all the rambos in these cold steel threads.... i just hope it doesnt influence people who need a real good affordable knive because they are truely being cheated. okay flame away.

Dude that's a lot of negativity, you need to chill, this has been an adult discussion with no issues till you came barrelin' in, check the attitude and your opinion will be heard, mouth off and you'll pop up on more ignore lists than you can count, mine bein' the first one in your short postin' career, thanks for your input.

 

[Frankthetank]

I like a lot of the knives that Cold Steel makes. I have a Peacekeeper, Vaquero, 2 Voyagers, Scimitar, Ti Lite, Indian War Club, and some other stuff.

I haven't had any problems with their products or service.

 

[yoz's friend]

i actually though i was commenting on the negativity of others.it just seems unfair to post negative comments about a product because one or two have have personal issues about the owner of the company.thats all i think you might be taking it to personal. so i guess i will just say sorry if i offended anybody i thought i was just being honest.

 

[udtjim]

I think you will find that its hard to get a honest evaluation of a CS product around here. I apologize in advance for those who do put there feelings for LT aside and judge the product against other products of about the same cost.

The feeling here is that LT is a jerk. Well he may be but the head of a lot of companies probably fit that description quite well too. However most of them don't put themselves in the public eye as he does with his videos. CS has many good products as well as some overpriced products they hardly stand alone in that respect. Look around and compare and listen to those here who present an honest evaluation. It doesn't take long to figure out who just has a burr under their saddle and which ones have used and know their products.

 

[yoz's friend]

thanks udtjim,i was wondering if everyone was going to take my post the wrong way.I just thought the CS evaluatons where little unfair, especially to those who come here to base there knife purchases on the recomendations of others.

 

[Frankthetank]

The feeling here is that LT is a jerk. Well he may be but the head of a lot of companies probably fit that description quite well too. However most of them don't put themselves in the public eye as he does with his videos.

Very well said!

 

[yoz's friend]

i remember about 7 years ago when i was going to purschase a colt ar15.several gun shop hangarounds told me i would be sorry because they jam every other shot.well i bought one anyway and after about 5k rounds i have not had a single malfunction.

 

[Confederate]

My dissatisfaction with the company comes from how I was treated rudely by a representative at BLADE one year.

Sounds like a great story. Are you going to tell us about it?

I like many of Cold Steel's line. I believe their high end knives are complete rip-offs, but I love some of their offerings:

Voyager
Gunsite
Vaquero
Recon 1
AK-47
Ti-Lite
Night Force -=Discontinued=-
Pro-Lite -=Discontinued=-
Super Edge
OSS
G.I. Tanto, etc.
PeaceKeeper, Combat Classics
Recon Tanto

For the price one can get these for on eBay, I can't think of many that can beat them. After all, how many knife companies offer blades 5-6 inches. The company is just so full of hype that they turn many people off. (See the post on CS's latest announcement.)

 

[steelnut]

Cold Steel was my first knife interest.
They turned out to be the gateway drug to the hard stuff

 

[Halfneck]

Sounds like a great story. Are you going to tell us about it?

Posted it once or twice in past CS posts, saw no reason to repost it here as that was really not the jist of this post's question. Did not want this to get derailed into a "I hate CS because" post.

 

[Grampa]

Grandpa, the Kraton handle material is my all time favorite knife handle material. I wish that it had been an option on my Dozier.
It may not be "pretty" but I buy knives to use, and Kraton sure gives you one helluva positive, secure grip.

I'm glad it works for you.

I prefer a handle that lasts longer than a week of use.

 

[sodak]

I have kraton handles with well over 10 years of hard use, and they are still as functional as when brand new.

 

[sdt11670]

I have kraton handles with well over 10 years of hard use, and they are still as functional as when brand new.

I too have used kraton handles for years and have only had two damaged. One with blood left on it which a rodent ate! and another that i had on when i leaned against a cast iron wood stove with a hot fire in it!

 

[Bandersnatch]

Well, Lynn Thompson can be annoying and crass, the sales tactics are flamboyant, and some of the products are subpar. However, I still like the majority of Cold Steel stuff, particularly the unusual items.

If we're sharing anecdotes, I have one. Years back, when I was still a teenager, I got a Bad Axe (think it was one of the 1050 steel ones) as a birthday gift to two friends of mine (they are brothers, shared things so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone).

They are not very careful with cutlery, and they used that ax often. They used it as a general hatchet for woodcutting, and threw it many times into cobbled together targets. Often they would miss, and hit the stony soil, or the pavement (depending on where they had placed the target around their home). Sometimes it would get stuck in a old stump or dead tree, and one of us would just knock it out of the wood with a rock or a log or a hammer or other blunt instrument. Our throwing techniques were the stuff of nightmares, the kind of edge-ruining lobbing that only bored teenage boys with no experience in throwing blades can master.

So, that axe is about five years old, and has returned to me. The original handle snapped at the socket, where the rest of the handle has remained. It is a bit rusty. The edges are dented so many times it looks like a crippled saw, it's less sharp than a butter knife, but it has otherwise survived well. The axe head and socket haven't deformed or cracked. Even the black coating has mostly stuck on.

Sometime soon, I'm going to to rehandle it, maybe with a fiberglass hammer handle or somesuch, and grind off the damaged edge and resharpen.

Or maybe just let it be. Damn thing has earned its rest.

edit: ha, I'm only 21 and I'm already treating my teenage period like something that happened decades ago. I should go get a cane and cigars and whittle on the porch and beat the rush.

 

[Torm]

One of my favourite knives to date was a Cold Steel Mini Outdoorsman which I bought after a summer of construction work 13 years ago. I didn't bother to buy anything other than a Kershaw Scallion until 2 years ago when the Outdoorsman was stolen since it handled anything I threw at it, including a good amount of abuse. If Cold Steel ever puts out the Mini Outdoorsman again I'll snap one up in a heartbeat. It was a great knife.

CS' marketing is a bit of a joke and Lynn's blustering is downright annoying to listen to but they make some good blades.

 

[Torm]

Ive been thinking about getting a kukri for some time now (love the nepalese ghurkhas) how good are the CS ones??? any better suggestions that CS??

The good CS ones are really high priced and their cheap kukhri is too thin to be worthwhile in my opinion. You might want to look to Himalayan Imports for a high quality, fairly priced kukhri. They have a forum here in the manufacturers section.

 

[orca8589]

I think you will find that its hard to get a honest evaluation of a CS product around here. I apologize in advance for those who do put there feelings for LT aside and judge the product against other products of about the same cost.

The feeling here is that LT is a jerk. Well he may be but the head of a lot of companies probably fit that description quite well too. However most of them don't put themselves in the public eye as he does with his videos. CS has many good products as well as some overpriced products they hardly stand alone in that respect. Look around and compare and listen to those here who present an honest evaluation. It doesn't take long to figure out who just has a burr under their saddle and which ones have used and know their products.

Thank you, udtjim - very well said.

Yoz - If my post seemed to say that I thought CS products are bad, that was not my intention. I happen to think a lot of CS products are great. My point is that I personally don't buy or use Cold Steel simply because I don't abide the way Lynn Thompson does things. That's just my opinion of the man, not the knives.

Now, if I had, or was given, a CS knife, I'd keep it and use it. I just won't go out of my way to get anything from them, because there are too many good alternatives out there.

Lastly, I will say that I very much respect Lynn Thompson's support of our police & troops. I've heard a lot of great stories of him personally getting involved to get knives to people who needed them.

thx - cpr

 

[longbow]

My first two tac/edc so to speak were a SE Delica, that I still have and a CS Voyager 4" that I still have. Ihave two RS's too that excellant and couple of the Green River style knives that they did. I have had several others too. Always have been as they have stated for a knife. If you use a knife like it was intended I don't see why they wouldn't last nor do what they are supposed to do. Oh yea I have an old XL too. Beats me why people don't like'm, I just don't pay attention to the hype is all from o.p.'s or CS. keepem sharp

PS Holy crap how could I forget this one? My CS Master Hunter in Carbon V which at the time they came out were of 01 as i was told by a CS Rep. This is the BEST hunting knife I have ever used to date and I have alot of hunting knives too. Even forged customs, but aboslutely no better than the Master Hunter I have.