Doesn't make sense to buy anything other than a cold steel?

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M.vashon

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25 year knife carrier..mostly spyderco endura models, Yet never felt comfortable using them for anything other than cutting light materials.. To save my life or for hard use only my cold steel folders
Give me confidence. Liner locks I just find myself giving away the few I have and telling friends they're for light use only.
 
Bladehq did a comparison test video of a bunch of Spyderco models and measured the amount of weight they could take. I'd say based on that you can use these knives pretty hard.


Or just relegate your cutting to the sharpened side of the blade ;)
 
Tsujigiri said:
Bladehq did a comparison test video of a bunch of Spyderco models and measured the amount of weight they could take. I'd say based on that you can use these knives pretty hard.


Or just relegate your cutting to the sharpened side of the blade ;)
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I remember seeing that clip a few years ago and honestly the CBBL surprised me considering how it's all riding on just two bolts. If they nested that piece into the liners it would relieve some of that pressure, but then snapping the liners might become an issue.

Honestly, if you're putting that much pressure on a lock you're better off EDCing a fixed blade. I've been taught to assume every folder is non-locking (slipjoint) when using it, and that advice has worked out great so far. I don't get the obsession with turning folders into fixed blades, that will never happen, not even close.
 
You just have to know what your knife can do, and have the skills to use it. Off the top of my head the only "life saving" situation I've been in where I needed a knife I used a leatherman skeletool to cut a rope, but I've done pretty heavy cutting with "delicate" knives. Sure, if I knew that stress was going to be a factor, then I wouldn't use using the lightest knife at hand, but also, stuff is replaceable, and we often cannot pick our situation. The best knife is the knife you have, and for me cold steel doesn't really do anything. They are fine, but so far not seen any designs that really speak to me. I'm also not really brand loyal apart from trying to buy knives sold by the people who developed them (within reason, no one has a monopoly on some things) so I'm not just a Spyder fanboy, they just make tools that fit my needs.
 
These days a better question would be "Does it make sense to buy Cold Steel now?". Lynn Thompson sold his company, it's now owned by GSM Outdoors, and things ain't what they used to be.
 
If you are worried about strength, then buy custom fixed blades on this forum.

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Planterz said:
These days a better question would be "Does it make sense to buy Cold Steel now?". Lynn Thompson sold his company, it's now owned by GSM Outdoors, and things ain't what they used to be.
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I would still trust the Thompson-Demko era knives until we get reports of them being unreliable too. Seems they still hold up well as of this day.

I’m just not as quick to trust the new GSM era knives.
 
The Cold Steel knives that were made in Japan and Taiwan were very good , things have moved downward since then.
Cold Steel used to unashamedly target a certain sector of the market , will the new owners continue with this tradition , or will they merely become a mediocre "Me Too" politically correct player in the knife field ?.
Just asking :rolleyes: .
 
Boattale said:
I had recently lost my Grohmann Canadian belt knife and wanted a replacement. Was in a knife shop in Branson and lo and behold, there was a CS Canadian right there in the display so I had to have it. Turned out to be a totally worthless knife that would not take or hold an edge. I wound up strapping it to the front of the trout boat in case I had to cut the drag chain rope if it ever hung in fast water. I didn't even trust it for that so I actually trashed the knife. The one and only CS that will ever be at my place.
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Yeah, Cold Steel is the shiznits. To some folks I guess.
 
The only Cold Steel knife I've ever bought was their 7.5" Recon Scout at 5/16" thick. It was a beast of a knife but in the end, a bit too thick and too short for me and traded it off for a bow. I was glad I had it on a few occasions when I needed to do some chopping. It held its edge very well for me and only needed light touch ups. That was the older Carbon V steel from the early '90s. I've never been drawn to their folders. Almost forgot I bought a 12" barong machete one time when they clearanced that whole line out. Now that one I've enjoyed for years. Gave it to my daughter recently. My daily carry now for a few years has been a Spyderco Endela K390. A steel I doubt Cold Steel will ever use. Before that was another Spyderco PM2 and also a Military. Am I a fan boy? Not really, I have many other folders, but for right now, these are my favorites.
 
Cold steel blades on the top models are well made. The handles on the fixed blades are junk for the retail price range. Not sure about the newest gsm stuff, time will tell how the quality holds up.
 
M.vashon said:
25 year knife carrier..mostly spyderco endura models, Yet never felt comfortable using them for anything other than cutting light materials.. To save my life or for hard use only my cold steel folders
Give me confidence. Liner locks I just find myself giving away the few I have and telling friends they're for light use only.
Click to expand...

The endura can cut more than light materials, I assure you.

Not sure what "save your life" scenario you have in mind, but the chances are likely quite low that you would ever be faced with such a scenario.

Do yourself a favor, assuming you can afford it as it seems like you have multiple knives so it's likely, and go see what it can handle. I never recommend prying with a folder outside of small things like cardboard glue and staples, but try some other stuff and see what it can handle. If you're stuck in the thought that it can only handle light duty stuff, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

As an FYI, cold steel has the same "flaw" as other folders, a bolt and pivot. I've hard used folders pleanty and the bolts coming out is most often the point of failure, not the lock. This is especially the case of the large CS folders that are good at chopping (espada, rajah, etc). Or the edge gives out. Either way, they're more durable than we usually give them credit for, outside lf prying.

I've been rough with slipjoints, just to see for myself, and they can also be used pretty rough but if the blade gets stuck, like from batoning, getting it back out is quite unpleasant and not safe. I recommend getting cut resistant gloves if you're going to be an idiot with a slipjoint like I was. But, now I have a better understanding of what I can and shouldn't do with a slipjoint, especially if you carry a SAK as part of your emergency kit.
 
the cold steel sale has been a mixed bag. the old models Demko, Mike and Lynn designed made in Taiwan are still good, so far......

the new gsm designs havent excited me yet, but they lost and let go all their good knife designers.......

good news is we have Demko solo now
..doing some of what cold steel used to do prior to gsm. plus Mike's there at Demko now. I'm far more excited about what Andrew and crew are doing and will do at Demko...then what gsm is doing at cold steel.
 
I still want to know what people are doing with folding knives that make them claim they're "weak", "light duty", "not for heavy use" etc.

What is heavy use? I want to see real world scenarios (not morons TRYING to break something) of folding knives not being strong/durable enough (not talking about blade LENGTH issues here).

And I want to see all these broken "weak" folders. I feel like it's time to put up or shut up.
 
I guess I’m just barely getting by the skin of my teeth. I’ve never owned or used a cold steel knife that I can recall.

I will say this, I have several Buck folders namely the iconic 110 , that I have used for 34+ years and have never had one fail me or under perform. I will just stay with them as long as I have one. Not only that but my edc work knife is a Vantage pro 20cv that has accomplished many a heavy duty tasks and it is still going strong.

I don’t mean to bust your balloon but there are plenty other brands that are plenty capable of heavy duty/ tough work!
 
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